Another gloomy day in the Central City of the country Far Far Away… Today i have a problem with 2 airlines, one of it is famous as being the best low cost carrier. Makes me wants to make a brief review of the airlines we have here.
A Thai friend of mine, once said that a country which having more than 2 airlines services is considered as a wealthy country. A false opinion, i should say. See Japan as the wealthiest country in Asia, its having only 2 airline companies, JAL (state owned airline company) and ANA (semi private owned company). Though i think ANA is the best among those 2.
Here, in the country far far away, we have tons of airline companies. Some of em are big companies providing services to the main cities in this country, using of course big airplane Boeing or Airbus. While others are specialized in services to the almost excluded cities and towns, using those small planes (I’m not an airplane lover so I dont really know which but I will update it soon).
My opinion is as below :
- Garuda Indonesia Airline (GA). State owned airline company, and so far is the lead of all the airline companies in this country. The price is expensive indeed, but then you get a service of 30 kg luggage (for free), food & beverages in each flight, check in time up to 15 min before boarding (which is good) , spacious seat and an early notifying for flights delay (and a proper apologize also). One thing i dont like from this airline is… sometimes when they need to change the airplane from small or mid range plane, to a big capacity plane, the delay can be more than 4 hours (i experienced it 3 times already). But applaused for the ground service, they can handle the annoyed customer quite well and helping us to get another flight if we insist. So far the luggage treatment is also the best among all domestic planes i hopped on to.The In-Flight Shopping are out of reach from my pocket but still worth looking. Nice In-Flight magazine also. For the International route, its kinda boring but with the cheap price it can be a bargain. Dont compare it with another airline like SQ, Thai Airways or Emirates though…you will get really dissappointed
- Mandala Airline (RI). After the renewal of the management, this airline company showed a good improvement. By now it is the best airline company in term of “On Schedule Track”. By survey i read on the Mandala Magazine, last time i hopped on it, it is on schedule for 95% of all the flight schedule. Even Garuda can not achieve that. Providing various rates, from really low starting from below 200K, to over 1M for all economic seat. With each own conditions of course. Good option for those who needs to be always On Time. Not a very friendly ground service though…None of them stand by the gate even though it was nearing boarding time. Thus making customers uneasy and unsure if the flight is delayed or not. There are food & beverages but not for free, except if u bought the flexible class which is also the most expensive class. The In-Flight Shopping is still ok
can be a bargain if you dont have time to buy any souvenirs. Ah 1 more thing : GOOD LANDING! Applause for Mandala! - Merpati Airline. Another half state owned airline company. I never hop to this airline and i wonder if i will. Not because it is not good, but more because this airline providing services to the Mid & East part of the country far far away. Maybe if one day i need to go to those regions, i will try this airline.
- Sriwijaya Airline (Private owned airline companies). Hmm… So..So.. Bargain for tight budget and the service is quite good. Quite on time . Ground service is helpful also. I love things they sell in the In Flight Shop (bought cute key padlocks there). Too bad i need to check in 1 hour before boarding. But overall, it can be a bargain for cheapy flight. Bad thing : Not really helpful when it came to flight delays (no announcement before hand, you know it 15-30 min after boarding time).
- Batavia Air…..Hmm…Dont like this airline…Too many bad record on it and such a mess to make a cancellation. But can be a bargain for cheapy flight. They give you some food also
- Lion Air….Hmm..Cheap as well but they tend to change the flight schedule as they wish. For example, in your ticket its written 18.00, when you arrived at the airport, it will be written 16.50 (OMG 10 min diff!!!). Imagine if you missed your flight due to stupid stuff like this, Ima really hate that kind of situation. And no food.
- Air Asia (malay private owned airline companies). They claimed themselves as the best low cost carrier in this country. It gave a lot of promo and as the chain from one of the biggest airline in South East Asia, they can provide cheapy international flight also. Nice one. I never had the chance of hop on one but I’ll try soon
Thats 7 big airline companies i know. Except those above we got many more with smaller scale. Such as Citylink (owned by Garuda once, now get separated), Linus Air, Efata Air (both specialized in flight to East side of the country), Lorena Air (new airline, dun have much info for this one except the company is one of the oldest intercity bus service company), and some more.
Just an advice, becareful with the promo. Sometimes airlines tends to put low “basic price” but after you add service fee, taxes and stuff it can become double, even triple from the price they give you. Always check for the net price. Look also for the promo in their website. Some airline companies such as Mandala, Air Asia, Lion Air and Batavia are giving a nice promo for online tickets. Just dont forget to check the term and conditions before you decided to buy.
Have a nice flight~~
@TheOnce StewardressWannaBe
