Just 6 hours into our flight to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, it was a last minute decision to bring along my nephew. I knew that the fare would be expensive and I noticed an “additional” fee that was new to me – the Unaccompanied Minor Handling Fee.

According to the Cebu Pacific guideline:

Unaccompanied Minors
Children below 7 years old will not be accepted for carriage.

For flights within the Philippines, children aged 7 to below 12 years old travelling alone may be accepted, only after the Passenger Handling Form is accomplished and submitted upon check-in, and the prescribed Unaccompanied Minor Handling Fee is paid.

We do not accept unaccompanied minors on flights outside the Philippines.

Since we were already booked, my nephew will be booked alone. It will look like he will be traveling alone without having an accompanying adult.

So I tried booking and got a prompt like this:

I also printed and filled up the Passenger Handling Form in case it will be needed at the airport.

I successfully booked my nephew and got charged the Unaccompanied Minor Handling Fee.

Since my nephew will be traveling together with me (his uncle) and my mom (his grandmother), technically, he is not an “unaccompanied minor”. I immediately messaged Cebu Pacific on Facebook Messenger and I was informed that booking a child separately would need to be done directly from Cebu Pacific’s satellite office or at their ticketing office at the airport to avoid being charged of the Unaccompanied Minor Handling Fee. I asked if it can be refunded and luckily, I was informed to immediately proceed to their office at NAIA and request the refund there.

At NAIA, I went to Cebu Pacific’s office and explained the situation. I showed the Facebook Messenger conversation so they are aware that the issue has already been coordinated. I was asked for a written letter requesting for refund, two valid IDs which they photocopied as well as filled up Application for Refund form. Kudos to Cebu Pacific’s staff in NAIA, they are so very accommodating and explained the process thoroughly.

We then boarded the flight after requesting for a refund and had an amazing El Nido, Palawan vacation.

Yey! I was able to successfully get a refund! 🙂 It took a month to have the refund credited back to the card used.

Here is a quick explanation why it takes so long according to Cebu Pacific:

Transaction will be reversed to our merchant bank and will be coordinated with your issuing bank hence it will be a bank to bank transaction reason why we cannot give you the definite date for the actual charge back to your account.

Hope this guide helps! 🙂

 

 

 

 

cebu pacific refund
cebu pacific request for refund
cebu pacific Passenger Handling Form
cebu pacific Unaccompanied Minor Handling Fee