gajahduduk
Contributor
I had a wonderful time in Raja Ampat and was very glad I went despite limited time (see this thread).
I did want to share a cautionary/funny story about Express Air, though. Bottom line: do not expect a refund for a flight you don't actually take.
I wound up with 2 tickets from Sorong-Jakarta on different carriers. The reason was the better flight (same day on Garuda) had such a tight ferry connection I doubted I could make it, but I did. So I did not use the Express Air direct flight the next day.
In Sorong, the Express Air office was closed, as it was also in Makassar and Jakarta when I arrived at 8 pm. I was informed that the office would open at 10 pm, so I waited. Then I was told they could not issue a refund at the capital city's international airport, that I'd have to go to head office in Jakarta. In the meantime I had to haggle to have them record that I attempted a refund before the flight, so that I was entitled to 25% refund rather than 10%! Still since it was a $300+ ticket, that was $100.
The next weekday, I did so, only to be told that a refund for a ticket I paid for cash, would take 2 months to issue. I said I was only in Indonesia a few more days. They said come back a 3 pm. Mind you, this is Jakarta, so a round trip to any point is practically a half day journey, and I had no time to make it back that day.
The next day I brought along a friend who happened to be a vaguely positioned "Vice Chief" of a somewhat intimidating paramilitary/mafia organization called the Sons of and Daughters of Armed Forces Pensioners. He happened to have his camouflage jacket with him and he wore it in. This time we were told the cashier had stepped out of the office for an indeterminate amount of time. But with a bit of a shakedown we got the 1.2 million rupiah back within an hour at least.
I did want to share a cautionary/funny story about Express Air, though. Bottom line: do not expect a refund for a flight you don't actually take.
I wound up with 2 tickets from Sorong-Jakarta on different carriers. The reason was the better flight (same day on Garuda) had such a tight ferry connection I doubted I could make it, but I did. So I did not use the Express Air direct flight the next day.
In Sorong, the Express Air office was closed, as it was also in Makassar and Jakarta when I arrived at 8 pm. I was informed that the office would open at 10 pm, so I waited. Then I was told they could not issue a refund at the capital city's international airport, that I'd have to go to head office in Jakarta. In the meantime I had to haggle to have them record that I attempted a refund before the flight, so that I was entitled to 25% refund rather than 10%! Still since it was a $300+ ticket, that was $100.
The next weekday, I did so, only to be told that a refund for a ticket I paid for cash, would take 2 months to issue. I said I was only in Indonesia a few more days. They said come back a 3 pm. Mind you, this is Jakarta, so a round trip to any point is practically a half day journey, and I had no time to make it back that day.
The next day I brought along a friend who happened to be a vaguely positioned "Vice Chief" of a somewhat intimidating paramilitary/mafia organization called the Sons of and Daughters of Armed Forces Pensioners. He happened to have his camouflage jacket with him and he wore it in. This time we were told the cashier had stepped out of the office for an indeterminate amount of time. But with a bit of a shakedown we got the 1.2 million rupiah back within an hour at least.