I want some feed back from divers in the Philippines. The area specific is Puerto Galera. I want to know if you locals pay the same room & dive rates as a visitor from the United States or any other place? ( just so I do not have anyone feel left out )
My mother lives in Manila and tells me I should have her make the reservations from there because it will be cheaper. Since I am not about to go against my mothers wishes & no Filipino man in his right mind would go against his mothers wishes, I tell her OK.
But I am still curious to see if locals pay a lower rate then a visitor. I am not sure I would get a straight answer from a dive resort if I inquired. Please help out this transplanted pinoy & give me some sound advise.
Mahalo,
Mike
Mike,
We (I am Pinoy not currently living in Pinas), are used to always trying to get the best price. It is a cultural thing which is not bad but sometimes other people go overboard with it. I know that some establishments may offer a better deal to locals but most have a standard pricing scheme for high, low and shoulder seasons that apply to all. In places such as Mexico where there is some sort of national ID system, one can claim to be a local and avail of a local-only rate at top resorts. There is no such system in the Philippines and any foreigner or even a Pinoy can have a fake ID made that shows he's a local. If I were a dive op business in Pinas, I will have a difficult time qualifying who's local and who's not. There's just no way especially if my business caters to mostly foreigners.
For me, I make my reservations based on what I can afford. A $35/night room that is clean and with A/C and TV is a very good deal for a single traveller and a superb deal for 2 travellers sharing one room. Try to find a room like that in the U.S. or Canada, in your dreams! In cases like this, I no longer try to haggle because the gain is really miniscule for our standards. As long as I see good value for my money (being aware of levels of standards in Pinas) and I can afford it, I am good with it.
If you are living in Pinas, you can try to get a local rate to stretch your hard-earned peso as far as you can. I would do the same thing. However, for those living and earning money in other places in the world, whatever local rate you get just equates to minimal savings and not worth the hassle. Also, I don't want to carry a lie behind my back because I pretend to be a local when I am actually a balikbayan just visiting for pleasure or business just to gain a few more pesos in savings. The local word that applies is being 'barat' or stingy.
Now, if you plan to stay at a resort for weeks and months then that's a different story. Haggling makes very good sense in this case. Also, haggling is useful if you know you're being ripped-off by an establishment or vendor. You do need some local sense of things to know when and when not to haggle. Else, they'll just label you as 'super-barat'!