Review: Garuda Indonesia Business Class Boeing 777 (CGK-JED)

Yeah, they should really get ready to retire the 777s, even if it means the disappearance of their excellent F class. Heard their 330s are a lot better

@Ben Great review! I’d assume using AF miles was a better deal, but could you have used DL SkyMiles on the flight?
These days, flights that don’t touch the US can provide pretty good value, though I think Delta was recently restricting GA flights.

This is a $412 million airline (market cap) with a $3.8 billion debt as of 1H23. They're quite literally on survival mode. Flights to previously busy destinations like Tokyo Haneda, Shanghai Pudong, Seoul Incheon, and Amsterdam are no longer flown daily. They even booked a loss during the last hajj season when fuel costs were *low*.

The CEO voiced optimism for the year ahead, and I sincerely hope he's right. Getting out of the double whammy that was their last CEO and Miss 'Rona can't be easy, but he seems to be the right man for the job, trying to balance quality service (relative) with survival mode.

I must be one of the few people who actually really like this seat. Good space for your feet, relatively good storage space esp for big personal items you don't want shoved into the overhead bins, good privacy for something with no door (at least for the seats further from the aisle), and comfy. Flew it for the first time on Iberia this year.

But this review of Garuda is making me think twice about actively wanting to fly with them for a trip later this year... even if award availability is relatively plentiful and I have a chance to check off the A330neo on my list of aircraft to fly on...

DL charges 70K + $20 for this flight on Garuda according to a quick search I just did.

It seems to me like Garuda has followed this trajectory in the last 20-30 years: crap-great [briefly]- crap.

This review and my last domestic experience with them confirm this.

I dont know about Garuda, but some carriers offer a watered down service and operate older aircraft to Jeddah. Maybe flights to Europe are better?

Not relevant to this thread but this is fun… known as Dolly and Shelby:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12904743/amp/Moment-crazed-accountant-Louis-Vuitton-toting-husband-meltdown-Charlotte-Douglas-Airport-curse-wheelchair-bound-woman-accusing-American-Airlines-staff-keeping-DOGS.html

I don't know what that was, but I know it wasn't passion fruit juice!

And if you want to know what a "bad" plane sleeper is really like, try multiple 12 hour flights with literally no sleep at all...

I flew one of their A330's from Sydney to Jakarta and the seat was even older than the one in this review.

2 x 2 x 2 and no direct aisle access.

Ah sorry I meant the 338s

I’m curious: which airlines serve alcohol on flights to/from Saudi Arabia (outside of Saudi airspace)?

Can use Virgin Atlantic miles too. This was a cheaper option than flying blue for me last month.

Search using flying blue then you have to call Virgin Atlantic. It was pretty easy actually.

I reckon they’re worth giving a go. Comfy seat with good storage. Friendly attendants. Good food. If the connections work I wouldn’t avoid.

not sure who has been feeding the media and bloggers about Garuda being a 5-star airline....I flew the airline twice this year on long-distance business class and the service was OK, Their aircraft were old, seats, etc had considerable wear and tear due to extended use, and service/food was OK

The f***ing covid ruined everything dude. Mostly airline faced this problem (Downgrade the service)