Via Philippines Arranges Online Booking With Bus Liners

Our islands’ tourist destinations are increasing yearly. But not all are accessible by sea or air alone. Our people still relies on buses for provincial travels because the terminals are nearer and the fares are cheaper than ship or plane fares.

(L-R) Christine Guevarra(JAM and Philtranco VP for Marketing), Dennis Trajano(JAM and Philtranco President and CEO), Maricar Chao(Via Phils. Sales and Marketing Manager), and Leonora Wenceslao(Via Phils. Finance Manager).

 Every year, bus passengers have trouble getting a ride during Holy Week and Holiday seasons. The short span of time between transitions from work to book at terminals takes most of the time to book on weekends. People tend to get stranded on bus terminals just to wait for a vacant bus seats.

Via Philippines, the country’s travel portal, just signed a contract last February 14 with bus liners JAM and PHILTRANCO for online booking. Since most plane and ship fares are now done online, it is not unusual to book provincial bus seats in the internet. Usually booking a bus seat is arranged in the terminals but most can’t afford to make the arrangement because of the work hours.

The contract between Via Philippines and the bus liners entitles 4 seats per bus ride will be available for online booking. This will lessen the burden to book at the terminal especially during peak seasons. It will also be easier for those who scheduled flights because there will be coordinated bus trips available for those who are booked at Clark. This is also good in case of emergency to know if the passenger/s used the scheduled bus ride if there are some unforeseen circumstances like what happened recently.

Via Philippines is making it easier not just for travelers but also for businesses. They provide portal for travel agencies and hotel establishments to have direct access for booking flights online. I was privilege to see that Via Philippines has booking agents available 24/7. It will also help hotel and lodging establishments to see who are the legitimate travel agencies you coordinate with. Via Philippines already has 50,000 partners and operates not only here in the Philippines but also in India, Indonesia, Singapore and Brazil.

Via Philippines’ partnership with Jam and Philtranco is just the start. It only has specific destinations but this will open opportunities to other bus liners with different routes to give online booking an option. To know more about, visit and like Via Philippines on Facebook.

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