Airline | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Jun

Flight review: Melbourne-Jakarta-Tokyo with Garuda Indonesia | Sydney Morning Herald

If you’ve ever tried to find a last-minute ticket to Japan from Australia in sakura (cherry blossom) season, read on. You’ll know direct flights sell out hotter than a plate of piping takoyaki balls, and when you do find a seat, you need to sell a body part to get your backside on that seat for the 10 1/2-hour flight.

Faced with this dilemma recently, and needing to buy two tickets, I took a circuitous route with Garuda Indonesia, the country’s flag carrier. Yes, the flight was longer. Yes, it had a three-hour layover in Jakarta (lovely airport) and back via Denpasar (for all the Bintang singlets, yogawear and seriously overpriced food – however the TUMI shop had some great bargains, if you’re browsing). But for this review for the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, I took away a few very interesting lessons…

Did you know that you can fly Australia-Tokyo, and break your stay in Indonesia, at no charge, for up to a month’s stay? That’s a two-destination holiday, Tokyo and Bali, for the price of one! And if you’ve been watching the travel stats, you’ll know that Japan has recently taken over Indonesia (specifically, Bali) as the most popular international holiday destination for Australians.

I need to point out that Garuda has won Skytrax‘ award for best cabin crew multiple times, which sort of surprised me, but then in the flight, I found the service to absolutely live up to the award, on and off the plane. At one point, my travel companion left a small toiletries bag in her seat when we arrived in Jakarta. We reported it to customer service, who told us to take a seat, and in about 20 minutes, they’d run back to the flight, found the bag and returned it to us with a flourish and lots of smiles.

Also, they made a point of telling me that if you book a ticket with multiple guests on it, you automatically get seated together on the flight. I mean, people, this should not be so shocking, but having been split from my (then) five-year-old child on an international flight, and frequently flying with the (now much larger) child, it is a constant stress for many parents, who are thus forced to pay for seat allocations on top of their air fares. So, hats off to Garuda for maintaining what should be (and used to be) a basic service for passengers .

And final takeaway, the beef rendang served in flight is delicious – in economy. If you are an omnivore, you can’t go wrong with this meal choice.

For the basics: I flew Melbourne (MEL) to Jakarta (CGK) on Flight GA717.

The MEL-CGK flight runs four times weekly on an Airbus A330-300. Don’t expect glamour: it’s teal and chocolate. Need I say more? Ok, I will – the usb chargers are stupefyingly slow (as is the case on many airlines) and the sound didn’t work on the flight of one of my legs (I just plugged into the vacant seat beside me).

I flew Economy, and I’m a window-seat girl, sitting in seat 28A. The flight time is 7 hours 35 minutes from Melbourne to Jakarta, and about the same again on to Tokyo. And yay, I got three seats to myself so I slept all the way from Jakarta to Tokyo, arriving at 6am as fresh as an economy-class flight can ever leave you. It doesn’t beat a direct flight, but sometimes, needs must.

Flight review of Garuda Indonesia by Belinda Jackson

To read the full review, click here.

Disclaimer: my flight was not hosted by Garuda, but was paid for by Cruise Traveller. I paid for my daughter’s seat.

May

Flight review: would you pay $900 to fly Perth to Melbourne? Canberra Times

In times of hardship and war, do airlines price gouge? That was the question top of mind as I flew from Perth to Melbourne, a 3.5- hour flight across Australia.

Grab the one-way fare on a really good day, and you’ll pay just shy of A$300. Some days, when it’s busy and in peak holiday seasons, you might have to pony up over $450.

But $900?

That was the price I paid, two days after Israel bombed Iran and started its war of choice in the Middle East.

To backtrack a moment, let me set the scene: I’m in Kruger National Park, in South Africa, when I’m notified that my flight from Johannesberg to Perth has been cancelled; the airline, South African Airways, has automatically rebooked me on the next flight, 24 hours later.

The problem arises as that international flight is bookended by two domestic flights, from tiny Skukuza airport to Jo’berg with Airlink, and then in Australia, from Perth home to Melbourne with Virgin Australia.

Unusually for me, the flights are all booked on separate tickets, owing to a business arrangement over who pays what for this work trip to Kruger, where I’m on a self-drive safari and also a stay in top-of-the-range Sabi Sabi Game Reserve (I know, please don’t cry for me).

So when one card slips, the whole house falls.

It takes a 10-minute phone call with a smiley consultant and an $80 change fee to move the Airlink flight – easy peasy.

The Virgin flight, however, is another story. The change fee of $99 I can wear. The $462 fare difference – for the same seat down the back near the toilet – is more than the original fare. Is it fair to call it extortionate? I’m going there. It’s extortionate.

Even more annoying, I thought I could perhaps blow some of my enormous pile of unused points upgrading to Premium Economy, or even slipping into the lounge, but no, my original fare of $300-ish (bought as part of a return ticket) makes me ineligible. It’s cash only, thanks. So I decline to give Virgin yet more cash.

In all, that flight touches $900. But, to add ignominy into the equation, when we do board the flight, it’s hot. Like, hot enough that the man sitting beside me, has bare arms, and sticks to me. That kind of hot.

The air-con has broken, the captain tells us, as we taxi back to the gate to sit for 30 minutes, until the engineers tell us to disembark and wait it out in the terminal. In the end, the flight takes off nearly six hours late. That means, instead of a mid-afternoon departure to arrive in Melbourne around 10pm, we take off at 10.30pm, crossing time zones to touch down at Tullamarine at 4.30am.

Gruesome, indeed.

My travel insurer has paid out the out-of-pocket expenses, less the $250 excess.

I know airlines are businesses, but at what point are they simply making hay while the sun shines, at the expense of the travelling public, who simply have little other options to get home (save a three-day train trip or 36-hour non-stop drive across the country)?

Read my flight review, published by ACM Media’s Explore Travel section, here.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9241171/would-you-pay-900-for-a-perth-to-melbourne-economy-flight-form-hell/

Apr

Navigating the unknown – travel during the Middle East crisis & Australia’s best runway rooms

Travel has taken a huge hit with the Middle East crisis now entering its fifth week, and it can be challenging to keep up with what you should and shouldn’t do with travel plans during these significant and devastating world events.

This week on The World Awaits, my co-host Kirstie and I are sharing our Hot Take on the travel situation, bringing you the good and the bad news to help you navigate this uncertain time when it comes to travel plans – with some positive solutions.

Our tip is for all the the aviation geeks out there. We’re sharing the best runway rooms at Australasian airports; so if the sight of a plane taking off gets your blood pumping, this is the list for you. I’ve personally tried and tested a few, in fact, we recorded last week’s podcast in a suite on the eighth floor of the Novotel Melbourne Airport!

If you like the look of this super convenient hotel, jump on our giveaway to win a night at the Novotel Melbourne Airport – just enter via our instagram or facebook post – simply follow The World Awaits and the hotel, like and tag a friend for an extra entry.

And if you can’t get enough #avgeek, listen in for Belle’s tarmac tour of Melbourne Airport; the airport does occasionally offer similar tours, see melbourneairport.com.au/community/airport-tours

Download the SAILY app in your app store and use our code ‘theworldawaits’ at checkout to get an exclusive 15% off your first purchase; see saily.com

Listen to The World Awaits on all major platforms, including

APPLE PODCASTS https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-140-hot-take-navigating-the-unknown-travel-during/id1689931283?i=1000758697943

SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vZaYF3Dbrzb2uWzkm5A4L

and via our website https://theworldawaits.au

Follow

Flight review: Melbourne-Jakarta-Tokyo with Garuda Indonesia | Sydney Morning Herald

Flight review: would you pay $900 to fly Perth to Melbourne? Canberra Times

Navigating the unknown – travel during the Middle East crisis & Australia’s best runway rooms