Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737 Business Class Trip Report!
In February, I took a number of flights, as I was trying to burn some of my American Airlines miles before the switch to the new chart in March 2016. In order to use these award tickets, I have of course booked a couple interesting positioning flights on a couple airlines that I have yet to fly. For the first report, I have finally flown Garuda Indonesia Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Jakarta. I have originally planned to use miles for a CX flight, but then the one way fare in business from HKG to CGK is HKD$4417 including tax, so I decide to save the miles for long haul flights. I have also wanted to get a taste of Garuda before deciding on investing on a first class ticket from London to Singapore via Jakarta in the summer. It will be a much shorter trip report, as I really did not take too many pictures.
February 17 2016
GA 873 HKG-CGK 0900 1300 Boeing 737-800 Winglet PK-GMK
I have debated if I should leave an evening earlier just to take the A330 flight, but in the end, I chose to maximize my time in Hong Kong. It is a five hours flight and business class in 737 could not be that bad. I used a travel agent to book this ticket, so I could not comment on Garuda’s website. I tried to change my seat assignment at Garuda’s website, but despite you can use the “Manage the Booking” function at Garuda’s website, you could not change seats.
I checked in at the Hong Kong Airport Express station, and the agent was reasonably friendly. I was reminded on where the Skyteam lounge was and was given a fast track immigration form for my arrival in Jakarta. Strangely, I was asked for my local mobile number, in case they need to find me during final boarding. This is a very strange request, but I guess things have happened before. I did not take any pictures in the Skyteam Lounge. Compared to the former Korean Air lounge, this Skyteam Lounge is a major improvement. The lounge is managed by Plaza Premium Lounge, so the food is similar to other Plaza Premium lounges in HKG. There was a hot noodle stall with fish ball noodle soup, minced beef congee, and one other soup dish freshly made to order. There are your typical breakfast dishes in the buffet, along with salad, yogurts, cereals, breads, and assorted snacks. There is a coffee machine, along with limited choices of tea, along with the usual assortment of soft drinks. There are plenty of sitting areas, and the design is a bit from the London one. There is no tarmac view like other lounges in the lower level.
Since the gate, 28, this morning was a bit far from the lounge, I left early so I did not need to rush!
PK-GMK arrived at HKG a few hours ago and was getting ready for the return flight to Jakarta.
The gate area was not overly busy, as I roughly estimated the flight to be half full in economy and there were only two passengers in business class (with one no-show).
Boarding began at 8:40am and two smiling F/As were greeting passengers. I chose 6A, a bulkhead window seat for this flight, and three newspapers (Ming Pao – HK newspapers & two Indonesian Papers) were already stuffed in my magazine pocket along with menu and wine list.
The F/A immediately welcomed me onboard and asked for my choice of pre-takeoff beverage. Water was my choice this morning. She also pass me hot towel served in a lacquered tray
Skytrax Cabin Crew of the Year
The 12-seat business class cabin on GA 737s is fairly typical among all the SE Asian operators, and the seats are similar to the ones used by Malaysia Airlines and Malindo Air.
Newspapers
Menu and wine list
L’Occitane Amenity kit
I read from previous reports that Garuda Indonesia actually passes out amenity kits for the HKG-Indonesia flights, but you never know. I am pleasantly surprised with the lovely L’Occitane amenity kit.
In February, I took a number of flights, as I was trying to burn some of my American Airlines miles before the switch to the new chart in March 2016. In order to use these award tickets, I have of course booked a couple interesting positioning flights on a couple airlines that I have yet to fly. For the first report, I have finally flown Garuda Indonesia Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Jakarta. I have originally planned to use miles for a CX flight, but then the one way fare in business from HKG to CGK is HKD$4417 including tax, so I decide to save the miles for long haul flights. I have also wanted to get a taste of Garuda before deciding on investing on a first class ticket from London to Singapore via Jakarta in the summer. It will be a much shorter trip report, as I really did not take too many pictures.
February 17 2016
GA 873 HKG-CGK 0900 1300 Boeing 737-800 Winglet PK-GMK
I have debated if I should leave an evening earlier just to take the A330 flight, but in the end, I chose to maximize my time in Hong Kong. It is a five hours flight and business class in 737 could not be that bad. I used a travel agent to book this ticket, so I could not comment on Garuda’s website. I tried to change my seat assignment at Garuda’s website, but despite you can use the “Manage the Booking” function at Garuda’s website, you could not change seats.
I checked in at the Hong Kong Airport Express station, and the agent was reasonably friendly. I was reminded on where the Skyteam lounge was and was given a fast track immigration form for my arrival in Jakarta. Strangely, I was asked for my local mobile number, in case they need to find me during final boarding. This is a very strange request, but I guess things have happened before. I did not take any pictures in the Skyteam Lounge. Compared to the former Korean Air lounge, this Skyteam Lounge is a major improvement. The lounge is managed by Plaza Premium Lounge, so the food is similar to other Plaza Premium lounges in HKG. There was a hot noodle stall with fish ball noodle soup, minced beef congee, and one other soup dish freshly made to order. There are your typical breakfast dishes in the buffet, along with salad, yogurts, cereals, breads, and assorted snacks. There is a coffee machine, along with limited choices of tea, along with the usual assortment of soft drinks. There are plenty of sitting areas, and the design is a bit from the London one. There is no tarmac view like other lounges in the lower level.
Since the gate, 28, this morning was a bit far from the lounge, I left early so I did not need to rush!
PK-GMK arrived at HKG a few hours ago and was getting ready for the return flight to Jakarta.
The gate area was not overly busy, as I roughly estimated the flight to be half full in economy and there were only two passengers in business class (with one no-show).
Boarding began at 8:40am and two smiling F/As were greeting passengers. I chose 6A, a bulkhead window seat for this flight, and three newspapers (Ming Pao – HK newspapers & two Indonesian Papers) were already stuffed in my magazine pocket along with menu and wine list.
The F/A immediately welcomed me onboard and asked for my choice of pre-takeoff beverage. Water was my choice this morning. She also pass me hot towel served in a lacquered tray
Skytrax Cabin Crew of the Year
The 12-seat business class cabin on GA 737s is fairly typical among all the SE Asian operators, and the seats are similar to the ones used by Malaysia Airlines and Malindo Air.
Newspapers
Menu and wine list
L’Occitane Amenity kit
I read from previous reports that Garuda Indonesia actually passes out amenity kits for the HKG-Indonesia flights, but you never know. I am pleasantly surprised with the lovely L’Occitane amenity kit.
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