Travel Logistics: Jakarta and Sorong in October

[Blackcrusader]

Anyone else planning these logistics too? Want to commiserate?

Try looking at Air Asia as I plan to be flying with them to Sorong from Jakarta arriving late Sep leaving mid October.

 

[NootFish]

Try looking at Air Asia as I plan to be flying with them to Sorong from Jakarta arriving late Sep leaving mid October.

I normally fly Garuda if possible because they're part of sky team and I'm a delta platinum medallion so I get nice perks and lounge access. I wish I could leave late September, I need to put in a bunch of hours at work in September and early October. I'm already taking off 24 days for this trip. I'm normally only allowed to take off 15 days a month.

 

[Centrals]

I normally fly Garuda if possible because they're part of sky team and I'm a delta platinum medallion so I get nice perks and lounge access. I wish I could leave late September, I need to put in a bunch of hours at work in September and early October. I'm already taking off 24 days for this trip. I'm normally only allowed to take off 15 days a month.

Through ticket by the same airline is my preferred way to travel to anywhere particularly with local connection to catch.

 

[ConeyIslander]

I usually book them as soon as I book the trip but in this day and age with flight schedules, I look at flight schedules first then line them up with liveaboard schedules and resort options. Some Indonesian carriers don’t share schedules until a few months before. Once I confirm it works, I book the liveaboard or resort then book the flight immediately after confirmation. I’m not doing any planning 6-12-18 months in advance for trips anymore and am only doing them about 3 months in advance now due to the possibility of border issues or restrictions and potential uncertainty unless the operator has a very generous policy that’s COVID specific. Travel insurance with coverage for COVID test positivity right before I travel is also key for me. I want all the dives so I always book the latest flight out possible.

Garuda gives 20kg baggage free and an extra 20 or 23kg free allowance for scuba gear whereas Lion and Batik only give you 20kg free. Anything excess is paid for separately but way cheaper than what you expect and know from other baggage fees elsewhere. I routinely pay extra on Lion and Batik and it’s not that much.

Yes. Garuda has been great. They’ve kept extending it. (2-3X now.) I called in each time right before the supposed expiry and confirmed they’ve extended them. My partner recently used 1 of the vouchers for his travel from Sorong to Jakarta without issue. You have to call in to the Indonesian call center to make the booking. (Use Google Voice for 2 cents per minute!) He has a really long name so it was a bit of an annoyance. His original ticket was issued in his full name. When they issued a voucher for that ticket, it cut off his name due to character restrictions. When they issued a new ticket for him for Sorong using that voucher, they could only issue it with the name shown on the voucher. So we had to email ticketing and have them fix it by showing them the original ticket showing full name, the EMD voucher showing cut off name, the new ticket showing the cut off name, and his passport showing the full name then requested they change it. It was easy to do and free just an extra annoying step.

The latest round of extensions is through Dec 31, 2022 for travel into 2023.

I usually book them as soon as I book the trip but in this day and age with flight schedules, I look at flight schedules first then line them up with liveaboard schedules and resort options. Some Indonesian carriers don’t share schedules until a few months before. Once I confirm it works, I book the liveaboard or resort then book the flight immediately after confirmation. I’m not doing any planning 6-12-18 months in advance for trips anymore and am only doing them about 3 months in advance now due to the possibility of border issues or restrictions and potential uncertainty unless the operator has a very generous policy that’s COVID specific. Travel insurance with coverage for COVID test positivity right before I travel is also key for me. I want all the dives so I always book the latest flight out possible.

Garuda gives 20kg baggage free and an extra 20 or 23kg free allowance for scuba gear whereas Lion and Batik only give you 20kg free. Anything excess is paid for separately but way cheaper than what you expect and know from other baggage fees elsewhere. I routinely pay extra on Lion and Batik and it’s not that much.

Thank you very much! The baggage info is very helpful as I have grossly over paid on some airlines for a few extra kgs. I will start watching fares and schedules now but wait to book.

 

[also_anon_dc]

How do people book their own tickets for domestic flights in Indonesia? Is everyone just booking directly with the airline on their own website? I asked liveaboard.com and they recommended using SkyScanner but the booking options are third-party websites like GoToGate that I've heard horror stories about.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I use Nusatrip to purchase my domestic flights. It was great pre-covid.

 

[sabrisi]

We did as outofofficebrb did, with booking our initial tickets from home to Jakarta to start, then booking Jakarta to Sorong afterwards, with getting to Jakarta a day or so earlier so you can catch your Sorong with time to spare for your boat transfer/pickup. We were initially booked on Lion Air from Jakarta to Sorong, but they changed the flight last minute and we had to nab a spot on Batik on the 12:30am flight. Batik flights were fine, though we had to purchase the flights from alternative travel sites (nusatrip, etc.) as none of our payments could process thru Batik, Lion or Garuda's sites. We DEFINITELY had overweight scuba bags but they didn't seem to care at ALL about that and waved us through without paying fees for it.

A few other folks on our trip had shenanigans with Garuda rescheduling flights last minute, but that seems normal for area.

 

[ConeyIslander]

How do people book their own tickets for domestic flights in Indonesia? Is everyone just booking directly with the airline on their own website? I asked liveaboard.com and they recommended using SkyScanner but the booking options are third-party websites like GoToGate that I've heard horror stories about.

I used booking.com to book Batik airlines

 

[also_anon_dc]

I used booking.com to book Batik airlines

Thanks! I use booking.com all the time for hotels but never would have thought to use it for domestic Indo flights.

 

[SaltyWombat]

I had a difficult time booking my flights through my normal way, travelocity.com. It's my first time to Indonesia. As an earlier post recommended, I ended up buying a "regular" roundtrip ticket to Jakarta and then a domestic ticket from CGK-SOR on garuda.com. I arrive two days before my transfer in Sorong.

It was a hassle to figure out, but future trips will be easy now that I know.