Easytrip Reloading Fees and Processing Time

UnionBank - ₱0.00 (FREE), almost instantly

Robinsons Bank - ₱0.00 (FREE), almost instantly

BDO mobile banking - ₱0.00 (FREE), almost instantly

MPT DriveHub

- Mobile banking (Unionbank, BDO, BPI, Metrobank, RCBC) - ₱15.00, instant

- Credit card - 1.98% of the reload amount, instant

- PayMaya - 1% of the reload amount, instant 

- WeChat Pay - 1.5% of the reload amount, instant

- QR PH - 1% of the reload amount, instant

SM store - ₱10.00 almost instantly

GrabPay - ₱12.00, almost instantly

TouchPay - ₱12.00, almost instantly

ExpressPay - ₱12.00, almost instantly 

Robinsons Malls - ₱12.00, almost instantly

GCash - ₱15.00, almost instantly

Maya - ₱15.00, almost instantly

Maybank - ₱15.00, almost instantly

BPI - ₱10 to ₱15.00, almost instantly

ShopeePay - ₱15.00, almost instantly

Bayad Online - ₱15.00 + ₱15.00, almost instantly

7-eleven - 1.5% of the reload amount, almost instantly

Sources:
- https://www.easytrip.ph/reloading
- https://help.bpi.com.ph/s/article/Is-there-a-service-fee-for-e-wallet-loading

Earning Miles on Citibank Rewards

Citibank Rewards credit card offers 1 point for every ₱30 spent. The point gets tripled if you spend it on department stores, shopping boutiques, restaurants and Cebu Pacific tickets.

Citibank has one of the most (if not the most) extensive network of airline partners in the Philippines. You can convert your points to Etihad Guest, Emirates Skywards, Air France Flying Blue, EVA Air Infinity MileageLand, Jet Airways Jetprivilege, Qantas Frequent Flier, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, British Airways Executive Club, Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles (not available as of this writing), Qatar Airways Privilege Club,Turkish Airlines Miles&Miles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus.

The conversion rate is 5 points = 1 mile. On normal spending, ₱150  will give you 1 mile. On transactions where you earn 3x rewards, ₱50 = 1 mile. A bit high if you ask me.

GCash Bills Payment Fees Update

Merchant	Fee	Test Month
Easytrip	15.00	July 2020
Globe Postpaid	FREE	March 2020
Maynilad	FREE	March 2020
Meralco	FREE	March 2020
PLDT	7.00	October 2018
PrimeWater	5.00	March  2020

=====

If you don't have GCash yet, get ₱50 GCash to buy load, pay bills, and many more. Just use my referral code DWGP8Y when you register.

Download the app: iOS / Android.  For more information on GCash, click here.

GCash Bills Payment Fees

Update:

I'm compiling my own list.

Merchant	Fee	Test Month
Easytrip	15.00	July 2020
Globe Postpaid	FREE	March 2020
Maynilad	FREE	March 2020
Meralco	FREE	March 2020
PLDT	7.00	October 2018
PrimeWater	5.00	March  2020

=====

Origina post:

I cannot find anywhere the fees GCash charges whenever you pay bills. I know they partnered with Bayad Center but there are no published rates from their sites.

GCash mentions it though in the payment page that you will be charged a convenience fee. How much? You gotta click next first.

I tried PLDT and was charged 7 pesos for it. I don't know if it's fixed or by percentage. Other bills payment are free. Like this one:

If paying PLDT bills, PayMaya is better. There's no convenience fee.

How much did you pay extra for you bills payment with GCash? Please comment below. I'll update this entry when I find a list from Globe.

=====

If you don't have GCash yet, get ₱50 GCash to buy load, pay bills, and many more. Just use my referral code DWGP8Y when you register.

Download the app: iOS / Android

For more information on GCash, click here.

BDO to PayMaya

Update 2020:

There's now an easier and more instant way of transferring funds from BDO to PayMaya—via InstaPay.

From PayMaya's website:

1. Log in through BDO Personal Banking or Mobile Banking.
2. Choose Send Money >> To Another Local Bank
3. From the drop down, choose PayMaya
4. Fill in the details
5. Enter the One Time Pin (OTP) sent to your phone or generated by your BDO Mobile App's OTP Generator
6. Confirm details

You will be notified via SMS that transaction is successful.

*There is a Php50 charge for every successful BDO to PayMaya add funds transaction via InstaPay. (Free until August 31, 2020).
*Minimum add funds amount is Php100
*Maximum add funds amount is P10,000 per transaction.

=====

Original 2018 post:

It's so easy to cash in to PayMaya via BDO. I just followed these steps from PayMaya's website:

1. Log in to your BDO Online Account and Select “Pay Bills”.
2. Choose source account and select “PayMaya” under “Company/Biller.”
3. Fill up the payment details, including the desired amount (min. P500, max. of P5,000 per day), your mobile number in PayMaya (format: 639XXXXXXXXX) and name.



Photo from PayMaya

4. Receive the confirmation message from BDO on your screen.
5. Wait for the confirmation message from PayMaya via SMS once the money has been credited to your account.

I also tried using BDO mobile app:

1. Log in to your BDO Mobile Account. Select “Pay Bills”.
2. Choose “PayMaya” under “Company/Biller.”
3. Enter the desired amount (min. P500, max. of P5,000 per day), your name and mobile number in PayMaya (format: 639XXXXXXXXX).

   
   

   
   Photo from PayMaya

4. Receive the confirmation message from BDO on your screen.
5. Wait for the confirmation message from PayMaya via SMS once the money has been credited to your account.

One of the differences I've experienced between the web and app bills payment is, subscriber number comes first before the subscriber number. I know it's minor but it disrupts my flow.

Waiting is the most annoying part. For the last two (2) transactions I did, the average was 1 hour 40 minutes for the money to be credited to PayMaya.

Get ₱50 When You Register to GCash

Sharing some love to you guys! Get ₱50 GCash to buy load, pay bills, and many more. Just use my referral code DWGP8Y when you register.

Download the app: iOS / Android

For more infrormation on GCash, click here.

Globe Rewards to SM Advantage Card/BDO Rewards Card

Photo from Google Play

If you read the reviews of Globe Rewards App at Google Play, you will notice that most of the people are dissatisfied with the app. I agree with some of the complaints, they kind of made it harder for people to redeem the rewards. Some people would prefer the old way of redeeming via SMS or USSD (*143#) since they don't have data most of the time. But I'm trying to understand Globe. They need to make this change or they will be stuck with old technology. Globe's phone apps are kinda sucky, I know. But I think they're slowly improving. Improving but very slowly. Slower than all the telcos overseas. But that's not the topic.

I downloaded the app, and tried registering. Everything went smoothly. Then when I was browsing for the rewards, it took me a while to see the reward that I always avail-bill rebates. The bill rebate now is minimum 500 points. I only have 300 points. Last time the minimum was 100. I didn't want to avail other rewards as I find it troublesome to show vouchers or SMS or whatever to their partners. The next easiest thing for me to redeem is SMAC. I tried with 130 points to test the water, and voila! It was credited to my BDO Rewards card instantly! 130 points is equivalent to 100 SMAC points by the way.

+1 for Globe on this one.

SSS Website Security

If you have an SSS account, you will notice that you have to change your password every now and then. For security purposes, they will require us to change the password every 90 days. Okay that's acceptable. Here are the two things that I find really stupid.

1. When you change password, they require the password to be at least 8 alphanumeric characters with at least 1 numeric character. Since I usually put special characters on my passwords for added complexity, I tried putting some and voila!

Why are you not allowing me to make my passwords harder to crack!

2. After successfully changing your passwords, you will receive an e-mail about it:

Dear Sir/Madam,

You have successfully updated your password.

You may now log-in to the SSS Website Member tab using the information below:
User ID: registered_user_id
Password: YOUR EFFING RAW PASSWORD

Should you encounter any problems accessing your account, please call the SSS Hotline at (632) 920-6446 to 55 (available 24 hours from Monday to Friday except during holidays) or email us at onlineserviceassistance@sss.gov.ph for assistance.

Thank you for using the SSS Website.

This is a system-generated e-mail. Please do not reply.

The f*ck is this SSS!?! You don't encrypt passwords you save on your database? Who the hell designed and developed this system? Ugh. No wonder our systems are so advanced.

Sun Life Additional Investment via BDO Bills Payment

Since August, you can already add subsequent investments to your Sun Life mutual funds through BDO Bills Payment (online and over-the-counter). Please see the published Sun Life guidelines here.

The good thing about this service is, if you're using online bills payment, you can set up a recurring payment to the mutual fund account of your choice. You don't need to enroll to the auto-invest option  and be tied to their schedule which is the 5th or the 20th of the month. Terminating the auto-investment is also easier as you don't have to fill out and submit forms. You can just stop the recurring payment.

Comparing this new service with their old way of adding investments (bank transfer to their BDO account then submit a screenshot of the transaction through Sun Link Online), I noticed the earliest period the funds can be transferred to your funds is 1 business day. If you use the old service and make it before the 12 noon cutoff, that day's NAVPS will be applied. 

Either way, both facilities are good as it gives us more ways to add investments. 

Happy investing!

GrabRewards Points to KrisFlyer Miles

Grab has recently added KrisFlyer to its list of GrabRewards partners. You can now convert GrabRewards points to KrisFlyer miles with the exchange rate depending on your tier.

Platinum members will be able to convert 11,000 GrabRewards points for 1,000 miles. Since it was just launched recently, there's an introductory double miles offer. Instead of 1,000 miles, you get 2,000 miles until October 31, 2017.

Gold, silver, and normal Grab users can exchange 12,000 GrabRewards points for 1,000 miles. The introductory offer is also applicable for these users.

I converted my points to miles and the transfer was fast. It's not instant, but it took them day. That's already good! 

Citi Thank You® Rewards Points to KrisFlyer Miles

I recently converted my Citi Thank You® points to KrisFlyer miles. The processing time is really fast. How fast? It got credited the following day! 

They mentioned in their website that the processing time usually takes up to 14 days: 

How long will it take for my ThankYou Points to post to my participating loyalty program member account after I request a transfer? 
For airline loyalty programs: It may take up to fourteen (14) days for the ThankYou Points to post to your participating airline loyalty program member accounts. 

 Good thing both Citibank and Singapore Airlines both have efficient processes.

Prestigious Credit Cards in the Philippines

I saw someone using a metal credit card a few days ago. It was my first time seeing one and got intrigued by it. I searched the internet and found out the guy is using a credit card from United Overseas Bank (UOB), a bank from Singapore.

Metal cards are the next tier of elite cards. Can we still call credit cards 'plastic'?

I checked online if there are metal cards in the Philippines but I couldn't find one. Don't fret though. There are other other cards that can be as exclusive as this for now. We will get our own metal cards soon I hope.

By exclusivity:

1. BDO World Elite™ MasterCard® - by invitation only

2. The Platinum Card® - by invitation only

3. HSBC Premier MasterCard® - must be an HSBC premier customer

By annual fee:

1.  Citi^® Prestige - 12,000

 

2.  The American Express® Gold Card - USD150 (around PHP7,500)

3.  Metrobank World MasterCard® - 6,000

Runners-up :

• The American Express® Platinum Credit Card - 5,000
• BPI Ayala Malls Amore Visa Platinum - 5,000
• BPI SkyMiles® Platnium MasterCard® - 5,000
• Citi® Platinum Visa - 5,000
• Citi^® PremierMiles Visa - 5,000
• HSBC Platinum Visa - 5,000
• Standard Chartered Priority Banking Visa Infinite - 5,000
• Cathay Pacific American Express® Elite Credit Card  - 5,000 
• American Express® Platinum Credit Card - 5,000
• BDO Diamond UnionPay - 5,000
• Metrobank Travel Platinum Visa - 5,000

Globe Mobile Internet Charging Scheme

During Globe's 3G internet infancy, they introduced two charging schemes - kb and time charging. Kb is the default, which costs PHP0.15 per kilobyte. Time charging on the other hand costs PHP5.00 per 15 minutes. I switched to time-based charging of course. I always text TIME to 1111 before I go online just to make sure I will be charged PHP5 for 15 minutes. When the bill came, I was shocked to see a PHP17k bill. What happened to my PHP1.5k credit limit? What happened to the time based charging I subscribed to?

To call their hotline and ask for reasons why I'm being charged  that much is such a painstaking ordeal. They cannot tell why I am charged per kb even though I'm on time-based charging. They told me they will escalate it to their technical department blah blah blah. After days of waiting, I didn't hear from them so I had to follow up. After calling them again, they still don't have updates blah blah blah. 

Two weeks has passed and I decided to go to a Globe business center. The Globe personnel said the same thing that I'm on time-based charging blah blah. They will escalate it to blah blah. I forgot what happened next but I remember Globe reversing the charges.

The following month, my bill is still in the thousands! I went back to the same business center and talked to the same staff. Luckily the guy remembered me. I told him I'm not stupid to switch to kb charging. Why did they introduce this stupid kb charging to begin with? To scam customers? Everything has been sorted out miraculously after a days. The charges were reversed and I'm finally charged PHP5 for 15 minutes!

Fast forward to 2016,  my internet usage suddenly got charged per MB!!! This effin charging scheme is PHP2 per mb (a reincarnate of PHP0.15 per kb). My phone plan is still the old plan and I'm not subscribed to any internet promos. Based on their website:

"If you're not subscribed to any Globe surfing promo, you will be charged P5 for 15 minutes. For a cheaper and worry-free browsing experience, Globe encourages you to subscribe to our surfing promos. Please click here to find the best surfing promo for you."

This is like 2011 again. Globe said I made a request to change to mb charging. But I didn't do anything! Then I remembered I requested for a SIM replacement. They must have changed it during that time. Sneaky paniki! But I also changed SIM card back in 2012 and it didn't affect the charging scheme. I had a hunch that something wrong will happen so I sent TIME to 1111. I'm not sure if the keyword is still valid but sent it anyway just to make sure that I'm on time-based charging.

After talking to Globe, they said I'm on both mb and time charging. How the fuck is that even possible? They won't even reverse the charges. Thank you Globe for not charging me more. You should have charged me additional 5 pesos per 15 minutes usage since my charging scheme is both mb and time.

I think I'm cursed. I'm so unlucky with our telcos. Or maybe they just really suck? Life is so miserable when these telcos are the only ones available. Don't make me start with PLDT. They deserve another blog entry.

FML.

Till my next bill!

Asus K43SV and Windows 10 Update

Long long time ago, there was a free upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7. I quickly grabbed the offer and after the update, my audio isn't working anymore. I searched the Internet for fixes and the suggestions online didn't work for me.

So last weekend, I decided to reformat this laptop once and for all. I tried downloading the iso file but since my Windows is bundled with my laptop, I had to use the recovery provided by Asus. I was expecting my recovery disk would still be Windows 7 but to my surprise, it's Windows 10! I still gave it a go and after a few hours, my machine's OS is reinstalled successfully. The best part of re-installation is the audio! There's sound now! Hallelujah!

Tap For More Points to KrisFlyer Miles

Photo from Singapore Airlines

I recently converted my TapForMore points to KrisFlyer miles. The processing time is really fast. How fast? Instant!

Singapore Airlines and iOS Passbook (Wallet)

I flew with Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Manila and vice versa. Before my flight, I used their to mobile app checkin and tried saving the boarding pass to my passbook. While I was trying to save the boarding pass, a problem occurred! I wasn't able to take the screenshot of the error but luckily, the boarding pass was added to my Wallet app!

 

On my return flight to Singapore, I noticed that the option to save it to Wallet is disabled.

Too bad I wasn't able to get one to add to my collection.

Silk Air and iOS Passbook (Wallet)

Too bad Silk Air doesn't have support for iOS Passbook. The boarding pass you get after checking in online is in PDF and cannot be loaded to your Passbook app. I hope they will support this soon since Singapore Airlines has already implemented this type of service.

Where to Buy Panasonic DJ-10A Nozzle in Singapore?

I always wanted a water irrigator since I was a kid. When I saw this Panasonic oral irrigator on sale at Isetan for $48 (U.P. $69), I quickly grabbed and bought it.

Photo from Panasonic

This thing works wonders. The only problem I have is, I can't find replacement nozzles here in Singapore. I will try scout for these nozzles for a few months. If all else fails, my last resort is to buy from Amazon.

Photo from Walmart

Update (07/01/2015)
I was able to buy the nozzle at Takashimaya. They're selling 2 nozzles for $6.90.

Tagalog Words You Should Know

I received this e-mail 8 years ago and this never fails to make me laugh. Have fun!

------

TAGALOG WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

1. BAKTOL – ang ikatlong lebel ng mabahong amoy sa kili-kili. Ang baktol ay kapareho ng amoy ng nabubulok na bayabas. Ito'y dumidikit sa damit at humahalo sa pawis, madalas na naamoy tuwing registration sa school, sa elevator o FX at sa LRT na hindi aircon.

2. KUKURIKAPO – ito ang libag sa ilalim ng boobs, madalas na namumuo dahil sa labis na baby powder na inilalagay sa katawan. Maari ding mamuo kung hindi tlga naliligo o naghihilod ang isang babae. Ang kukurikapo ay mas madalas mamuo sa mga babaeng malalaki ang joga.

3. MULMUL – buhok sa gitna ng isang nunal. Mahirap ipaliwanag kung bakit nagkakaroon ng MULMUL ang isang nunal subalit hindi talaga eto naaalis kahit bunutin pa ito, maliban na lamang kung ipa laser ito.

4. BURNIK – taeng sumabit sa buhok sa puwet, madalas nraranasan ng mga taong nagti-tissue lamang pagkatapos tumae, ang BURNIK ay mahirap alisin, lalo na kapag natuyo na ito. Ipinapayo sa mga may mga BURNIK na maligo na lamang upang ito'y maalis.

5. ALPOMBRA – kasuotan sa paa na kadalasang makikitang suot ng mga tindero ng yosi sa quiapo. Ito'y makipot na kasuotan ng paa, at manipis na swelas, mistulang sandalyas ito ng babae pero kadalasang suot ng mga lalaki, available in bl ue, red, green etc.

6. BAKOKANG – higanteng peklat, itoy madalas na dulot ng mga sugat na malaki na hindi ginagamitan ng sebo de macho habang natutuyo. Hmbes na normal na balat ang nakatakip sa bakokang, ito'y mayroong makintab na balat na takip.

7. AGIHAP – libag na dumikit sa panty o brief. nabubuo ang AGIHAP kung ang panty o brief ay suot-suot na nang hindi bumababa sa tatlong araw at kapag tinapon ang panty o brief sa dingding, ito ay hindi mahuhulog pagkat dumikit na ng kusa sa dingding.

8. DUKIT – ito ang amoy na nakukuha kung kinamot mo ang pwet mo at may sumamang amoy tae.

9. SPONGKLONG – ito'y isang bagong wikaan na nangangahulugan isang estupidong tao.

10. LAPONGGA – ito'y kahintulad sa laplapan o kaya sa lamasan.

11. WENEKLEK – ito ang buhok sa utong, na kadalasang nakikita sa mga tambay sa kanto na laging nakahubad. Meron din ang babae nito.

12. BAKTUNG – pinaikling salita ng BAKAT-UTONG.

13. BAKTI – bakat panty.

14. ASOGUE – buhok sa kilikili.

15. BARNAKOL – maitim na libag sa batok na naipon sa matagal na panahon

16. BULTOKACHI – tubig na tumalsik sa pwet kapag nalaglag ang isang malaking tae. naramdaman ito kasi tumalsik sa pisngi ng pwet ang tubig sa toilet bowl.

17. BUTUYTUY – etits ng bata.

18. JABARR – pawis ng katawan

19. KALAMANTUTAY – mabahong pangalan.

20. McARTHUR - taeng bumabalik after mong i-flush…

Philippine Airlines and iOS Passbook (Wallet)

Philippine Airlines doesn't have an app for iOS Passbook but they made it possible to add your boarding passes to the Passbook app! When you use your iPhone and check-in through their mobile site (or whatever link for mobile check-in they send in their reminder email), there will be a logo like this at the end of the check-in process:

All you have to do is click it, save it, and voila!