[Latest Info] How I Easily Transferred Between Terminals at Manila Airport (Ninoy Aquino International Airport)

My destination this time was not Manila, but Cebu Island. Therefore, I needed to transfer from Terminal 1, where ZIPAIR arrives, to Terminal 3 for Cebu Pacific at Manila Airport.
Terminals 1 and 3 are the furthest apart, and walking between them is impossible. Thus, the only options are the free shuttle bus or Grab.
Since most taxis are scams, taking a taxi is not an option.

Is Manila Airport (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) really the worst?

No matter which blog post you read or if you ask an AI, you get the same answer.

• You need at least 4 hours for a transfer in Manila, otherwise it's dangerous

• Taxis or Grab are better than the free shuttle bus

• A two-hour transit is almost impossible

• If you take the shuttle, you might get stuck in traffic and it could take over an hour

I had received many horror stories and recommendations that 5 hours were necessary, so I think most people ensure at least 4 hours of transit time.

However, the reality was anticlimactic, and I want to share how I was able to transfer easily for two years in a row.

First, last year, I was flying from ANA to Cebu Pacific, so it was the same Terminal 3. Even so, it was said that Manila Airport is the worst airport in the world, so you couldn't feel safe without 4 hours. Therefore, I also played it safe and secured 5 hours.
However, ANA arrived on time, and immigration was a breeze, so I succeeded in transferring from international to domestic in 30 to 40 minutes. In the end, I ended up having to kill 4 and a half hours. Well, I suppose that's because it was a transfer between the same terminals.

My experience this time, which was a breeze with the free shuttle

And this time, I had to move from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. The more I researched, the more fear I felt. I was overcome with anxiety, haha.

Is 4 hours really enough? Even the AI told me that 4 hours was cutting it close and recommended Grab instead of the free shuttle.

So, I made a plan to set a time limit: if the bus didn't depart by 14:30, I would immediately switch to Grab.
This is because the AI told me that 14:30, two and a half hours before my 17:05 Cebu Pacific flight, was the time limit.

However, that's not what happened.
ZIPAIR arrived almost on time before 13:00, and perhaps because digitalization like eTravel has progressed, immigration was finished in no time.

When I exited, there was a 'Transfer Bus' sign diagonally in front of me. When a staff member asked me 'Which terminal?', I replied 'Terminal 3', and they said something like 'Wait here'. I felt that this was completely different from what was written in some blogs.

Furthermore, the next bus came in about 10 minutes and I was able to board. Moreover, the staff member was very efficient, carefully counting and guiding people in the order they arrived, so no one who came later cut in line, and I was able to board with peace of mind.

The bus arrived in 10 to 15 minutes, just as the initial information stated. I arrived at Terminal 3 at 13:30, just 30 minutes after ZIPAIR arrived, haha!!!

And, and, this is the latest information. Most information suggested that during the day, buses come every 30 minutes, and depending on the timing, you might wait for over an hour, butin reality, the system had been changed to every 15 minutes! Even the AI didn't have this information.

In short, AI doesn't know everything; it's a compilation of past information.
Therefore, if old information is the standard, it will summarize that information and provide an old answer. You must be careful that it is not necessarily the latest content.

And much of the information is from the past. Especially people who answer on Yahoo! Chiebukuro will tell you about the old days when things were at their worst, like 'When are you talking about?'
Of course, you can't predict flight delays, and LCCs might be pushed back and delayed. Therefore, it's not guaranteed that everyone will succeed like I did. So, it is safer to have some leeway, but in reality, you might end up feeling anticlimactic like I did.

In the first place, a minimum of 4 hours for a transit is unheard of at other airports. Usually, two hours is enough. Well, perhaps the bad rumors about Manila Airport—that the distance between terminals is so great that in the past there were delays, traffic jams, buses not coming, and taxi scams—have resulted in this negative impact on information.
Times are constantly evolving, and systems are improving, so it goes without saying that information also needs to be constantly updated.