Garuda Indonesia

GA717 MEL-CGK 13 December 2014. Plane was PK-GPM (A332) and I was immediately impressed the moment I stepped on board. The always-friendly FAs truly went above and beyond in ensuring that the passengers settled into their seats comfortably and our hand-carried luggage are looked after properly. The flight left 20 minutes late due to traffic at MEL but arrived in CGK ahead of schedule. The in-flight food was delicious and IFE was excellent. Overall I enjoyed a superbly pleasant experience flying with GA as always - but as a newly-minted 5 Star Airline who would expect less?

GA828 Jakarta to Singapore on 1 January 2015. The check in was smooth the staff polite the flight was on-time with the A330-200 was absolutely flawless flight with Garuda. I was impressed by their overall service quality that they had. My only criticisms were the entertainment system could have had more choice of music and films the A330-200 inflight entertainment were old only can select movies songs and games. Nevertheless these issues were minor and I would not hesitate to fly Garuda again.

MEL to DPS on 18 Dec. This flight was without doubt the best I have ever been fortunate to take. Flight crew were excellent the food was exceptional and just the right portion size. New and well maintained aircraft. I'm a difficult one to please and have been spoilt on QF SQ BA and other carriers in First and Business Class but Garuda is now in a class of their own. Given the competition to DPS with Jetstar and Virgin Australia Garuda is so far ahead but is not that much more in terms of fare cost. I would not hesitate to recommend Garuda.

PER-DPS-PER. We travelled with my parents in law and our two children in mid November to Bali for a two week holiday. We flew Garuda on both trips and we all really enjoyed it. The crew were very kind and catered to our every need. The food had a average taste but was very filling. Airport lounge at Denpasar and Perth were very luxurious. The entertainment aboard was extremely good especially traveling with children. Overall a very pleasing experience I would definitely fly with them again.

GA88 from Jakarta to Amsterdam. I could hardly fault Garuda at all. Near-impeccable service attentive and polite cabin crew decent food and comfortable seats. My only criticisms were the entertainment system could have had more choice of music and films and it was annoying having to take a bus to the aircraft from the international terminal to the domestic terminal where the aircraft was parked. Nevertheless these issues were minor and I would not hesitate to fly Garuda again.

I flew from Jakarta to London on November 12th and returned on November 21st 2014 London to Jakarta. I found the First Class service to be excellent. All the way from check-in at Jakarta until arrival in London. Ground and on- board crews were without a doubt the best I have come across in the industry and I have flown many airlines in First Class and Grauda have got it right.

30 Oct 14 GA727 Perth to Denpasar. On time. Attentive cabin crew. Good food. Good inflight entertainment. Love the seats. We travel at least twice a year.

16 Nov 14 GA 0410 Jakarta to Denpasar. To connect to an international business class flight with baggage checked through to Perth. Again with a previous domestic flight the four of us were given seat allocations scattered all over the cabin that is until after a long and tedious discussion with service desk. Boarding control was hopeless. No microphone and people jammed up the entrance to hear the announcements only in Bahasa. A large Indonesian party just walked though without boarding control which lead to delays until head counts finally reconciled passenger numbers. Our usual pet hate again. When is Garuda going to enforce carry on baggage restrictions? Passengers brought excessive number of bags that were so overweight that they could not lift the bags into overhead lockers. Just as well they were some tall and strong Caucasians to stow luggage around the cabin. We have learnt our lesson travelling economy class on internal flights in Indonesia with Garuda is not value for money other low fare airlines could not be worse.

GA716. My wife was due to fly Jakarta-MEL on a Sunday in Mid October. She was advised that her flight was changed to go via Denpasar. We are not complaining about the terrible delays nor the lack of English announcements. What we are complaining about is the totally disgusting state of the toilets onboard before we left Jakarta. Whilst it was economy class there is no reason that the facilities cannot be clean.

SIN-CGK and CGK-KOE via SUB GA829/448 27 October. The check in was smooth the staff was polite - all flights except Jakarta to Surabaya were on time. Using B737-800NG with great seat comfort and adequate leg room. Aircraft was clean and tidy. Overall this is a very pleasant experience.