NEW: Earn and redeem Avios on Garuda Indonesia flights!

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• Aston100 says:

  27 Mar27 March 04:59

  Garuda have flown on & off from Heathrow until I think the very end of 2018.
  I was rerouted via Amsterdam in early 2019.
  It was the best longhaul economy flight I’ve ever had. The service was fantastic.
  9 abreast on a 777. Amenity kits handed out to all passengers. Two full meals plus snacks in the gallery. Food excellent (for economy). Toilets cleaned almost constantly. Crew extremely friendly but bordering on subservient which was embarrassing.
  We had exit row seats with unlimited space in front. In fact this was the only downside and is common on all such aircraft configurations where passengers end up congregating in front of you.
  Think it was over 12 hours to Jakarta CGK but felt like a better experience than some shorthaul flights I’ve taken.

  • John says:

    27 Mar27 March 05:35

    How would you compare this experience on GA to long haul economy on other Asian carriers you may have flown such as SQ, CX, TG, BR?

    • Pete says:

      27 Mar27 March 10:05

      In my personal opinion Korean Air has one of the best economy class. Last time I used them, it was: Seul-Amsterdam, a 14h flight and I was absolutely fine.

      I am tall (187cm) and found it quite spacious. Would definitely use it again.

  • John G says:

    27 Mar27 March 08:12

    They flew from LGW, not LHR last time they flew to London. Took the LGW-AMS flight many times.

    • Sam says:

      27 Mar27 March 08:30

      Not correct, they flew to LHR. They attempted a fascinating range of routes (LHR-CGK-SIN-LHR, LHR-CGK-DPS-SIN-LHR, LHR-MES-CGK-MES-LHR). None of which lasted that long, were 3-4x weekly using firstly their new 777-300 with (largely empty) first class, latterly A330.

      Direct flights to Jakarta I think started just before QF’s Perth flights and were the longest out the UK at about 17+ hours. I was told that Jakarta’s (sinking) airport runway wasn’t long enough to allow enough fuel to return to the UK forcing the fuel stop in Singapore, but they maintain traffic rights LON-SIN-LON so offered cheap one way inbounds from Singapore..

      Flew the route in Y+J, both were excellent. Business class was empty and the staff set up a wine tasting session for me! 9 across in Y with excellent legroom and great service.

      Fly them if you can… And if your flight/route gets cancelled they are quick at rebooking you on SQ…

      • SamG says:

        27 Mar27 March 10:33

        Yes I got a deal with them, something like £700pp for J one way.

        They then cancelled it and booked us on SQ which was excellent for us as we were doing LHR-CGK-BKK originally then having a weekend there and going home to SIN. But instead we just travelled HBO and got off in SIN.

        The funny thing was, they then rescheduled their own flights and we taxied out behind their 777 on the SQ A380!

      • Voldemort says:

        27 Mar27 March 13:57

        They definitely did LGW in one iteration with B77Ws.

        • Ian says:

          27 Mar27 March 20:40

          You’re correct…LGW was the last London airport they flew from.

• Sandgrounder says:

  27 Mar27 March 06:20

  The first thing that came into my head was the EU safety ban- but that ended over 15 years ago now! How time flies!

  • AJA says:

    27 Mar27 March 08:46

    That was my first thought too. Didn’t realise the ban was lifted so long ago.

• Jetset Boyz says:

  27 Mar27 March 06:45

  “This partnership is a bolt from the blue, but a welcome one.”

  It’s building on their existing relationship that’s been in place since April 2024. To enable QR to launch new destinations / increase frequencies, they linked up with Garuda to operate with a QR codeshare Jakarta to Doha twice a day – Qatar dropped two of their daily flights to Jakarta.

  Garuda and Singapore Airlines have both increased frequencies, and since Q4 2024, have a joint venture in place between Jakarta & Singapore. They also also codeshare on a number of routes – including Singapore to Bali and Singapore to London.

  These relationships are part of Garuda’s new direction after undergoing a debt restructuring & fleet re-organisation plan in 2022.

• Dawn says:

  27 Mar27 March 07:22

  Which planes fly from Jakarta to Sydney or Melbourne? Is the business class a flat bed? I only flew Garuda in 1985 on my round the world trip in my twenties so impossible to compare!!

• HH says:

  27 Mar27 March 07:38

  I already have DPS – SIN booked for May and linked my SAS Gold number to the booking for Elite Plus benefits. Can I credit the claim points to QR instead without losing Elite Plus perks, and how?

  • Richie says:

    27 Mar27 March 08:00

    How many avios are you hoping to get? Is that worth the kerfuffle?

  • Rob says:

    27 Mar27 March 08:01

    Only if you change the number once in the lounge.

  • Throwawayname says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:25

    I flew that exact route as part of the SAS challenge – and the post should be updated to reflect the fact that they’re not ‘Jakarta Airlines’ as they have got a fair few international routes from Bali plus a handful of others dotted around (e.g. SUB-SIN).

    Not only was I able to use the lounge with my AZ status while crediting to Eurobonus (no status), but the check in staff proactively arrested my luggage and gave it a yellow priority tag when I mentioned it to them!

  • Gerry says:

    27 Mar27 March 13:14

    To be frank, Garuda’s DPS lounge is very disappointing. You’re much better off grabbing a cheap and tasty meal at Sotoku or Made’s Warung (both airside).

    • Throwawayname says:

      27 Mar27 March 14:22

      The international one was absolutely fine, definitely no wow factor but it had plenty of food (including satays and maybe another protein option), passable wine, comfortable armchairs, and fast WiFi.

      I’ve not been to the domestic one, but I do know they don’t have any alcohol in those.

• Axel says:

  27 Mar27 March 08:00

  Jakarta to Singapore is 13050 Garuda Miles but only 6000 Avios, for redemptions. There’s going to be a lot of arbitrage if the taxes are similar

  For comparison Jakarta – Doha – London is 142500 Garuda Miles, if you prefer Skyteam lounges.

• LittleNick says:

  27 Mar27 March 09:35

  Now imagine if they adopted avios as their currency! Though I can’t see IAGL agreeing to that!

• Garethgerry says:

  27 Mar27 March 09:58

  A good option for Manchester, quick connection to Amsterdam

  • Throwawayname says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:30

    And through check is normally fine with separate tickets on Skyteam carriers.

    • ADS says:

      27 Mar27 March 11:50

      well done Skyteam

      glad they haven’t followed Oneworld down their nasty path

      • LittleNick says:

        27 Mar27 March 15:18

        Don’t think it’s a oneworld thing banning member airlines from interlining, but they relaxed their rules so that member airlines could individually decide whether they want to do it

        • Throwawayname says:

          27 Mar27 March 15:39

          I’m pretty certain it’s a BA/IB thing that they made into an alliance policy in order to manage the expectations of pax who erroneously perceive them as premium carriers. To be fair to oneworld, neither of the other two alliances will offer a cast-iron guarantee of through check in, and some of the less premium members of *A (e.g. AV) will try and weasel out of doing it.

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