Getting to Raja Ampat

[SteveM54]

I'm trying to plan a liveaboard trip (10-17 days on the "boats") to the Raja Ampat area for Jan. - Feb or March of '25.
My once in a life time trip !!!!

Starting in St. Louis, Mo.
Going through Seattle - Taipei -Jakarta - then Sorong.
That's 11,873 flight miles over 67 hours in airports - traveling alone.
Kind of "dicey" but do-able.
I'm concerned about being totally worn out from the ride just getting there (just hit 70) & then having to sleep for three days just to recover from the "jet lag".
So if anyone else has had this type of experience, please share your ideas with me as to:
1. Did you stop for a "day or three" somewhere & dive or tour or just rest or ????
2. What liveaboards did you like or not ? Found one that has a 7 day & then the next trip is 10 more days = 17 days back to back.
3. I have the time to add a week on the front end of this trip so ideas & comments would very much be appreciated.

I don't care about on the way home but on the to Raja Ampat - I'm worried about: delayed luggage, lost gear & just being wiped out.
Thanks

 

[Dan]

Ipad on their app. Will compare to computer.

I just bought Singapore Airlines (SQ) tickets for my January 2025 trip to Raja Ampat. When I first looked via SQ app in my iPhone, SQ quoted $3000 for IAH-CGK roundtrip on premium economy. Then I looked it up in Expedia, they quoted me for $2550. Then I went to SQ website on my laptop (Windows 11), I got the same $2550. So I bought the ticket from SQ website on my laptop.

The final cost is $2626 after purchasing the seats. Any rate, it’s still $374 cheaper than if I buy it through the SQ App on my iPhone. I don’t understand what’s going with that.

 

[Dan]

There is Spring Specials deal going on now on Singapore Airlines,

 

[Plutonist]

I've never been able to use a Visa card on the Lionair site

It is wild how different my personal and the common Indonesia experiences are.
I recently booked LionAir, Wings and Garuda flights from Europe with my Visa card without any problems.
Moreover, I rebooked the LionAir flight directly in Indonesia using a Telkomsel SIM and my Visa card, because a connecting flight was cancelled. The whole process cost me less than 10 min, a surprisingly small amount of money and was very transparent.
Online check-in and baggage drop worked flawlessly on all flights. I distinctly surpassed the booked baggage weight on the Wings flight (stupid planning from my side) and the person at the counter didn't even bat an eye.
So all in all, apart from the cancelled flight, a surprisingly smooth experience. Not sure what to make of this.

 

[Dan]

It is wild how different my personal and the common Indonesia experiences are.
I recently booked LionAir, Wings and Garuda flights from Europe with my Visa card without any problems.
Moreover, I rebooked the LionAir flight directly in Indonesia using a Telkomsel SIM and my Visa card, because a connecting flight was cancelled. The whole process cost me less than 10 min, a surprisingly small amount of money and was very transparent.
Online check-in and baggage drop worked flawlessly on all flights. I distinctly surpassed the booked baggage weight on the Wings flight (stupid planning from my side) and the person at the counter didn't even bat an eye.
So all in all, apart from the cancelled flight, a surprisingly smooth experience. Not sure what to make of this.

You are from Europe. The problem is for credit cards from USA, except American Express card, sounds like.

Luckily for us, Garuda & NusaTrip accept our US credit cards.

 

[cetacean]

It is wild how different my personal and the common Indonesia experiences are.
I recently booked LionAir, Wings and Garuda flights from Europe with my Visa card without any problems.
Moreover, I rebooked the LionAir flight directly in Indonesia using a Telkomsel SIM and my Visa card, because a connecting flight was cancelled. The whole process cost me less than 10 min, a surprisingly small amount of money and was very transparent.
Online check-in and baggage drop worked flawlessly on all flights. I distinctly surpassed the booked baggage weight on the Wings flight (stupid planning from my side) and the person at the counter didn't even bat an eye.
So all in all, apart from the cancelled flight, a surprisingly smooth experience. Not sure what to make of this.

@Plutonist

There is no mystery here. The vast majority of US-based banks will block online charges for virtually any company in Indonesia (as well as a number of other countries). This is due to high amount of fraud for charges originating in Indonesia. This is (in part) why payment systems like Wise have emerged.

Clearly European banks don't share this same risk view.

Garuda's site is one of the number that are considered trusted, so transacting on that site usually is fine. It's also worth noting that there is difference between trying to transact from the US on an Indonesian site, vs. being in Indonesia, transacting on an Indonesian site (these are different risk profiles taken into account when a credit card transaction request is received). BTW - sometimes using a VPN to make a transaction "look" local can help, however your bank may look at the location history to deem whether you trying to transact in Indonesia is something that is "normal."