You can buy air tickets online for Batavia (Sriwijaya too)

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ocdiver1

Contributor
Messages
767
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175
Location
orange county, ca
# of dives
2500 - 4999
Just was able to book a ticket on Batavia using a U.S. credit card, adding it to Sriwijaya as the only two airlines (as far as I've ever found) that you can do this with. It's reliability is down there with Merpati, but thought I'd pass along the info given as it's so hard to get airline tickets on Indonesian airlines!
 
Wonder if they accept an ip from outside indo? Strangely last year I managed to book Lion from overseas using c/c but couldnt recently. When I was last in Bali I could pay using an international c/c but via indo ip address. Not sure if this is still the case..
 
I booked Batvia from Oz a few weeks ago online. No issues. Well not yet anyway.
 
That's good news, I guess, ocd. However, I will continue to suggest that my far-away customers use a local travel agent for Indonesia air ticket bookings, even when it means paying a (relatively small) surcharge, if they don't have somebody on-the-ground in Indonesia--or can get there themselves to do it as gee generally can--to keep tabs on schedule changes, etc. It's a giant pain having to dig stuff out from between the cracks in the Indonesian floorboards when things change and aren't properly communicated by the airline, they don't answer emails, etc. When it's Indonesia, I always add a fail-safe in the form of a local travel agent. In fact, all operators with offices in Indonesia do this themselves, so it seems to me to be the wise option.
 
yes, i booked mine while still here in the US

---------- Post Merged at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:25 PM ----------

Quero, I suppose I agree if money isn't an object, a person is on a once a year trip and planning it far in advance, and if one is already using an agent it makes sense. Personally, I've found the surcharges to book with a local agent can really add up, plus surcharges for using credit cards or having to pay cash. If you're not already in Indonesia, there's the additional time and hassle involved of emailing with time differences, etc., all the while with prices potentially changing. I like the "control" of just knowing that I've booked something and "it's done with," also at the best price. It's a different perspective with travelers who are used to making their own arrangements--there's definitely some money to be saved and arguably convenience (unless one is already using an agent). It's nice to finally have some options in booking tickets on airlines in Indonesia.
 
ocd, it's not a question of money not being an object (one of your favorite phrases, by the way), but rather one of not falling into a trap of making false economies. Those few dollars one may save over successive trips in an entire decade can easily be overcome by just one screwed up transfer in Indonesia. Like paying your annual DAN insurance premium, paying a small commission for on-the-ground expert assistance from an Indonesian air ticket agent is simply one of those costs that provide peace of mind.
 
Quero, your posts tend to come from the perspective of a moneyed tourist, skewed towards those who need or want comfort and ease in travel, and don't mind paying for it. There's nothing wrong with that perspective, of course, but it is not everyone's. There are plenty of us who are budget travelers rather than tourists, and like and feel completely comfortable with making our own arrangements, with an eye towards saving money--for many "money is an object." You can have this same comfort and ease in travel and do it yourself, and save quite a bit--I do it all the time--and to say it only adds up to small commissions is just not a usually accurate statement, nor is it a matter of false economies. Additionally, for some who would like to save money, they might not be aware there are ways to do so--unless other opinions are given. Options, opinions, and different perspectives are all good things that help people make decisions that are right for them. Many people also value hearing from individuals just like them who are dive tourists and not agents, and I can offer an informed opinion that sometimes differs from yours.
 
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When I can, I book the cheapest flights available. They are usually the no-change, no-refund, no-frequent flyer points type tickets. It just saves money which I have precious little of. That said, when I book tickets into / out of / through Indonesia, I know there is a pretty good chance that I'd have to buy replacement tickets because of cancelled flights, delayed flights, flights that left early or flights that I missed because of traffic. That's why I pay extra for changeable tickets and for possible tiny commissions for internal flights there. I'm just too cheap and can't afford not to. Money doesn't grow on trees.
 
ocd, why are you attempting to make this about me? There are numerous valid perspectives, and your effort at casting my posts in some kind of negative light to invalidate them is rather ironic.

To begin with, my posts most emphatically do not come from a "moneyed tourist" perspective. They come from the perspective of someone who has lived, worked, and traveled extensively in the region for over a decade and in addition who has helped hundreds of others organize their visits here, getting feedback from all of them. My customers range from backpacking students to those who are looking for pampering. You quite simply don't know what you're talking about as far as my perspective goes. I will say it again: in my experience, there are things about Indonesia travel that are worth paying for and things that are not. Booking domestic air travel in Indonesia through an air ticket booking agent is one of those things that are worth paying a small commission for if you don't have on-site assistance of your own.

Next, as many times as you have been in the area (and I realize that you've been here much more often than most and style yourself as something of an Indonesia expert), your individual experience, while valid and valuable, is far, far less than my own personal experience (in which I am most often on a budget), even without considering the additional insights gained through my professional experience. For you to suggest that my posts are somehow "skewed" (to use your derogatory phrasing), and further, your disparaging distinction between "moneyed tourists" and "budget travelers rather than tourists" appears to be an attempt at undermining the validity of my "perspective" and suggesting that anybody who isn't like you isn't a real "traveler." There is no need to cast such aspersions in order to support your advice.

Finally, you seem to be under the mistaken impression that only people who are unconcerned about the costs of dive travel can afford to use the services of a travel consultant and that everybody else can do better on their own. The truth of the matter (and perhaps your ignorance of the facts is due to lack of experience) is that it costs no more to book through a travel consultant than it does to book directly. Travel consultants have a much broader and more up-to-date store of information at their disposal than can be cobbled together through the patchwork individual experiences of visitors like you whose reports are scattered all over the internet, no matter how enlightening these individual reports may be. What I typically do is offer several suggestions to my divers and recommend that they read reports like yours in order to help them choose which option best meets their needs.

Any commissions that air ticket booking agents apply are theirs alone and are not shared with travel consultants (here in Thailand, the ticketing agents I use for my customers charge a whopping $2.00 per ticket), so there's simply nothing to substantiate your implication that I have some vested interest in suggesting to my divers that they use local agents for Indonesia domestic air ticket bookings. If they don't want to (gee, for example, never wants to and always does his own air ticket bookings), it's no skin off my nose.

I have yet to work with any diver who has said "money is no object." There are smart ways to spend in order to get good value and imprudent ways to save in order to economise. The trick is to know which is which.
 
I actually found it more difficult to find an agent to book flights, so on my few trips to indonesia i've chosen the domestic airlines that allow online bookings. I haven't had any issues yet, but i'm only talking roughly 8 domestic flights. And i've definitely saved a lot but selecting my own airlines rather than going with the dive operator recommendations (as in my flights were nearly half the price). That has been due to commissions but also just differing prices available on the airlines at the time. So its always good to get updates on who's accepting international credit cards.

Fingers crossed my luck doesn't run out for my coming trip!!
 

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