Batik Air VS Garuda VS Lion Air

[Dan]

JFK-CGK all on Cathay Pacific? Did you check price & connectons? Will Cathay check baggage thru to CGK on Air Asia?
For AMQ-CGK I'd suggest Garuda. Garuda shows an extra 23kg baggage allowance for scuba gear for FREE (in addition to the normal 20kg).
Within Indonesia Garuda is my airline of choice, Lion is second.

Good point about the extra baggage allowance for diving bags. I used it in my last trip from Denpasar to Sorong 3 months ago.

 

[Dan]

SOB!!!!!

The 10 airlines you should avoid in 2016

Didn't know their airlines were so bad. I picked my flights based on the time. Nothing else.

NAM is the only airline that operates nonstop flights from Jakarta.

NAM = Sriwijaya

 

[Dan]

It seems I have 3 Airlines choices to fly from Ambon to Jakarta (AMQ - JKT).

I would appreciate any feedback on these airlines. I was thinking about booking with Batik because the business class seat is only $40 more than economy. But if Batik is like Spirit Airlines in the US, I would avoid it like a mosquito with Malaria and zika combined.

Just notice I will be using different airlines for each leg of my trip.

1) JFK - SIN = Cathay Pacific
2) SIN - CGK = Air Asia
3) CGK to SOQ = NAM Airlines
4) SOQ to AMQ =Garuda
5) AMQ to JKT = TBD
6) CGK to JFK = Cathay Pacific

Air Asia sucks too. Another option is to use Singapore Airlines on #2 from Singapore to Denpasar. Then take Garuda from Denpasar to Sorong via Makassar. That's what I did 3 months ago.

 

[Wingy]

If you are going to fly around Indo you will have to drop the mindset of worrying about what is on lists....Other than Susi air and the crappy service with Lion air you will get there...To put those lists in Perspective remember Air Madagascar have a 4.5/7 listing..and their own staff even call them air Maybe. They dont crash cos they dont fly if they dont want to. Having said that, I usually fly Garuda because I like their inflight magazine.

 

[charlier]

As a member of the Wingy fan club, her comments are always helpful. While traveling in Indonesia, I try to arrange my flights mostly based on schedule and convenient connections. Although Garuda is a better run airline, canceled flights are not uncommon. If I had to fly from the USA to Indonesia, I would try to travel through Singapore or Denpasar.

Wingy, your profile shows 0-24 dives - Did we go back in time? ;-)

 

[Wingy]

getting mysterious Charlier..I really have no idea how many dives I've done..but i do know i've done them in some interesting places - thank you for your kind comments...we really must catch up for a dive one day. Will email you re developments in another part of the world you may find interesting.

 

[Tippytoes12]

We have been fortunate to have done numerous trips to Asian countries for diving , Indonesia and the PHilippines in particular. Both countries have thousands and thousands of islands , so literally tens of thousands of flights take off and land in very challenging situations. The overwhelming majority do so without incident.....they may be late and you will almost definitely experience the interesting approach to customer services on Indonesian airports , but you will get there.

Don't fret about this, as you know the diving is beyond awesome ...have a wonderful trip .

 

[Mike Veitch]

As another Indo resident and frequent flier I also always try to fly Garuda if/when I can especially because of the luggage allowance thing. Batik better option than Lion, I am not tall and I bang my knees in the seat in front of me on Lion, Batik offers much more space.

 

[LembehR&Critters]

For domestic flights in Indonesia, Garuda is the first choice, and second one is Citilink (Garuda's sister airlines).

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Garuda should be ok.

Lion, Citilink, Sriwijaya, and Batik are all serviceable - depending on how much one is used to the idiosyncrasy of travel in Indonesia. But due to the luggage allowance, flying the major airlines instead of budget airlines is more recommended for dive trips.

The Indonesians don't mock Lion Air as "Lateness Is Our Nature" for nothing.