Please rank the following inter-island airlines in Indonesia (best to worst)

[Titatom]

I can only speak to Garuda. Flew them CGK - SOQ, then SOQ-CGK-DPS. All flights were on time. The cabin crew was excellent. I was able to book the CGK-SOQ flight on Delta’s website using SkyMiles. Garuda offers additional baggage weight allowance for dive equipment. I can’t think of a reason to not recommend Garuda.

May I know Garuda’s cabin overhead for carryon luggage - they have ample space? How much time should one allow for collecting checked bags and transferring to the international connection? Thank you.

 

[TostitoBandito]

May I know Garuda’s cabin overhead for carryon luggage - they have ample space? How much time should one allow for collecting checked bags and transferring to the international connection? Thank you.

Overhead space will be the same as those aircraft flown by any other carrier. Plenty large for anything within the stated carry on size restrictions.

For an international connection, I'd advise giving yourself at least 3 hours.

 

[Pearlman]

I've only used Garuda and, based on SB forum feedback, would never use Lion or Batik. The extra dive bag is crucial. Nothing abnormal happened on my flights with the baggage or delays.

Batik Air offers free checked bag for SCUBA gear too (extra 15kg over and above your 20kg checked bag) on all the ID flight numbers to dive destinations within Indonesia. I only had to mention SCUBA gear (the staff didn’t understand the word “diving” gear both going and coming leg) and they immediately accepted without even asking to check if it really was dive gear in my additional checked bag. Not sure about the same facility on any connecting Lion Air flights on an onward journey though (although it is a sister company).

And yes as was warned before - my CGK-Manado flight was delayed by 4 hrs and the only compensation we all got was a free cookie and snack when boarding the flight. If you have a connecting flight using Batik with a short layover, don’t rely on it.

 

[USC8791]

May I know Garuda’s cabin overhead for carryon luggage - they have ample space? How much time should one allow for collecting checked bags and transferring to the international connection? Thank you.

We were on a B737, so overhead bin space was fine. Liz and I both had our standard carry-on bags which meet size guidelines for many airlines. We had a 12 hour layover and left the terminal, so I can’t speak to time needed to collect checked bags and make a connection. 12 hours was plenty. Our flight leaving Sorong was to Bali with a connect in Jakarta. It was a domestic flight, so no need to collect our checked bags during transit.