Garuda Indonesia cancelled flights without notifying passengers

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How do they justify not refunding you for cancelled flights?

They rebook you, in our case on the first leg, 3 days later, the second leg 2 days earlier. If we had taken all the new flights we would have had 2 days in Ambon.....So we had no choice other than to no-show for that leg (and fly on Lion Air instead)

Why can't you challenge it with your credit card company?

Again, it was an itinerary and one price for all the legs. I did try and challenge the business class upgrade that never materialized and Chase called me back to tell me that they had gotten in touch with Garuda and I would be taken care of if I called their 800 number...They didn't mention it would take 2 month...
 
They rebook you, in our case on the first leg, 3 days later, the second leg 2 days earlier. If we had taken all the new flights we would have had 2 days in Ambon.....So we had no choice other than to no-show for that leg (and fly on Lion Air instead)



Again, it was an itinerary and one price for all the legs. I did try and challenge the business class upgrade that never materialized and Chase called me back to tell me that they had gotten in touch with Garuda and I would be taken care of if I called their 800 number...They didn't mention it would take 2 month...

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about the small print on our tickets with airlines. We pay for certain flights but they only say that they'll take us there not when or which route.
 
Another *****d up algorithm ends like "you need to go to the central office in Jakarta to get your (replace here with your purpose) " (Usually pronounced Cha-kerhh-tahh, like it was Shangri La, Babylon or some mythical city ) if by chance you are in Jakarta, the "guy in charge" will not be there, either in a meeting or at home they'll tell you, gullible human.

Thanks to remind me. That thing actually happened to us like 10 years ago - maybe more. I don't remember the company but might have been Garuda or maybe Batik. We tried to book online, their system rejected my credit card payment, but my card actually got charged! We had to go to an actual office somewhere downtown Jakarta to short things out and for us things eventually worked out. Remember my wife is Indonesian and we had days to spare in Jkt so for us it was not a big issue. But I can see how this can't be done by a lot of "bule" (foreigners)
 
Why can't you challenge it with your credit card company?

Try nusatrip for your bookings. I can't guarantee anythingbof course, but have seen others post that nusatrip refunded in such instances.

I've used them because wasn't able to book on certain Asian(Indonesian) airlines with my Canadian credit card. Whilst I was happy with nusatrip service/system, I was not able to figure out how to pre select a seat through them.

I had a "Garuda thing" and reported it to my credit card company and it was fully refunded.

We just had a "Delta thing" here in the US so we'll see how that goes.

- Bill
 
Had an April 8 flight DPS-LBJ to arrive at our boat on time for April 9 departure. 4 of us on same itinerary. Garuda notified us a week before the flight was cancelled "for operational reasons" and we could leave April 7 (not possible) or April 9 late afternoon. Again, but not possible without missing the boat or delaying the trip until the 10.
Luckily we have a friend in Makassar who went to the airport there, found an agent who could speak English AND had a whatsapp account, and put us in contact. Only 5 days later we were on a NAM flight on the proper day with extra baggage allowance (in accordance with the Garuda ticket). Stressful, but she pulled it off. The return to DPS was uneventful on Garuda and right on time. The Garuda ticket generally costs more, but lugging scuba gear (23 kg or less) PLUS 20 kg regular baggage at no extra charge is a positive. Was notified of the cancellation, probably because I booked directly with Garuda, which is easy to do even with a USA credit card.
 
My own experience is becoming clear now. Some years ago I flew into Jakarta from the USA and stayed at the transit hotel before domestic flight to Sorong on Garuda I think. I'd paid the transit people to "help me check in" which turned out to be priceless. Woke at 3:30 AM to make the 5 AM something flight to hear they had trouble checking me in. We went to the terminal to hear that I didn't have a seat!

They said the Indo domestic travel agent had never checked me in or finished the purchase or something. Could not get into the terminal to talk to the counter people since I didn't have my ticket to go through security. My Indo travel agent answered the phone (amazing!) and tried calling to fix but airline would not budge and I had no seat.

Luckily the transit hotel guy that brought me over was able to get in the terminal and talk them into giving me a seat. So I made it at the last minute onto the flight and sat in the one aisle of first class seats (my first time in first class but they were just same seats). Of course the guy next to me was hacking and coughing the whole way and I was sure I was screwed in 3 days when I would get sick but it never happened and I had a great time. So always take up any transit hotel offers for check in assistance!
 

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