Helper vacation - who pays?

mushi

mushi

Registered User
hi, my helper is about 4 months old and we plan to send her to philippines this december for a 2 week holiday....do we have to pay both going and return fare....or only one-way? i have heard that the old employer should pay one-way.....also do we have to pay only the airfare or also the bus/train fare to her final destination frm manila??
 
did she have a holiday before she started to work for you? or did she come straight to you after her last contract finished?

if she came straight to you, then you only pay a one way fare FROM HER HOME, not just from manila.

if she had her holiday and then started to work for you, then what you are proposing is IN ADDITION to what is required in her contract. it would be up to you whether or not you pay for her. HOWEVER, if you are SENDING HER (not giving her a choice as to when to take the holiday) then out of good grace, you should pay for her.
 
if she joined you straight from another employer, then you only have to pay for the "return" part of the ticket. You only have to pay for the airticket to her home country, not bus, train etc for her to get home
 
sorry andreay... you have to pay for her to get "home" not just to her home country.

"an employer of FDH is responsible for the expenses incurred by the FDH for his/her departure from his/her place of origin"

see: http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/faq_fdh.htm#6

this means that you are responsible to pay from their HOME not Manila
 
I'm also facing the same problem.

My helper is taking vacation this month, so I paid my helper's ticket from HKG-Manila for 2100hkd..and another ticket for 2000hkd from Manila to her home town, so total of 4100hkd.. She insisted that I have to pay the ticket from Manila to her home town and it says on the contract.

She chose Air Philippines for all flights..she told me she doesn't want to take the ship back home from Manila, and there's no bus to her home town (btw, is this true?? no bus but with an airport?? i didn't bother to ask her these questions). Therefore, she should be happy because she'll travel like first class.

Question to Carang,
How much more did you pay your helper?? like bus or train costs??

TIA
 
MeowMeow
My helper is going home for a vacation next week and I bought her tickets last week. It only cost $1950 on Cebu Pacific, including the domestic portion of her flight as she lives in the provinces.

It might be true that there is no bus to your helper's hometown. But on Cebu Pacific, the domestic portion of the ticket only cost 3 pesos, plus taxes and fuel surcharge, which took it up to around HK$600 in total. The international portion of her flight cost around HK$1350.

It's up to you which airline your helper flies and Philippines Airlines is expensive. There is also a big price difference between travel agents. I asked 3 agents and the prices ranged from $1950 to $3800 (on CX).
 
Thanks Portia, my helper doesn't like Cebu Pacific..so you know, she knows what's the best..and she said only Air Philippines provides her domestic flights.
 
sorry, meow meow. but it's not up to your helper to tell you HOW or WHO she flies with.... it is up to you. you do not tell your employer whom you wish to fly with when you go on holiday.

it is ONLY your decision!
 
I agree with Cara. That's why I was asking where your helper is flying to as you might want to check that Cebu Pacific really doesn't fly there. I understand from my helper that Phil Airlines is more popular because they don't charge if you go over the luggage weight limit and because you don't have to change terminals between the international and domestic portion of the flight. These reasons are not enough to persuade me to spend $2000 more on her plane tickets.
 
Btw, I went on a girls weekend earlier this year to Manila and we flew Cebu Pacific, and it was absolutely fine. They even played games on the flight and gave out prizes. Which other airline does that? We had a good laugh.
 
Cebu Pacific isn't always that much cheaper than Philippine Airlines. My helper had to go home on an emergency trip (her mom was very ill) and CP cost over $2800 ($1500 for HK-Manilla return and almost the same for the domestic portion from Manila to her home.) The same flights on PA came to HK$3100.

CP prices fluctuate a lot so sometimes it's worth cross-referencing with PA. (I think if the price difference isn't too big, it's nice to be able to give your helper a choice.)
 
dear ladies, thanks so much for all yr suggestions....i will try for cebu pacific but i believe the fares are much higher during christmas season which is when i plan to send her....i will give both airfare and to/fro form manila as suggested and yes this is the first time she is going home after i hired her so i should be paying only one-way as u suggested.....my helper also mentioned some travel agent she has who can give her a ticket at a better rate...i will check on that and compare to the online one and then decide.
 
Mushi
A few tips for booking on Cebu Pacific which is not as easy as booking on CX or PAL. After trying numerous times, I phoned customer service and was told that the online booking only works if you have a Philippines credit card. However, customer service in Manila can assist you to book if you fax them a copy of your credit card plus a copy of the latest credit card statement. In the end, I thought it was easier to use a travel agent and found one on 3/F of World Wide House in Central (called El Sol). It cost around $80 more than if I had booked it myself online, but it was less hassle than faxing things.

If you are checking prices online, you need to check the international and domestic portions of the trip separately and then add the price up. I would suggest checking the price online first before you ask the travel agent because one of the travel agents I approached in Worldwide House gave me a price $1000 more than quoted online and kept insisting that the price fluctuates every minute. I just checked a few days ago and the fares to and from Manila around Christmas are around $2300 (including surcharges), but cheaper if she flies before 17 Dec. Good luck!
 
Oops, seems like I have been doing the wrong thing for 10 years. Anyway, for the flights, you can try www.zuji.com.hk. I got return ticket a few weeks ago from them HK Manila on Phillipine airline for $999.
 
Hi, I just bought a ticket online on the CebuPacific website with my Hong Kong credit card without any problems.
 
Babydoll
That's interesting and helpful. I'll try again next time. I don't know why CP customer service told me that HK credit cards weren't accepted and that I would have to fax info over. (CP's HK office were even worse - they told me I had to go to their ticketing office in TST.) Maybe it was a problem on the day and/or CP customer service don't know what they're talking about!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top