The Philippines might be the most popular destination for serious men looking for overseas relationships. It's a well known fact that Asian women are the most sought after women in the online dating world (both at home and abroad). The Philippines are one of the most accessible countries in South East Asia.
The country isn't hard to get into, there is a high level of English spoken in many parts of the country, and Filipino culture has a reputation for being very family oriented.
Naturally Filipino dating sites are also the most popular in the international dating scene (with a close second being Russian/Ukrainian sites). Filipino Cupid is one of the most well known and widely used Filipino dating sites, and in this post we look at its unique features as well as give some practical tips on how to use the site to meet women abroad.
Price
Monthly Subscriptions starting at $11.67 per month
Profiles
1000's of profiles, many of which are active. Some sketchy profiles.
Security
Site is part of Cupid Media's circle of dating sites which have a good reputation, but there are a lot of would be romance scammers on it.
Allows Direct Contact?
Yes
Summary
Filipino Cupid is an international dating site aimed at connecting men around the world with women in the Philippines. It comes from a line of international and niche dating sites from the company Cupid Media.
Cupid Media has a good reputation for being an upfront company providing honest dating sites for its customers. The site runs on a monthly subscription model for payment, so there's none of the danger common on PPL dating sites.
There is an above average number of women profiles on the Filipino Cupid (when compared to other cupid sites). Use the site cautiously because there are a small but obvious percentage of suspicious profiles. Stay clear of red flags.
Cupid media doesn't provide any services outside of their online dating sites, so if you want to travel to the Philippines you'll have to arrange it on your own. Still, if you're considering looking for a serious relationship in the Philippines, Filipino Cupid is a solid choice for contacting Filipino women.
Features
Filipino Cupid functions like pretty much every other online dating site. You create an account, upload a few photos, fill out your profile information, and then browse the profiles of the women on the site. You can send signs of interest and (assuming you have a paid subscription) send messages to other members.
A walk through of the search engine used on all Cupid Media sites
App
All the features of the site are available on the Filipino Cupid mobile app as well. I actually fine the app version a little easier to use than the web one, but that's just my preference.
Subscription levels
Filipino Cupid offers 3 subscription levels for it's users: Standard, Gold, and Platinum.
Standard subscription (free)
The standard subscription is free. All that's required is your name and email address. At the standard level you can browse and search profiles, express interest, and communicate with women who have a paid subscription (most will not).
Platinum subscription
A platinum subscription gives you all the perks from the gold level in addition to providing you with some advantages over other members.
This includes things like ranking your profile over other profiles, highlighting your profile, providing more space for you to write in your profile, and (most notably) translation of messages into your native language.
Which level is the best value?
I recommend the gold level. The platinum options are okay, but they aren't essential.
Having your profile highlighted and better ranked is nice, but it isn't necessary. The translation option is less useful when communicating with Filipino women, as the general English level in the country is pretty high (the Philippines rank 13th in the world for English proficiency).
Honesty
Filipino Cupid is one of over 30 niche dating sites owned and operated by Cupid Media. The company has been in business since 2000, making it ancient in internet years.
While the company doesn't verify the info of all its members (kind of hard with over 30 million people using their sites), they do have systems in place to report scammers and suspicious behavior.
Individual users may be genuine or not, but the Cupid sites themselves have a long standing reputation of being upfront and honest and running none of the letter writing or gift buying scams that have made other international dating sites infamous.
Filipino Cupid also doesn't control your contact with other members. You are free to take the conversation off their site if you want. This is a feature that we require before we recommend any dating site.
"Negotiating through the website I see that Cupid passes my first and most important test: they allow direct contact with the women on the website. The worst type of dating agency is one that requires communication between you and the women you contact to be funneled through the agency. Most websites that limit your contact with the women that you are talking to do so because their ladies profiles are fake or they want to “lead you on” in order to get more sales from you"
Profiles
Now on to the profiles. There are a lot of women on this site. There can be as many as 2,000+ online at any given time. This is pretty high compared to other Cupid Media sites.
Most profiles have an authentic feel to them. You don't have the glitzy near pornographic photo shots that you find on scam sites. The vast majority of the women look like and sound (from their profile) like real people.
A word about fake profiles and scammers
That being said, keep your wits about you when using the site. Just because the company is honest doesn't mean all of its users are. As with any site use common sense when communicating with women online.
I made a mock profile with no photo or info (other than age and country) and received something like 20 messages in the first few hours. Most likely these are fake profiles that send automated messages to try to hook men into a typical online romance scam.
While researching for this review I came across a ton of bad reviews on Site Jabber. There you can find a lot of reviews from disgruntled men deriding the site as a total scam.
A snapshot of some of the less than stellar reviews
However the scams they mention are your typical online romance scam (we cover the details of this scam in our scam school), something that's common to many dating sites (not just international ones). Just because an individual uploads fake profiles and messages men to coax money from them doesn't mean the entire site is built to defraud you.
"I found answers from guys who shared their love stories and guys who shared how they got “scammed”. Yes, I put the word in quotes and I did it on purpose.
Filipino Cupid is a legit site. It’s operated by the reputable Cupid Media Network that exists for over 15 years and the site features way more than 1000 testimonials from Western men and Filipinas who found a partner on this site.
And then I read that the international dating company that allowed me to meet my wonderful girlfriend apparently is a scam.
Listen very carefully:
Just because you believe a woman who says "I love you" without even knowing you doesn't mean that the site is a scam.
Just because not every girl answers to your messages doesn't mean that the profiles are fake.
Just because you were naive enough to send money to a girl who you have never met in your life doesn't mean that all girls on Filipino Cupid are scammers."
To Filipino Cupid's credit, the site does try to take down fake profiles as soon as they're discovered. The problem is that as soon as one is taken off the site a new one is posted. It would be nice if their sign up process was more rigorous and prevented fake profiles before they have a chance to post on the site, but as it is shady profiles slip through the cracks.
The 20 or so profiles that sent questionable messages to me are a small fraction of the 1000's of profiles on the site. So I wouldn't write off the whole site. Just be careful, and again use common sense. Be realistic in your search (proper age range, occupation, body type, etc), avoid red flags and follow our 4 Commandments of international dating. If you do that, you can be confident about using the site.
Best way to use Filipino Cupid
If you decide you want to use Filipino Cupid to meet women in the Philippines then we recommend that you follow the process below:
Note: this example runs on a 12 week timeline. Feel free to modify it according to you needs. Just remember that the point is to contact women for the purpose of arranging dates face to face in the real world. Don't get stuck chatting to ladies for months only to never visit them!
Phase 1: 12-6 Weeks before your trip
If you plan on using Filipino Cupid then odds are pretty high that you're interested in meeting women from the Philippines.
Create a basic list of requirements
The first thing you want to do is to create a general list of criteria for the type of woman you want to meet. emphasis on the word general here. We don't mean pick out things like eye color, height, and occupation.
You should make a list of the basic requirements you'll use to sift through the 1,000s of profiles on Filipino Cupid. Things like age range, whether she has kids or not, relationship status (divorced, widowed, etc), religion, and English level should make up your list.
A Friendly Reminder: Only date women you can communicate with
Overall the Philippines has a high level of English proficiency, so this isn't as much as an issue...but we always advise men to only date women they can easily communicate with in person. Unless you know a foreign language this means dating women with a good level of English (again not a huge problem in the Philippines).
We advise this because it eliminates the need for hiring a translator; which not only saves you money, but makes you much less vulnerable to the "professional dater" type scams.
Now that you have your list, create a free basic profile on Filipino Cupid. Use your requirements to search for women on the site. Make sure that their is a good number of active women on the site who live in or near the city in the Philippines you plan on traveling to.
Verify your city and dating site
If there are enough women who meet your criteria go ahead and green light your trip and purchase your travel arrangements.
If there aren't enough women in the city you chose, try searching near a different city. With other sites I normally recommend that if you can't find enough women in the area you want to travel to, you should try a different site altogether. But in this case you shouldn't have a problem finding a decent number of members on Filipino Cupid. The site has so many active profiles.
Phase 2: 6-4 weeks before your trip
For the next two weeks you want to start putting together the pieces of your personal profile, which you will post to Filipino Cupid once you purchase a premium membership.
This part is a bit more important than most guys think. You site profile is the virtual equivalent of a first impression. Just as there are 1,000's of women on Filipino Cupid, you can bet there are a lot of men using the site too.
How to make a good (virtual) impression
You want to use your profile pics, description, and introductory letter to help you stand out from the pack.
Photos
Typically most guys on Filipino Cupid take a series of selfies on their cell phone, post them on the site, and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with having 1 or 2 natural type photos that aren't all that glamorous, but all your photos shouldn't look like that.
You can do better
To be honest you should probably avoid the whole selfie idea all together. Odds are that you know someone with a half way decent digital camera. Put on a nice shirt and have them take some shots of you.
You don't have to get too fancy with things, just get two portraits, a full body pic, and maybe a candid action shot showing you playing a sport or dressed up for a party (pick something you normally do). Putting in this little bit of extra effort will go a long way toward helping you stand out from the other guys on the site.
Profile description tips
Most profiles list desires, hobbies, interests, and something about life style. There's nothing wrong with any of that. One tip here though is to try to get specific when talking about these things.
Many guys will put that they like movies (who doesn't?), you should list some of your favorite movies or genres of film. A lot of guys might say they want a woman with family values. What if you said you value a woman who brings warmth and love to the home? Do you see the pattern here? Be honest, but also be specific.
The introductory letter
Honestly we could write an entire post on how to write an introductory letter (we probably will soon). Because you will be contacting numerous women it's best to write a general introductory letter that you can use as a template.
More or less the letter can follow this pattern. Each item should be about a paragraph long:
- 1Hello I'm....(basic biographical info: age, where you live, height, weight, lifestyle, education, career, religion, etc.)
- 2Paint a picture: Description what you enjoy about your life and lifestyle, and things you do in your city. Give the woman an glimpse into what life would be like with you.
- 3I'm looking for more: Your life is good, but you need/want a ___ woman because____.....(what attributes/character traits are you looking for?)
- 4I'm serious: Talk about how you're a man on a mission and don't want to waste time on online romance. Mention your upcoming trip and its purpose.
- 5Ask her for contact info: This is the part where you transition and ask the woman if she would be willing to contact you and see if there's any chemistry between you.
This is a general outline, but you should get the idea.
Now don't go copy and pasting this template verbatim, and then start spamming every pretty woman you see on the site. Use the template as, well....a template. You should be reading a looking over each profile you message. Incorporate something personal or specific to a woman's profile in your letter to her.
Phase 3: 4 weeks- trip date
This is where you sign up for a premium subscription on Filipino Cupid, upload your photos and personal info, and start contacting ladies.
Use the general requirements list you made earlier to inform your search. Be honest and realistic, and stay clear of any red flags.
You'll want to send out a lot of introduction letters, as not all women will respond or be interested in contacting you. If you're taking your time and reviewing each profile like you should, this could take a while.
Make sure the women know that you're planning on meeting multiple women in their city, but that you will only pursue the one you have the most chemistry with.
At this point you should know when you'll be in town so give the dates to the ladies who are interested in meeting you and start arranging dates .
Phase 4: the trip
This is where your hard work, planning, and research pay off! enjoy your dates with the ladies, and always deal honestly with them. If you feel there is chemistry between you and a woman tell her, and ask her if she feels the same way.
If you don't feel things clicking then be honest and tell the lady at the end of your date (make sure you thank her too!).
What other people say about Filipino Cupid
"As part of the Cupid Media Network, FilipinoCupid is part of a network that takes pride in protecting the information of its members. They use an advanced fraud protection system, as well as conduct regular background checks to ensure the safety of their members."
Real life stories from users
These reviews aren't officially affiliated with Filipinocupid.com. They are real couples who met on the site and have spoken about it independently.
Alternatives to Filipino Cupid
Christian Fillipina is a site designed exclusively to connect Christian men from around the world with Christian Filipino women. The site has a large selection of active profiles. The company also prides itself on being an honest international dating site.
Asian Dating is the sister site of Filipino Cupid (it's owned by the same company). Though its user base extends across many countries in Asia, there are a substantial number of active profiles from the Philippines.
I love the idea of using a site like Filipino Cupid to connect with women and then traveling to a foreign country to meet them in person. Everything from the trip planning to the logistics of staying in a new city seems pretty exciting. The whole affair is like an adventure for me. But it might not be your cup of tea. If you prefer a more secure and certain approach, and if you're willing to go to Thailand instead of the Philippians, then there may be a better option for you.
Dream Connections is an American based company started by the American/Ukrainian couple Mark and Ana Davis. Dream connections offers tours in Ukraine, Colombia, and Thailand.
The company is unique in that they function more like an introduction/matchmaking agency than a romance tour agency (which is good because I don't trust most romance tours).
Each tour has about 15-20 guys and up to (I think) 90 or so local ladies. The company screens both men and women for relational intent and basic background information.
They also feature a unique system where each man has a personal translator/personal assistant for the trip. The dating starts off with a series of short speed dating sessions after which men are free to contact interested ladies and go on dates apart from the group.
Conclusion
Filipino Cupid is one of the most noteworthy options for men looking to meet Filipino women overseas. The site has a large number of real and active profiles, and offers direct contact between members.
The site isn't totally perfect, you will run into fake profiles and romance scammers, but if you're smart you shouldn't have any problems using the site to meet honest women.