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The "Piso sale, base fare” promo is one of AirAsia Philippines's most highly-anticipated promotions. Image Credit: Supplied
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Manila: Netizens went into a tizzy after AirAsia Philippines announced Friday a renewed “Piso Sale” with airfares as low as one peso (Php1 = about $0.018) for domestic flights.

The “base fare” promo is one of the airline's most highly-anticipated promotions, and is a counterpoint to Cebu Pacific's own popular "Piso fare" offer, which allows flyers to book flights for as low as one peso — excluding taxes and fees.

The trick with such “Piso sale/fare” offers, however, is to book fast because seats get sold out quickly.

Such offers are rare, and quickly run out — but they fuel demand for air travel, which has already soared following relaxation of travel curbs.

The low-cost carrier said among the destinations on offer with the Php1 one-way base fare promo are:

Domestic: All Php1 fare

From Cebu:

  • Caticlan
  • Puerto
  • Davao

From Manila:

  • Kalibo
  • Roxas City
  • Cagayan de Oro
  • Davao
  • Puerto Prinsesa
  • Cebu
  • Iloilo
  • Bacolod
  • Tacloban
  • Caticlan

From Clark:

  • Caticlan
  • Tacloban

International - All Php588 (about $10.44)

From Manila:

  • Taipei
  • Kota Kinabalu
  • Macao
  • Hong Hong
  • Kaohsiung
  • Shenzhen
  • Seoul
  • Guangzhou
  • Shanghai
  • Osaka
  • Tokyo

From Cebu:

  • Taipei
  • Shenzhen
  • Seoul
  • Tokyo
  • Kuala Lumpur

AirAsia stated the booking period for these trips is from Aug. 18 to 27, 2023 with travel period starting Feb. 19, 2024 to Jan. 19, 2025.

What does “Piso fare” mean?

It’s a sale tool used by Philippine carriers — and are among cheapest flights you can book, usually for domestic flights.

These ultra-cheap flight sales only happen a few times a year, however. During a piso fare promo, domestic roundtrip tickets can be bought for as low as Php300 (about $5.33) all-in.

What is a base fare?
A base fare is the price of airline ticket before fees, taxes, and any surcharges are added. In most cases, a traveler's base fare will be lower than the final ticket price. Some fares, such as ones to international destinations, may increase significantly from the base fare when additional taxes are added.

$1 billion investment

AirAsia earlier said it plans to invest $1 billion to expand its operations in the Philippines.

The funds will cover aviation and aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul of operations, creation of Air Asia super app — and strengthening logistics operations in the Philippines.

Ais Asia's "Piso sale" offer is similar to the one offered by Cebu Pacific, the Philippines' largest budget airline. Cebu offers affordable year-round cheap airfares, especially on domestic flights, which is popular among budget flyers.