We boarded through door L1 shortly after 7AM, where we were greeted by our smiling first class crew. As was the case on the last flight, the curtain between first and business class was closed, so only first class passengers boarded through door L1. Rather than sitting together in the center section, like last time,…
Continue reading: Review: Garuda Indonesia First Class 777-300ER Jakarta To Singapore
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Great report Lucky... I love your blog...
I will be doing the same flight in May with my wife and my baby daughter thanks to you in your opinion where should i credit the miles ? i live in London.
Also i am planning to go to Bali do you think i should book the tickets using Garuda Indonesia just in case there are any delays etc??
What a short flight! I'd imagine the short CGK-SIN flight on AF was like this when it operated that route. Kudos again to Garuda. Ten years ago they were miles away from being a top class airline (I believe they were banned in Europe back in 2007) yet now it is one of hte best! Hopefully other airlines can look to Garuda that it is possible to improve and change.
@ Dima -- They only gave us the kit on the Singapore to London flight, presumably because they knew we were going all the way and would only get comfortable on the second flight. I'm not sure if they'd offer one to passengers traveling exclusively between Jakarta and Singapore. Perhaps just on demand.
@ Jose Mattos -- I'm sure you'll have a great trip! Personally I credited the miles to Korean Air SkyPass since it's the SkyTeam currency I value most. It can't hurt to book the domestic flights on Garuda for a bit of extra protection.
@ ron - Better a screaming baby than a screaming, rampaging 3, 5, or whatever year old. Babies fall asleep eventually and don't normally wander into other people's seats.
Hey, we were all babies and toddlers once. No need to be such cranky old farts.
How do you buy a first class ticket between Jakarta and Singapore? Garuda's website doesn't give the option, just economy and business.
Hahaha I was waiting for the responses. Anyway let me be clear. I have nothing against children but I have a lot against children or baby's that spoil the experience of people who actually paid for a premium experience and hope to travel in peace. This is probably the only thing MH got right: no baby's and children allowed in FC.
@ Ron – doesn't make sense. If a parent wants to travel in first class with their baby, the airline has no right to stop them. It doesn't make sense to categorise the 2% of screaming babies/children in first class and therefore disallow the other well-behaved 98% to stay out. It isn't your responsibility to block out the noise, that's why airlines offer earplugs in amenity kits.
It's like when people are kicked off a plane for speaking Middle Eastern languages (as in, people that speak Arabic because they have to, and not because they're professional idiots doing a prank) - ignorance and stereotyping.
@Alvin. You know what? Ron is entitled to his opinion without being labelled ignorant.
You are completely right that neither the airline nor he has the option to prevent babies/kids travelling in first. I for one agree that this is the correct state of affairs, I wouldn't ban them even if I could. However I also understand that people spending a huge amount of money might be aggrieved if they encounter a screaming child. I also question your 2%-98% figures and I fail to see how this issue has any real connection with discriminating against Arabic speakers.
@ Evan – This relates to discrimination against Arabic speakers in the sense that not all children affect business passengers (vs. definitely not all Arabic speakers affect the safety of a flight), but children who are well behaved are banned from the cabin anyway (vs. we've seen Arabic speakers that have no intentions being kicked off flights despite much proof that they're just travelers like everyone else). But I do apologise to Ron for going on an explosive rant with unproven figures as I do care a lot about the treatment of children on airlines.
@ Nolan
I have paid for her seat however discounted 90% of the fare. She is used to flying we will be going to GIG in April on BA Club Word.
No worry, I had not expected for a second that everyone would agree with me. I am perfectly OK with people expressing different views.
Garuda is a fantastic airline in SEASIA. Good Meals, Wonderful crews. We just travelled ECO and Business SIN-BALI-SIN. Loved it
I am actually comparing this review to the LH-FRA-LHR-review some days ago. The flight time is the same, all the rest not 🙂
@Ron - the plural of the word "Baby" is babies, not "Baby's". Baby's is possessive.
Garuda flight is a good service but the foods wasn't nice also the price Quite expensive too. Compared to other Airlines.
Lucky, forgive me if I've missed this but why do they have the intermediate stop in Singapore on the westbound? Is it something with the aircraft range? Just seems odd considering all the ultra long haul westbound routes (like Auckland to Dubai and Doha). Thank you and keep up the great work! Love these trip reports
@Greg that's exactly what I plan to share here.
Garuda's 77W stops in Singapore only when it flies from Jakarta to London, but not when it flies from London to Jakarta, why? My Indonesian partner told me the other day with a shameful face that the reason for this is the runway in Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport is not long enough! If the 77W is filled with fuel enough from Jakarta to London, the aircraft can't even rotate from Jakarta, it has to fill fewer fuel and make a stop in Singapore to fill more fuel, haha! What an interesting fact!
@kobe, it is not because of the length of the runway not enough. But it is because the maximum plane weight that the runway can cover. If I am not wrong, the runway is in the progress of being upgraded to handle more weight.
@Etan
Correct. The runway has enough length but the underground is too weak to carry the weight, and there are quite a few hollow parts under the runway. So this is a weight issue that is being fixed.
That's a short flight for First Class! The mini plates for the jams are rather cute.
Great review as usual Lucky, though was just wondering if you can book this flight by itself in First Class without continueing to London as Garuda's website wasn't letting me do it.