Ticket hunting season in full swing

Ticket hunting season in full swing

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Joko Saputro received the same answer at ticket counters of
airlines, trains and buses over the past three weeks: "Sorry, all
tickets for Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 are already sold out".

The 40-year-old security guard at a private bank in South
Jakarta had thought of giving up his plan to celebrate the Idul
Fitri holidays, which are expected to fall on Nov. 14 and Nov.
15, in his hometown Semarang with his wife and four children.

As his office has given only two days off before the holiday,
he decided to take the fastest mode of transportation available
so the family can arrive in Semarang on time to enjoy the five
days holiday.

"I almost gave up ... the only choice would be to go to
Semarang after Idul Fitri," Joko told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

But a neighbor came to the rescue, and offered Joko his car
for rent for Rp 300,000 (US$33) a day.

"It was like a blessing. I will rent the car for five days and
drive myself. I'm quite happy although I know that it will be
very tiring for us."

For most Jakartan migrants, going home to celebrate Idul Fitri
with the extended family, or mudik, is a must because, as Joko
put it, "what we have done and saved in a year is meaningful only
when we can share it with relatives and neighbors in our
hometown".

The authorities have predicted that around 2.11 million
Jakartans, a 10 percent increase from last year, will go back to
their respective hometowns, in particular to Central Java and
East Java.

The competition to get tickets home has started to heat up
because most of them want to leave Jakarta during the same
period: A week or at least few days before the big day.

National flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia spokesman Pujobroto
revealed that all seats had been fully booked for flights between
Nov. 10 to Nov. 14 since the end of last month.

"Although we have provided extra flights with 62,000 seats,
all seats in our 200 flights are fully booked during the peak
period. We will add flights until late at night during that
period if the demand is still high," he told the Post.

He said that the busiest routes are from Jakarta heading to
Denpasar, Surabaya, Surakarta, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Medan.

It is predicted that around 481,000 people will use planes, or
up 25 percent from the same period last year.

Gambir railway station master Besar Susmiarso confirmed that
holidaymakers sought train tickets starting on Nov. 5, with the
highest demand for Nov. 12.

"Tickets for Nov. 9 until Nov. 12 are all sold out. In
anticipation of the hike in passengers we have provided
additional train cars ahead of Idul Fitri," he said.

He added that around 534,000 people were expected to use
trains to get to their hometowns in West Java, Central Java and
East Java ahead of Idul Fitri.