Cheap flights ease pain of going home

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.