Cheap flights ease pain of going home
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Mudik, or going back to the hometown or village, can pose headaches if you live in a major city like Jakarta -- hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away.
Spending eight hours on a bus or train is a luxury I could not afford, while a quick plane ride always means a quick depletion of my finances.
But this situation has been changing since flag carrier Garuda Indonesia introduced its low-cost, no-frills flights in July 2001. And when I found out Citilink has been serving the Jakarta- Surabaya route since October last year, I decided to give it a go.
The Rp 250,000 (about US$28) compared to the normal Rp 594,000 ticket price means there would be no meals during the flight, I was warned, it would be "no-frills". But since the "frills" of the one-and-a-half-hour flight usually entails a muffin, a croquette, bottled water and sometimes a small KitKat, I thought I would not miss much.
It wasn't so much the cost of the food itself that hikes the prices on regular airlines, Citilink's network and marketing manager Rudy Marianto said, but rather the costs needed to provide those meals, like glasses, trays, cutlery and the catering service.
Another surprise was that Citilink can be booked over the Internet (www.ga-citilink.com), or through the hotline number 0- 800-1454545.
This direct ticket selling eliminates, among other things, fees for middlemen agents and simplifies a lot of paper work, slashing costs by up to 40 percent, Citilink's general manager Zorawar said.
Maneuvering through the site was actually much easier than opening the site itself, unfortunately. But once it opens I was greeted with a colorful picture of Garuda's Fokker plane, evidently the plane that I was to use for my flight.
Citilink uses four Fokker F28 planes for its 32 flight paths, with seat capacity of between 65 to 85 seats.
Any bookings require prior registration, so before doing anything else I suggest that you register first. And login immediately after registration.
Don't do as I did; after browsing for some time to find the correct flight I clicked the "booking" button only to be transferred to the login page. After logging in, instead of continuing with my booking, the system brought me back to the home page to do the whole process over again.
Citilink flights are only available once a day, compared to the hourly flights the regular service has available for some destinations.
"The service is designed to meet the needs of people with limited budget but without time constraints. Businesspeople who are likely to be time sensitive will usually opt for our regular services," Zorawar said.
For the GA078 flight to Surabaya, the plane leaves at 7 p.m. and promises to arrive at 8:10 p.m.
After booking -- where you will be given a booking code, you are given three hours to confirm the flight, in which time you should scramble for the nearest BCA ATM or outlet that sells pre- paid vouchers. Oh, don't forget to write down your flight number, as it will be asked when you buy the voucher.
Buying the voucher first before booking your flight -- thinking that you could book at the last minute -- is not a good idea, as booking closes 24-hours prior to flight time and you may find yourself rushing to the nearest booking agent, going directly to the airport on the hour, known as "go show", or delaying your plans for the next day instead.
The vouchers are valid for three months, but cannot be used for a different route nor can it be refunded.
Once you get your voucher, though, reconfirming is easiest done using the toll-free number. You will be asked to punch in your booking code and the 14-digit pin number from the voucher, and an electronic voice will tell you that your flight has been confirmed.
So that was it, armed with a booking code and the ATM slip verifying my payment, I proceeded to the checking counter where I was quickly given a boarding pass for my 7 p.m. flight to Surabaya.
Unfortunately, the service is prone to be late. Staffers at the airport embarrassedly murmured it might be because of the older aircraft Citilink uses; the F28s are built in 1978.
After waiting for half-an-hour, we were finally transported by bus to the aircraft. A longer trip than usual, as it turned out, as the aircraft was parked at the far end of the airport to save on "parking" fees.
"It is cheaper for us to shuttle passengers by bus than for the plane to park closer to the terminal," Zorawar admitted.
In the end, it wasn't at all a bad experience, the most important thing was I got to my destination in as quick a time as possible at the cheapest rate. And it wasn't totally "frill" free, as on board passengers were given a glass of drinking water and some candy.