Last October, Jetstar Asia flew its inaugural flight from Clark to Singapore. I joined that voyage with a scheduled departure of 7:00 AM, and since I was traveling alone, I was left to find a way to get from Manila to Clark at such an early hour, which I’ve never done so on my own. Well, despite the few modes of transportation used, it turned out to be quite easy.
Since Clark is a small airport, I would’ve wanted to arrive a mere hour before departure—despite it being an international flight. But since I was covering the inaugural flight festivities, I decided to arrive around 5:00 AM, or about two hours before my flight. So how did I do it?
My journey began around 2:30 AM. I took a non-surge Uber from Makati to the Victory Liner terminal in Cubao, and I arrived about 3:00 AM. Sadly, although the buses were already being filled with passengers, none of them were leaving yet, so I had to wait. I told the dispatcher to let me know which of the first buses would make a stop at Dau, Pampanga.
Luckily, there was an air-conditioned bus leaving for Dagupan at around 3:30 AM, and it was stopping at Dau. It took maybe under an hour and a half with some stops and light traffic throughout to get from Cubao to Dau.
Before 5:00 AM, I was already at the Dau Bus Terminal, and from there, I walked a little to take a jeepney to “Clark Main Gate,” which is near SM City Clark.
Clark Main Gate is the terminal for jeepneys entering Clark, and there are several routes—of which Route 1 goes near the airport. With the jeepney filling up quickly because of those who are working in Clark, I asked the driver to drop me off at “terminal,” which they call the airport. The driver stopped a few meters from the airport gate that employees and pedestrians use.
I was at the airport around 5:30 AM, a bit late from my intended arrival. It took three hours and four rides, but overall it wasn’t hard. I would advise doing this though for those with small bags only because of the jeepney rides—although alternatively, from Dau Bus Terminal, there are taxis to the airport for those with big luggage.
ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO GET TO CLARK AIRPORT EARLY IN THE MORNING
Last March, I also took the inaugural Clark to Osaka flight of Jetstar Asia, and I wanted to try a different way to get to the airport that time—the nonstop P2P bus from Manila to Clark Airport. Since my departure was early, I had to look for the earliest departures from Manila. Only one suited my flight—the 4:00 AM departure from TriNoma Mall in Quezon City. I hesitated at first, but assuming little or no traffic at NLEX at such an early hour, I estimated that I would get to the airport at about 5:30 AM.
From Makati, it took me about 30 minutes to get to TriNoma by Uber. I was already at the station around 3:30 AM, and I saw that there were other people also waiting for the bus. The bus departed on time, and as I expected, I arrived in Clark Airport at around 5:25 AM with enough time before my 7:00 AM flight. The ride was fast and definitely more convenient, especially there was room for big luggage under the bus.
One other time, I again had an early flight, and instead of taking the jeepney, I tried hiring a GrabCar from Dau Bus Terminal. Surprisingly, there already were cars at around 5:00 AM. The fare was not too expensive at 180 PHP, and the ride took only about 20 minutes or less.
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Jetstar Asia now flies from Clark (Pampanga) to Singapore and Osaka. For “all day, every day, low fares,” book flights at jetstar.com. For promos and updates, follow Jetstar Asia on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. |
