On Booking Plane Tickets via Debit Card

For the past five years, I’ve been using my Unionbank EON Card for personal and business transactions. It all started when I signed up with Paypal account and needed to withdraw my funds. I consider it as my first real bank account. I remember being giddy and excited everytime the funds I withdrew from Paypal would reflect after 3-5 working days.

I started accepting freelance online gigs after college and clients started asking me on how they can pay me in the fastest way possible. I’d ask them to deposit the payments through my debit card.

Then I entered the corporate world. I received another debit card where my salary is automatically credited every payday. Some of my officemates signed up for a credit card, but I didn’t since I can’t see the need to do so. I also heard some stories about people who cannot really control the urge to ‘swipe’ it whenever they’re in the grocery or department stores with no limits. I use my debit card as cash sometimes and the best thing I like about it is that I wouldn’t be liable later on to pay extra debts. I call it my e-wallet.

While in Tacloban, I talked to a friend who is currently working in the UK. She told me that her credit rating was checked before she was able to purchase a cable and internet subscription. I do admire on how she is able to manage her finances since she started working abroad. I think she learned from her sister’s experience.

With the revelation that I do not have my own credit card, I find it a bit hard to book for plane tickets. It’s either I ask a friend with a credit card to book flights for me or do the over-the-counter payments, which is not offered by all airlines. It can also be an unreliable option for emergencies. A good blogger friend told me recently that the other budget airline companies now offers debit card payments and I tried it when I needed to book flights (Tacloban-Cebu and Cebu-Manila). I’m just glad that it worked!

It is a big relief on my part that debit cards are now accepted for several online transactions like in booking flights without worrying too much. Overspending can be avoided when you’re using a debit card. With this discipline, I have a feeling that it will lead me to a debt-free life. Also, I want to have a good credit rating since I am thinking of pursuing a business soon. When I focus on one thing, I make sure that I’d produce good results. I have to study more on the business aspect. Wish me luck 😀