Passengers complain about ticket scalpers at PT Pelni
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
People wanting to return to their hometowns by ship have already found it very difficult to buy tickets at the state-owned shipping operator PT Pelni and at travel bureaus.
"I'm very disappointed with Pelni's service; they should have been better prepared for the peak season like this, but they have not learned from past experience," said Idrus Albar, who planned to return to his hometown in Ternate, to celebrate Idul Fitri with his relatives.
Idrus is one of tens of thousands of people who want to celebrate the religious festivals of Lebaran or Idul Fitri, and Christmas, in their hometowns outside Java island.
He said last Friday that he had to go back and forth from his home in Grogol, West Jakarta, to try and book tickets. Having to go to the PT Pelni ticketing building at Kemayoran on two consecutive days just to get a form for a ticket, really got on his nerves.
"This is just for the form, not the ticket! When I was here yesterday, they told me they had already run out of forms and told me to return on (Friday) .... Well, here I am, and they still don't have any," he said.
Prior to purchasing a ticket, buyers are required to fill in forms detailing their basic personal information, destination, and the desired class.
In the peak season such as now, filling in the form does not guarantee a seat on the vessel, and the forms of those who are rejected are returned by the office's security guards.
"Even if I do get a form, I cannot choose a second-class ticket as I've wanted, as they have already sold out. But I'll settle for any ticket ... as long as I can use it for traveling to my hometown," he said, adding that he was wondering why all tickets for ships bound for Ternate were sold out just two days after the ticket counters had opened.
"I'm sure they all went to scalpers. They seem to have bought tickets to almost every destination and are ready to sell them to would-be passengers at much higher prices," he said.
Tickets for December 10th onward are nearly sold out, both for seats in all classes and in economy, especially for destinations in eastern Indonesia.
At the Pelni ticketing building in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, scalpers are too obvious to be missed, openly offering their services to anyone who will listen. The persistent ones will even follow potential customers, telling them repeatedly about the guaranteed tickets they have on offer.
"Which destination? I still have some class-seats for eastern Indonesia destinations," said one scalper when the Post passed him. But purchasing the tickets from the scalpers means adding another Rp 100,000 (US$ 10.50) to the original price.
Uly Simatupang, who, together with her relatives, wanted to go to Medan on Dec. 14 for Christmas, also found it very difficult to buy tickets at travel bureaus.
"All the travel agencies I contacted told me that they could not sell tickets yet. I've been told to call them next week. But even if we get tickets, they are likely to be non-seat tickets," she said last Friday. By "non-seat tickets" she meant economy- class ones, which guaranteed neither bed nor cabin in which to sleep on the ship.
According to director of PT Pelni Isnoor Haryanto, the shipping company had increased its capacity by 33 percent for the holiday season, prioritizing the most-busy destinations, such as Belawan port in North Sumatra and Makassar, Central Sulawesi.
From December to Jan. 15, 2002, Pelni will be operating an additional 29 vessels, and aims to transport 36,796 passengers.
However, tickets are still scarce and said to be already sold out, even 14 days before the departure date.
38-year-old Ida, who planned to go to Medan, North Sumatra, on Dec. 16 was told that there were no more tickets for that date.
"According to Pelni's regulations, tickets are sold 14 days before the departure date ... how come tickets for Dec. 16 are sold out already?" she commented, saying that she would now try to buy a ticket for a bus to Medan.
"Although I would prefer to go by ship, I will not buy a ticket from scalpers. I don't want to have to pay more, while I still have to sleep on the floor of the vessel," she asserted.