Garuda Indonesia

Not Verified | I booked Garuda to fly back from Bali - Auckland for Dec 2, and a week before departure they changed one flight of the four flights required to return, by a week. Meaning, we got to Melbourne, then had to stay there for a week (which was impossible due to Covid restrictions), but then our flights to NZ were still scheduled to leave the week before. We had no choice but to cancel the flights because it was completely impossible to return! Then, when we cancelled and used an alternative provider, they offered us a 'Travel Credit', which a) we have no intention to use in the next 12 months as travelling is virtually impossible at this stage, and b) we want to refund because we won't be able to use it. They then, would not provide a refund at all, and all my efforts to contact them to resolve this have landed on deaf ears - they completely ignore me! As you can see, I am very frustrated at this ridiculous service. They will change your flights, make it impossible, then when you have to cancel with them because it becomes impossible to travel, they will issue you a 'travel credit', rather than give your money back.

✅ Trip Verified | I booked a ticket to Surabaya for a journey on 4 November 2020. On 7 September they mailed me that the schedule was changed. I contacted the airline's customer service and asked them for a refund. They rejected to give my money back and offer a travel voucher which is valid for a limited time. The voucher cannot be converted to cash neither it can be used to buy anything from other than Garuda's products/services.

✅ Trip Verified | I have previously flown with Garuda to Bali several times and was happy with the service. This year we had to cancel our trip due to my wife being diagnosed with Cancer. Garuda has promised to provide a refund but keep avoiding paying the refund. Allianz travel insurance would cover the cost of the flights but won't because Garuda promised a refund. I have been trying to get a refund since March. I email Garuda every week and keep getting the same response; "we do apologize for the inconvenience. Regarding your inquiry is being internally process, currently we are still waiting for confirmation and we will inform you shortly after we get the information".

✅ Trip Verified | Denpasar to Amsterdam via JakartaHave flown Garuda Indonesia domestic in economy several times. This time decided to fly their Business Class DPS-CGK-AMS in B777, it was worth it. Cabin crew were very attentive, friendly and service oriented. Food ( Indonesian) that I chose tasted good. Lavatories are bigger than other airlines i have ever flown with. The service matched the price, from VIP check in desk to the smiles. Take a seat and they will do the check in for you. Of course the Sky Priority gate through security. Keep it high Garuda

✅ Trip Verified | Jakarta to Amsterdam. Great flight! Scored an entire row of 3 seats so could lie down to sleep, too. Food was the only disappointment, with limited selection and poor quality. Selection of movies offered featured too many Indonesian ones, but enough Western ones to fill one flight's time. Crew lovely, ready to give extra drinks at any time upon request.

✅ Trip Verified | Surabaya to Jakarta. A nearly full flight. The seats were comfortable, the on-screen entertainment identical to that offered on Garuda's long-haul flights, but the in-flight meal just a very basic snack.

Not Verified | Surabaya to Tokyo via Jakarta. I can understand why Garuda Indonesia received 5 stars for their cabin crew. On this occasion, I wanted to refund my tickets regarding the coronavirus pandemic. I called the Call Center regarding the refund policy and they said that it is possible to get a cash refund. So, I decided to ask for a refund the next day. I went to the Ticket Office to be told that my tickets cannot be refunded for cash, and the cancellation also incurs penalties. At first, they told me that cancellation will incur only 2 million IDR, but in fact, I still got charged with tax. In exchange, they offered me a voucher that is exclusive to this airline. The voucher requires me to travel back and forth only to redeem it before use, and the one-year expiry date is a let down.

✅ Trip Verified | Bangkok to Jakarta. The booking process with their website was a nightmare, attempt to put my KE frequent flyer number were rejected, choosing special meal was hard. The food serve for an evening flight was a lunch portion, however tasted pretty good. Bangkok check in queue took hours and arrival was confusing even at their best hub at CGK Terminal 3. The cabin interior was overdue for an upgrade, however legroom was great.

✅ Trip Verified | We flew with Garuda to Bali and back. Their service in-flight is very friendly and good. Checking in at AMS was a tiny bit of a hassle, due to the fact that they let this be handled by Swissport - they just changed this, so we didn't know beforehand. Checking in at DPS however was fine. Due to COVID-19 we needed to go back to NL a week early. Garuda offered special treatment as rebooking could be done at no additional cost (!!) which is very generous from them I think (in comparison, KLM, our national carrier in NL stopped flying at all!). I chat with the Garuda team online at saturday morning about our situation, and, believe it or not, that same evening we could fly back to AMS at 19:05! How's that for service? Checking in at DPS was very friendly and helpful. They arranged the new boarding passes for us so we could get back to NL safe and sound. Arriving in AMS we unfortunately found out that our baggage didn't come with us. In these rare conditions, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a lot of people took extra baggage with them and Garuda was forced to leave a lot of it behind. I heard from multiple other people they had the same issue, but the baggage arrives fine a few days later. At this time of writing we don't have it back, but it has been just one day, and we should get it in about 3 days - so we don't worry too much about this. All in all, flying with this Asian airline the first time, was very pleasant. Seats of the flight (777-300ER 3U3) were quite large and spacious, but we are just shorties (1.7m) so no leg problems here. As we had a free seat next to us on both flights, we had plenty of space. The in-flight services (beverages and drinks) were also fine. We had chicken, rice and some veggies and another time we had salmon, rice and veggies. In between we got some bread and other small snacks. It was so unfortunate for the stewardesses to need to wear masks, as they all looked so friendly. In-flight connectivity was superb, compared to (for example) United, the Wi-Fi speed was so fast that you could even stream movies from Netflix or Prime most of the flight! Also, the pricing for Wi-Fi was acceptable at around 20 euros for 24 hours. As a conclusion I can really recommend flying with Garuda when you're flying from AMS to DPS (or the other way around). They offer very good service, bigger seats and most important, customer comes in front of money-making. Where our national carrier KLM just stopped flying at all, Garuda keeps flying for at least another week to get passengers back home in these difficult crisis times.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew GA683 from Sorong to Jakarta. The check-in area in Sorong airport is quite small, however, the check-in staff were able to handle the large numbers of passengers in a timely manner. We pulled back from the gate a little behind schedule, however, we landed in Jakarta 10 minutes ahead of schedule. The cabin crew were very welcoming and the service throughout the flight was excellent even though the cabin was full. I really appreciate the Garuda Indonesian cabin crew with their positive and friendly attitudes. They go out of their way to make you feel very welcome. After arrival in Jakarta, it took only 10 minutes for my baggage to come out. Overall another great service from Garuda Indonesia.