Just booked some flights from Jakarta to Raja Ampat and I would like to share some experiences
Not many airlines take credit cards not issued in Indonesia for payment, those that take the cards are the main ones Garuda for example but don't offer flights from Jakarta all the way to Sorong and therefore require stop over
As of today you can get from Jakarta to Sorong through Ujung Pandang (Makassar) with:
One airlines takes foreign credit cards Sriwijaya Air and offers business class with 30 Kg allowance, their booking system is a bit hard to come by but works. After you complete the transaction someone actually calls you to check the card details!
The other airlines except merpati do not offer business class
Having heard stories of cancellations without notice with Merpati I looked into punctuality of those airlines and Expressair and Sriwijaya stand out, Lion Air is also Ok as it seems.
I booked with Sriwijaya as it is the only one that takes foreign cards and can be done in advance. I choose the business class fare as it offers 30 kg allowance and big seats. Expressair is the favorite economy only carrier but they have a paper booking system so you can't book more than one month before the flight date.
Standard Economy fare is 3,480,000 IDR for economy and 7,200,000 IDR in business circa $370 or $760 for a return ticket extra weight allowance is $2.5 per Kg. Fares do go up as seats are sold for the flight in fact it cost me 8,720,000 for business and the max it goes is actually 11,080,000 IDR
I chose to book the flights direct as your liveaboard would charge a 5% handling fee on the ticket not only but the price quoted are usually higher of those you can get yourself. There are also travel agencies that I would classify as thieves as they charge double the price and ask you to pay in advance with paypal
The flight from Jakarta to Sorong is composed of two legs of 2h 15m if done through Makassar. Expressair just stops 45 minutes and then the same planes departs this gives you some reassurance the luggage will make it with you.
All the others have a change of plane. So we allowed 2h30m between the arrival to Makassar and the departure to Sorong. To do that with Sriwijaya you need to book to separate return ticktes Jakarta-Makassar and Makassar-Sorong
We also chose not to spend the day in Jakarta airport but stay in Makassar for one night still this would give us 7h30m to our international connection, the minimum suggested time is 5h between the domestic and international
Not many airlines take credit cards not issued in Indonesia for payment, those that take the cards are the main ones Garuda for example but don't offer flights from Jakarta all the way to Sorong and therefore require stop over
As of today you can get from Jakarta to Sorong through Ujung Pandang (Makassar) with:
- Merpati
- Batavia
- Expressair
- Sriwijaya
One airlines takes foreign credit cards Sriwijaya Air and offers business class with 30 Kg allowance, their booking system is a bit hard to come by but works. After you complete the transaction someone actually calls you to check the card details!
The other airlines except merpati do not offer business class
Having heard stories of cancellations without notice with Merpati I looked into punctuality of those airlines and Expressair and Sriwijaya stand out, Lion Air is also Ok as it seems.
I booked with Sriwijaya as it is the only one that takes foreign cards and can be done in advance. I choose the business class fare as it offers 30 kg allowance and big seats. Expressair is the favorite economy only carrier but they have a paper booking system so you can't book more than one month before the flight date.
Standard Economy fare is 3,480,000 IDR for economy and 7,200,000 IDR in business circa $370 or $760 for a return ticket extra weight allowance is $2.5 per Kg. Fares do go up as seats are sold for the flight in fact it cost me 8,720,000 for business and the max it goes is actually 11,080,000 IDR
I chose to book the flights direct as your liveaboard would charge a 5% handling fee on the ticket not only but the price quoted are usually higher of those you can get yourself. There are also travel agencies that I would classify as thieves as they charge double the price and ask you to pay in advance with paypal
The flight from Jakarta to Sorong is composed of two legs of 2h 15m if done through Makassar. Expressair just stops 45 minutes and then the same planes departs this gives you some reassurance the luggage will make it with you.
All the others have a change of plane. So we allowed 2h30m between the arrival to Makassar and the departure to Sorong. To do that with Sriwijaya you need to book to separate return ticktes Jakarta-Makassar and Makassar-Sorong
We also chose not to spend the day in Jakarta airport but stay in Makassar for one night still this would give us 7h30m to our international connection, the minimum suggested time is 5h between the domestic and international
