For a limited time, Garuda Indonesia has discounted its mileage award by 90% off for flights between 2/1 – 5/31. There is limited award space, and the award must be ticketed by 12/31 at your local sales office.
In theory, this sounds like an amazing deal, but comes with a TON of caveats, which pretty much puts this award out of reach for anyone currently residing in the US. So before you start transferring your Citi points, make sure to read my experience on trying to book one of these promo awards.
How to Redeem
You’ll need to first call the Garuda hotline at +62 212 351 999. Follow the prompts and you’ll be placed into phone roulette. If you’re lucky you’ll be connected to an agent after 2 minutes. If not, they will tell you to call again.
You may find yourself calling the hotline repeatedly as you can imagine the phone lines are jammed. After connecting with an agent, ask to find award space for the flights you desire. Garuda Indonesia’s route map can be found here.
Since this story broke last night, reports are that almost all first class award space is now booked.
If an agent tells you need to call another hotline to book first class award space, hang up and call the hotline again. Depending on the agent you get, you’ll either find it a breeze to put an award on hold, or vice versa.
I managed after three calls to get a first class redemption on hold from Amsterdam to Jakarta, along with a tag on flight to another Asian city.
The total price quoted by the agent was remarkably low 23,500 miles.
To calculate the amount of miles needed, use the one way chart below and multiple by 0.1. Alternatively, you can use Garuda’s cumbersome miles calculator.
I also put a few other awards on hold. You should receive an email similar to the one below.
However, sometimes the agent forgets to send an actual email, so make sure to write the reservation code that they provide over the phone.
The agent told me I would have to ticket my award by 12/31 at a local Garuda travel office.
It’s important to note that Garuda only has travel offices in cities which they actually fly to, which means there are no offices in the US that can actually ticket your award. Thankfully, I am currently based in Asia, so getting to a travel office is just a slight burden.
After putting my awards on hold, I immediately transferred my Citi Thank You Points, which is a transfer partner of Garuda Airlines. The expected transfer time is around 2 days.
The process is extremely complicated and very YMMV, which why I’d advise to sit this one out if you are based in the US. Now if you are located in or near Amsterdam, London, or in any of cities that Garuda has an actual sales office, this could be of interest. Be sure to call your local office to make sure they can book mileage tickets.
Is this risky? Yes, but part of the fun is sometimes taking a gamble and seeing where it takes you. Good luck everyone!
