Shasta_man
Contributor
a small risk? HA HA..
Flying to Sorong - options?
- Thread starter nwflyboy
- Start date
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Thanks again, everyone.
Just to be clear - we're not going to Sarong via Bali, we'll be going through Jakarta (on the way in) and outbound to Yogyakarta.
For the inbound flight on Express Air, I'm not worried about being late (it'll be the "official" flight that's coordinated by the resort, so if it's late, they'll wait) - on that flight I'm mostly concerned about luggage restrictions. For the outbound flight (Sorong - Makassar - Yogyakarta) as long as we get there there same day, we'll be OK (scheduled arrival is early evening, so being a bit late is OK, I'm planning to just grab a taxi and will have our hotel arranged). I'm OK with taking my chances with Garuda on the last leg (Yogyakarta - Jakarta) since they have lots of flights.
A different question is: how early does one need to get to the airport in order to transfer and get checked in for an international flight?
Here in the US, I tend to obey the (excessive IMHO) airline/TSA recommendations to arrive a full 3 hours before departure for international flights. We will be flying from Yogyakarta to Jakarta on Garuda, then switching to Singapore Airlines for the international departure. There are plenty of Garuda flights to pick from, so I need to plan on how many hours to allow for that - and pad that with some extra time to allow for a late departure from Yogya.
While I have no great interest in spending much of my vacation in the Jakarta airport, we will be using a frequent flyer award ticket from there onward to get home, so if we miss the outbound Singapore flight, we would be pretty seriously hosed.
I'm figuring I need to allow about 4-5 hours between the scheduled arrival time in Jakarta (from Yogya) and the scheduled departure time (FF ticket to Singapore), thinking that should be enough time to allow for all the bureaucracy and futzing (and security and schlepping bags and...) and even some time for a late flight, but not excessively so.
Seem about right?
Just to be clear - we're not going to Sarong via Bali, we'll be going through Jakarta (on the way in) and outbound to Yogyakarta.
For the inbound flight on Express Air, I'm not worried about being late (it'll be the "official" flight that's coordinated by the resort, so if it's late, they'll wait) - on that flight I'm mostly concerned about luggage restrictions. For the outbound flight (Sorong - Makassar - Yogyakarta) as long as we get there there same day, we'll be OK (scheduled arrival is early evening, so being a bit late is OK, I'm planning to just grab a taxi and will have our hotel arranged). I'm OK with taking my chances with Garuda on the last leg (Yogyakarta - Jakarta) since they have lots of flights.
A different question is: how early does one need to get to the airport in order to transfer and get checked in for an international flight?
Here in the US, I tend to obey the (excessive IMHO) airline/TSA recommendations to arrive a full 3 hours before departure for international flights. We will be flying from Yogyakarta to Jakarta on Garuda, then switching to Singapore Airlines for the international departure. There are plenty of Garuda flights to pick from, so I need to plan on how many hours to allow for that - and pad that with some extra time to allow for a late departure from Yogya.
While I have no great interest in spending much of my vacation in the Jakarta airport, we will be using a frequent flyer award ticket from there onward to get home, so if we miss the outbound Singapore flight, we would be pretty seriously hosed.
I'm figuring I need to allow about 4-5 hours between the scheduled arrival time in Jakarta (from Yogya) and the scheduled departure time (FF ticket to Singapore), thinking that should be enough time to allow for all the bureaucracy and futzing (and security and schlepping bags and...) and even some time for a late flight, but not excessively so.
Seem about right?
JudyG
Registered
A different question is: how early does one need to get to the airport in order to transfer and get checked in for an international flight?
I would leave at least 3 hours for your connection time, longer if possible. Indonesian domestic flights are often delayed/cancelled due to weather, equipment issues etc. If you miss your connection to your international carrier, you will be left scrambling as they take no responsibility for missed connections that are not on the same ticket. Our strategy for Indonesia has always been to plan an overnight stay near the airport when connecting to our international flights home, to leave a buffer for Indonesian airline fubars. The airport hotel (in the terminal) at Jakarta Airport is clean, quite nice and budget-minded for a quick overnight. For a longer stay, you might prefer the Sheraton Bandara - they run a free shuttle - the hotel is about 10 minutes from the international terminal, and has a very nice pool area, restaurants and spa.
Also, we recently flew Express Air from Sorong to Jakarta via Makassar. These were the worst flights we have ever been on - the 737 appeared to be significantly overweighted departing Sorong (plus it was very hot and humid), and there was a moment that we really thought they would not get the thing off the ground before hitting the end of the runway (after which there is water). Once upon a time I was a flight attendant, and I do not recall ever taking that long to get the nose up on a 737. Make sure your seats are not in the back of the bus - the stench from the toilets was unspeakable, and there are no overhead bins over the last two rows, so you will be fighting for space farther forward for your carry on stuff. As someone else mentioned the legroom is unbelievably tight. I would look into the cost to upgrade to Business Class - they do not have a separate cabin, just a row of more spacious seats, but I wonder if by the time you pay the baggage overages you might have been better to book Business where you get a larger allowance.
The checked baggage allowance for the 737 flights on Express Air was 20kg per person - overages are very expensive - we paid $100 for our 25 kg of overweight.
Fwiw, we were told by a Canadian living for several years in Indonesia that some of the airlines (Garuda and Lion Air) will give you an extra 10 kg of allowance if you tell them that you are checking your dive gear. This worked for us Manado to Ambon via Makassar on Lion Air, where we checked in an extra bag at no charge. Ymmv.
You do know it is a long, fairly exposed ride out to Misool right? Your wife will want to make sure she takes some serious seasickness meds. The area is very, very beautiful, and the diving even more so.
I hope this helps,
Judy
I would leave at least 3 hours for your connection time, longer if possible. Indonesian domestic flights are often delayed/cancelled due to weather, equipment issues etc. If you miss your connection to your international carrier, you will be left scrambling as they take no responsibility for missed connections that are not on the same ticket. Our strategy for Indonesia has always been to plan an overnight stay near the airport when connecting to our international flights home, to leave a buffer for Indonesian airline fubars. The airport hotel (in the terminal) at Jakarta Airport is clean, quite nice and budget-minded for a quick overnight. For a longer stay, you might prefer the Sheraton Bandara - they run a free shuttle - the hotel is about 10 minutes from the international terminal, and has a very nice pool area, restaurants and spa.
Also, we recently flew Express Air from Sorong to Jakarta via Makassar. These were the worst flights we have ever been on - the 737 appeared to be significantly overweighted departing Sorong (plus it was very hot and humid), and there was a moment that we really thought they would not get the thing off the ground before hitting the end of the runway (after which there is water). Once upon a time I was a flight attendant, and I do not recall ever taking that long to get the nose up on a 737. Make sure your seats are not in the back of the bus - the stench from the toilets was unspeakable, and there are no overhead bins over the last two rows, so you will be fighting for space farther forward for your carry on stuff. As someone else mentioned the legroom is unbelievably tight. I would look into the cost to upgrade to Business Class - they do not have a separate cabin, just a row of more spacious seats, but I wonder if by the time you pay the baggage overages you might have been better to book Business where you get a larger allowance.
The checked baggage allowance for the 737 flights on Express Air was 20kg per person - overages are very expensive - we paid $100 for our 25 kg of overweight.
Fwiw, we were told by a Canadian living for several years in Indonesia that some of the airlines (Garuda and Lion Air) will give you an extra 10 kg of allowance if you tell them that you are checking your dive gear. This worked for us Manado to Ambon via Makassar on Lion Air, where we checked in an extra bag at no charge. Ymmv.
You do know it is a long, fairly exposed ride out to Misool right? Your wife will want to make sure she takes some serious seasickness meds. The area is very, very beautiful, and the diving even more so.
I hope this helps,
Judy
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