Baguio City is a long way from the other main airport in the Philippines. The nearby airport is not open yet and you cannot fly there.
The only way to get there from major cities such as Clark and Manila is by overland express bus.
How to take an express bus…?
When can I make a reservation…?
Are there any buses at night? Is the waiting area safe…?
To answer these questions, we will explain how to ride and make reservations for the “Joy Bus”. This is an express bus that connects Baguio to various destinations.
This information is based on a late-night departure in June 2025, when we used this service to travel from Baguio to Manila Airport in the early morning.
If you’re thinking about flying to Clark Airport, check out this article.
What is Joy Bus?
Joy Bus is a bus operated by Genesis.
It is characterized by its bright blue buses and offers routes from Baguio to Manila Airport and Clark Airport.
The number of buses operates every hour. It is easy to make a schedule according to flight times.
However, details are frequently updated. For example, the terminal to go through, the grade of the bus, and other details other than the time are subject to change.
It is best to check directly at the bus terminal, as they are often not updated on the website.
Here is the map for the Joy Bus Terminal in Baguio.
If you can’t make it to the location, you may also check our Facebook page for information. Search for “joy bus baguio” on Facebook and sort by date. You should see the new timetable.
Timetable & Fees
Here is the latest Baguio to Manila Airport timetable for June 2025.
NAIA means Ninoy Aquino Airport, or Manila Airport. You can see that there are direct buses to each of Terminals 1, 2, and 3.
Here is the timetable posted at the bus terminal.
Quite a few flights are available from early morning to late at night.
This timetable may be easier to read because the information is scattered up and down, making it difficult to understand.
Also written next to the time is the grade of the bus.
“GENESIS DELUXE“ has three rows of seats and ”JOUBUS PREMIERE” has four rows of seats.
In the Philippines, some buses still don’t have air conditioning. But don’t worry, all of our buses have air conditioning.
How to take Joy Bus (Reservation)
From here, will explain how to use the Joy Bus by following the actual procedure.
I used it to go from Baguio to Manila airport to catch a flight to Japan.
Decide which bus to use
The first step is to decide on a bus.
What time should we book the bus in the first place?
I would recommend taking the bus 8 hours before your flight.
It takes about five hours to get from Baguio to Manila by bus. If you are flying abroad, most people think you should get to the airport three hours before your plane is due to leave.
To avoid any problems, it’s best to buy your plane ticket eight hours before you plan to leave.
In my case, I had an early morning flight at 8:00 a.m. so I decided to book a flight leaving at midnight.
But you can make small changes to it. You can book the bus several hours before you want to travel, in case you are not sure you will make it on time. You can also choose your preferred departure time.
Reserve a bus
It is said that bus reservations can be made two weeks prior to the boarding date.
There are two ways to make a reservation
- Online Booking
- Reservations at the bus terminal
Online Booking
You can also make a booking with Joybus online, which is unusual for the Philippines. You can also pay by credit card.
We are concerned about whether the reservations have been made properly because of where the Philippines is, but so far we have not received any reports of incomplete reservations, so it is probably safe to assume that they have been made.
IWant Seat (https://www.iwantseats.com/)
However, there is a possibility of trouble with payment due to the security of credit card companies on the Japanese side.
In that case, ask for help from the language school staff or make a reservation at the bus terminal counter in a mature manner.
Reservations at the bus terminal
For this trip, I booked at the local counter. The location is the bus terminal near SM Mall, which I told you about earlier.
It was a little after noon on Saturday when I visited. Since it was a holiday, there was a line of about 20 people at the counter.
I was in the queue for about 30 minutes. Customers were arriving one after another, so be prepared to wait this long if you are visiting on a holiday.
When it was my turn and I tried to inform them of my flight reservation, I was handed the following paper.
You will need to write the date and time of your reservation, and the name of the person making it, on this form.
I chose the “DELUXE” grade bus to Terminal 3 at midnight. The price was 740 pesos.
After I paid, I was given a receipt that also served as a boarding pass. To be honest, the handwriting is not very clear, but this completes the reservation.
How to take Joy Bus (How to ride)
Well, let’s visit the bus terminal again when the date and time for boarding the bus is approaching. There are about 30 waiting seats next to the ticket counter.
This is the scene before midnight.
As you can see, there are many people and the lights are bright, so the security situation seems to be safe. You will be able to wait in peace until your bus arrives.
There should be several buses parked at the terminal. There are two key points to identify the bus you will board.
- Check the bus number
- Check destination guidance
Check the bus number
A whiteboard near the waiting area lists the bus numbers.
For a bus departing at 0:00, you can see that you should take the bus with the number “8707”.
Remember that the number here is for the car body, not the license plate.
In this case, the last four digits of the vehicle body numbers match, so we know it is correct.
Check destination guidance
There is also a way to check the destination of a stopped bus to see if it is the bus you will be on. Here is a point to look at.
NAIA is the name of the airport in Manila. Find the right bus and show your ticket to the staff. They will stow large luggage in the luggage compartment and tell you to wait inside.
It seemed that the bus I was boarding had already arrived at the terminal 30 minutes earlier.
Joy Bus Use Report
I will now describe what the car condition was.
From boarding to departure
The bus I used this time was the DELUXE (4-row seats) departing at midnight on weekdays to Manila Airport. There were about 50 seats and it was almost full.
The bus seating area and space is as follows. It was a standard grade bus, but the seating area was cleaner than I expected.
There is no free service of water or snacks, which is common overseas. There are no restroom breaks along the way, and we are heading to Manila at once.
Departure
The bus left at the scheduled time.
Soon after we started driving, the lights went out and it was dark inside the car. The car was quiet inside, so it was a good place to have a sleep.
Also, the temperature inside the car is fine.
Buses in the Philippines can get very cold because the air conditioner is set very strong. This time, however, the bus kept the temperature just right until the end of the trip.
Arriving in Manila
There were no problems or passengers getting on and off along the way, and we headed smoothly to Manila. The first point of arrival was CUBAO.
I arrived here at 3:40 a.m. I was in Manila in less than four hours.
It was a late-night flight, so there was no traffic, which made it go well.
There was a 15 minute wait at this CUBAO. Maybe they had a specific time to enter the airport and were adjusting the timing.
I arrived at Manila Terminal 3 at 4:15 a.m. Still, it was much earlier than I had expected.
Inside Manila Airport to Departure
Joy Bus arrives at the Arrival Area of Terminal 3.
In the past, visitors had to go through security checks just to enter the airport, but now they can come and go as they want.
There is also a currency exchange at the arrival area.
It was open even early in the morning, so if you have a large amount of money left over, you can use it to settle your pesos.
After taking the escalator up about two levels, you will see a depature area with airline counters.
As the sign in the back says “Non-passengers are not allowed in this area,” you need to prove that you are a passenger at the airport on the same day to enter this area.
Show your e-ticket for the day, etc.
Then, check in at the respective airline counters.
It was early in the morning, but there was a huge line at the Cebu Pacific counter. I guess it is better to have enough time.
On the other hand, the AirAsia counter was scrambled because it was more than 3 hours before the flight. I arrived too early, but it was better than waiting in line for a long time.
After baggage check-in, baggage inspection, and passport control, you are ready to leave the country.
If you are returning to Japan and have not yet registered for Visit Japan, use the time you have to wait to do so.
Summary
I have provided information on how to use Joy Bus (Joy Bus) as of June 2025.
Can you get an idea of how to get from Baguio to Manila airport and how to take a bus?
International students do not have much to think about once they arrive in the Philippines, as most use the school’s pick-up van.
But you will have to make your own plans for the way back, which I hope you will do with this example.
Please note that if there is a holiday on the same day, Joy Bus may not be able to make a reservation for you.
In that case, use another bus company, Victory Liner.
Victory Liner has more flights, and it’s easier to change the time. But remember that it is not directly connected to the airport. When you arrive at the bus terminal in Manila, you will need to get a taxi.
Unlike Baguio, Manila has some concerns about security and dealing with rip-offs.
If you are a little concerned about safety, it is better to use the Joy Bus, which is directly connected to the airport, even if you have to move the date and time.