Flight options to Sorong

[jjmochi]

Would a 2.5 hour layover in Jakarta be enough to move from international arrival terminal, go through customs, and move to domestic terminal for Sorong flight? My Singapore Airlines flight to Jakarta just got cancelled and I had booked the 1.15am Air Asia flight to Sorong. So now looking at AirAsia I seem to have the option of 7.25pm-8.15pm SIN-CGK then 5h layover til flight to Sorong, or 10pm-10.50pm SIN-CGK and 2h25min layover til flight to Sorong. Liveaboard is the same day as arrival in Sorong so I'm guessing option 1 is safer? Do they check luggage all the way through or do you have to take out and recheck to go through immigration / move from T3 to T2?

On the return Batik is selling a Sorong - CGK - SIN ticket with only 1hr connection at CGK, that seems way too short but is it possible if they're selling the ticket? The other option is a 2h45min layover.

I've bought the Sorong-CGK and vice versa legs already, is it possible to add on the SIN leg to the original ticket? I assume all on one ticket is better than buying the second leg / SG Air cancelled segment separately? Or does it not make a difference since we have to switch from domestic to international terminals?

Air Asia has either moved or cancelled my Bali flight and my Tawau flight so far, so I'm kind of nervous about the Sorong flight as well... I wonder if it's less likely to be affected given there's only 1 a day.

Thx!

 

[Tippytoes12]

We did a liveaboard in Raja several years ago and an expat couple who lived in Singapore cut their layover time too tight and missed the flight to Sorong.

The whole boatload of passengers was delayed 12 hours plus and then had to detour to another port to wait for them. We missed the birds of prey and a dive under a famous jetty. When they arrived they didn’t even say sorry and of course blamed everything but themselves.

Not wanting to get stressed in such a wonderful area, nobody made a fuss publically. But everybody was really angry.

Personally I think that even five hours is not enough and you should not even think about a two hour layover. I am surprised that the boat company has not advised you to spend the night on Sorong. Think of the passengers who have come half way around the world and may have dreamed of this trip for years.

 

[Damselfish]

Definitely go with the longer layovers. Even better, change your flights to a day earlier so you can overnight in Sorong. It's not just a matter of tight connections, but the possibility of a flight simply being canceled. You’re already seeing it happen and should be nervous.

But I’m wondering what boat decided to wait and divert so much as to make major changes to an itinerary. Screwing over everyone else but the people who were late. I mean, waiting a few hours is one thing but…

 

[also_anon_dc]

But I’m wondering what boat decided to wait and divert so much as to make major changes to an itinerary. Screwing over everyone else but the people who were late. I mean, waiting a few hours is one thing but…

I'm also surprised to hear that the boat waited. If I was the delayed passenger I would fully expect the boat to leave without me.

 

[Shiqi]

Same surprise here…how did other passengers react? It doesn’t sound fair to the people who may have taken extra cost to be there on time. Can you share the name of the operator? Is it common over there?

 

[Tippytoes12]

There were some grumbles in public, but who wants to make a fuss at the start of a week in probably the best dive locations in the world ? I have seen people get incredibly stressed when things go wrong and we did not want to be that couple. It was also Christmas week !

Its not common, but does happen for example in the Red Sea if the currents are too strong or if the forecast is bad, the captain may decide that. It is safer for everybody to go back to the mainland shore.

i don’t want to name the operator publically on this board, because otherwise the trip was fantastic and the diving world is very small. The guests involved were friends of the owner !

 

[Damselfish]

Changes due to weather or other conditions are an entirely different matter.

 

[also_anon_dc]

The guests involved were friends of the owner !

Ah well that explains it!

 

[Shiqi]

Thanks for providing more details and I understand the preference for not sharing the name of the operator. Travel can get stressful, I get it and feel for the couple, nobody plan to be late.

But that is why some people buy travel insurance (to cover for the money part) and walk extra miles by planning to be there day(s) before departure or chose more expensive flights just to make sure they are there on time. In this case their effort probably went for nothing because the boat was leaving late anyways.

It also sent a message to me that the owner would do their friends a favor at other passengers’ cost. If they want to play that card at least offer some compensation to the other passengers. I think it is fair to ask the owner for it. Many people travel a long way to make it there and it is the owner’s responsibility to make the experience amazing. so I don’t see why I can’t make a fuzz when I have to swallow the cost of missing some of the great dives the first day of my trip because the owner’s friends were late for more than half a day.

I am glad your experience still turned out to be great. And thanks much for sharing

Weather or other conditions are entirely different situation.

 

[boletus1973]

Please stop buying airasia flights… they are a scammers airline totally unreliable..
They sell me a sin-Dps round trip that doesn’t exist since March 2020… one month before they finally scheduled my flights 5 hours before they original departures time.. for changing both flights they ask me 1000euros more than the 600 Payed originally… I ask a total refund, they accepted but no one know if or when my money come back..
For this situation I was forced to cancel my lionair flight bali-manado and lion refund me the same day!