high cost of domestic air travel in Indonesia.

[cetacean]

@Luko

Having recently flown from both Jakarta-Sorong (return) as well as DPS-LBJ (return) we were overweight on every flight (sometimes significantly). Like you, both me and my two children are u/w photographers (with DSLR-sized housings, etc.), along with 5 strobes, both macro & w/a ports, clamps & arms, etc. For my son and I we had ~75kg of checked luggage (+ backpacks with cameras, laptop, etc.)

We chose to fly business class inside Indonesia and never paid overweight on any flight (it was close on the return flight from LBJ, but we were able politely mention they did not charge on the originating flight).

This will not help on Lion/Wings but worked for us... headed for Triton Bay next year (LOB departure) - the Sorong-KNG flight will be problematic.

 

[Luko]

We chose to fly business class inside Indonesia

As much as I love Business class on Long Haul flights, I don't care much with domestic business (which are for the best premium-eco comfort level)
We're quite flexible so we can always find days/schedule with economy seats that are much less expensive even including luggage charge than business fare.

as DPS-LBJ (return)

This one is a piece of cake. Lot of flight choice on the Nusa Tenggara Timur route to LBJ or KOE.
It is still is affordable.

the Sorong-KNG flight will be problematic.

Yep, so far so good... and suddenly that's the flight segment that hurts.

 

[Dan]

With all due respect, you're not a real photographer Dan.
Once you have the serious equipment (aluminium housing, multiple strobes, arms and floaters, domes, wet lenses, macro ports, torchlight etc.) you cannot put that stuff in your carryon, every year going twice to Indo, I am carrying 62-65kgs of checkin luggage plus a backpack with my computer, batteries, camera and lenses (10kg) and my wife carryon (5-7kg) , and she's even not a diver, hence it's all my equipment she might only take 10-15kgs at most of the whole!

LIkewise, the current prices of the flights to Kaimana steered me away from going to Triton bay. We're 2 people and in the end, domestic flights would have cost us 1600€, (more than what we pay for the long haul flights!) We'te talking almost about Palau or PNG connecting flights price level.
Garuda has gone nuts, I still have 400€ coupons from them since COVID cancelations that I cannot use since their revenue management has been going overboard, hence I always find way cheaper alternatives! As much as I despise them, the Lion Air group is finally the only affordable carrier... I am going to leave them 200€ on luggage for return flights to R4 this august, but in the end I cannot find better.

I understand your dilemma and got me curious to check around. I read in Jakarta Post news for baggage allowance weights for Lion Air & Wings Air were 20 kg and 10 kg, respectively back in 2019, Lion Air, Wings Air to charge for checked baggage - The Jakarta Post. Don’t know what their baggage allowance policy in 2023.

Also, found a huge table of access luggage fees for all Wings Air flights, https://www.lionair.co.id/docs/defa...price-list-iw---28jun23.pdf?sfvrsn=5c556cb4_2 and for Kaimana- Sorong (KNG-SOQ), as shown in the table, below (with footnote that says the fee doesn’t include surfboard or bicycle), was Rp.25,000/kg. So, for 25 kg, it’s only Rp.625,000 or $42, not €180 that @ppina mentioned upthread.

Someone who has been there recently like @JohnN may verify if this is still true.

What I plan to do, for my crossing trip Sorong-Kaimana in January 2025, is to buy a roundtrip Jakarta-Sorong on Garuda and one way ticket from Kaimana to Sorong on chicken Wings Air. We’ll see if that works in minimizing the excess luggage fees.

 

[Dan]

I found Lion Air baggage allowance policy for 2023. The Lion Air is still the same (20kg), Batik Air (30kg), and Wings Air is now ZERO kg.

Free Baggage Allowance

Hi Valued Customer! Free Baggage Allowance is a baggage quota with a certain amount given to passengers, according to the airline ticket purchased. Free baggage concept: *Weight concept: free baggage determined based on a certain ba...

lionairgroupsupport.freshdesk.com

 

[Dan]

Lion Air excess baggage webpage:

Prepaid Baggage

You can find the links to excess baggage price list tables for Lion Air, Wings Air, Batik Air for all routes by scrolling down the above webpage to the paragraph that says:
“For more information regarding prepaid baggage pricelist per destination please click and download here:

Baggage Price List Lion (JT)
Baggage Price List Wings Air (IW)
Baggage Price List Batik Air (ID)
Baggage Price List Super Air Jet (IU)”

The tables would pop up when you tab on for example:
“Baggage Price List Wings Air (IW)”

$1.67 / kg for KNG-SOQ is reasonably inexpensive to me.

You may want to print the table and take it with you on the trip as reference when you check in on the flight. If the check-in agent charges more than the rate as shown in the table, you can challenge him / her about it by showing that table.

 

[Luko]

Kaimana- Sorong (KNG-SOQ), as shown in the table, below (with footnote that says the fee doesn’t include surfboard or bicycle), was Rp.25,000/kg. So, for 25 kg, it’s only Rp.625,000 or $42, not €180 that @ppina mentioned upthread.

Except that you must get to Sorong...
Here is not an information flyer on a website which I suspect is barely up to date but the ACTUAL INVOICE of the flights I bought for this summer, coming back from Sorong to Bali on Lion Air.
Yes you read I had to buy for 110$ prepaid luggage.... just one way.

 

[Dan]

Except that you must get to Sorong...
Here is not an information flyer on a website which I suspect is barely up to date but the ACTUAL INVOICE of the flights I bought for this summer, coming back from Sorong to Bali on Lion Air.
Yes you read I had to buy for 110$ prepaid luggage.... just one way.

View attachment 792378

Yes, of course. That’s for my case going to Kaimana. I’d go to So wrong with Garuda then cruise to Kaimana on White Manta, as I mentioned earlier.

The effective date of the Tables is June 28, 2023 (circled in red on the top-right corner of the page). That sounds pretty recent to me.

For how much excess weight did they charge you Rp.1,675,000? You may have been screwed (when they saw bule carrying expensive camera gears all the way to Raja Ampat, they thought paying a few more millions rupiah shouldn't be a big of a deal for him). For your trip, SOQ-DPS, as shown in number 385 (red arrow) in the table, below, the excess baggage fee is Rp.30,000/kg paid on site or Rp.22,000/kg prepaid in advance.

I guess I'll find it out for myself later when I go to Triton Bay and if they try to screw me like they did to you, I'd request them to show me the up-to-date Tables with official notarized letter from Lion Air head office. They shouldn't have posted the Tables online, dated June 28, 2023, if it's out of date. That's a false advertisement.

 

[Luko]

For how much excess weight did they charged you Rp.1,675,000? You may have been screwed (when they saw bule carrying expensive camera gears all the way to Raja Ampat, they thought paying a few more millions rupiah shouldn't be a big of a deal for him).

No I dont think the website saw I was a bule nor noticed my camera

I had to purchase 25kgs prepaid package and it It applies the surcharge for EACH flight, you see that for instance you don't have direct flights to DPS, hence I had to take 2 different flights. SOQ-UPG is 40kIDR per kg (SOC Surakarta is not SOQ Sorong check out line 404) UPG-DPS is 27kIDR per kg.
Do the math, you'll see there is no bule biased calculation

 

[Dan]

I had to purchase 25kgs prepaid package and it It applies the surcharge for EACH flight, you see that for instance you don't have direct flights to DPS, hence I had to take 2 different flights. SOQ-UPG is 40kIDR per kg, UPG-DPS is 27kIDR per kg.

I guess the lesson learned here is to avoid separate flights unless you want to stay in Makassar for a few days.

Now you have that tables on your hand to check their charges.

Fly with Garuda if possible. If not, fly with Batik Air. Lion Air would be the 3rd option. Take Wings Air only if you don’t have any other choice.

I’ll be flying nonstop from Jakarta to Sorong with Garuda for my February 2024 trip to Raja Ampat. I have no worry about the excess baggage and the fare price difference are pretty competitive when I look at tiket.com. For a nonstop 4-hour flight with Garuda it'll cost Rp.4,242,120. The same flight with Batik, it'll cost Rp.4,193,280 + excess baggage charge for over 30kg check-in baggage.

 

[Dan]

Wings Air - No Free Baggage
Lion Air - 15KG

10KG - IDR900,000 - 54 Euros
25KG - IDR3,050,000 - 180 Euros

Flight - 621.12 Euros
Bags - 237 Euros

Since I'll be going to Raja Ampat in February 2024 and have bought non-stop (4-hour) roundtrip tickets with Garuda from Jakarta to Sorong for Rp.8,481,520 ($566), I did a quick check of how much extra cost if I continue my journey to Kaimana. Wings Air is the only flight available to go to Kaimana from Sorong. The Sorong-Kaimana rountrip would cost about Rp.3,786,400 ($252). Assuming you would check-in 25kg baggage, with prepaid fee for the Sorong-Kaimana roundtrip of 25 x 2 x Rp.25,000 = Rp.1,250,000 ($83). Adding up all of the costs ($566 + $252 + $83), the domestic flights to Triton Bay would be around $901.

Outbound connection in Sorong would be OK. You would be arriving at around 6am in Sorong and leaving to Kaimana at around 11am (~ 5 hour layover in Sorong).

The inbound one is a bit tricky. You either would need to stay overnight in Sorong (Option 1) or in Jakarta (Option 2) before you can fly home as the flight from Kaimana (only 1 flight / day) is leaving at around 1pm and arriving in Sorong at around 2pm. The Garuda nonstop flight to Jakarta will be leaving Sorong around 8am on the next day (Option 1). Option 2 will be to take return flight with Batik with one stop (6-hour) flight, leaving Sorong around 4pm (2 hours after arriving from Kaimana).

For Option 1, there is no airport hotel in Sorong that I know of. The most reasonable one is Swiss-Belhotel Sorong ~ 10 minute taxi ride from the airport. So, you would need to go get a taxi ride back to the airport early on the next day to catch your flight to Jakarta. However, you'll arrive in Jakarta early enough (10am) to continue to your international flight connections.

For Option 2, you'll be arriving in Jakarta around 8pm, most likely it'll be too late to make international flight connection. You can stay overnight in Anara hotel on 2nd floor of Terminal 3, right below the International departure on 3rd floor. You can take the free Skytrain from the domestic arrival Terminal 2 to Terminal 3. On the next day you just take elevator to the International departure. At least you'll be in Jakarta airport a day earlier, just in case there is a domestic travel delay.

I would take the Option 2, if I were you.