Last week, Garuda Indonesia launched an incredible 90% off flash shale for all its mileage tickets.
As I was able to get in on the deal relatively early, I was able to put on hold two separate awards. Not surprisingly, after a surge of interest, Garuda ended its promo early. What came afterwards was a week of speculation on whether Garuda would honor the tickets put on hold, and how to actually ticket these elusive awards.
I’ve finally come back from Hong Kong after a long day trip, and in my hand two ticketed reservations in Garuda First!
I know some of you guys who were lucky have put reservations on hold, so let’s break it down step by step on your options on getting your reservation ticketed.
Before you can begin the ticketing process, you’ll need to have enough miles to redeem your award. Citi is the only US bank that has points that can be converted to GarudaMiles. I initiated my transfer on the 12/22 via Citi and promptly received my points two days later.
Once you have enough miles, it’s time to ticket your award.
Option One: The Phone Roulette
Not wanting to go through to the hassle of flying to the nearest sales office, I first tried Garuda’s first class hotline (+62 212 965 5777). While the agent was able to confirm my reservation and mileage amount, when I tried paying for the tickets with any of my US cards, the payment failed to go through. I tried to enlist my Taiwanese friend’s help and use his Taiwanese card which also failed.
Garuda’s payment system is frustrating to say the least, and I probably called the first class phone line at least 10 separate times, each time resulting in failed transaction.
Verdict: Unless you have a Indonesian credit card, it is unlikely you’ll be able to pay for the ticket over the phone.
Option Two: Indonesian Friend
Since I was unable to use any foreign credit cards, the agent suggested that I ask a local contact in Indonesia to make a bank payment on my behalf. The process itself is simple, you are given a payment reference number and you simply go to your local bank’s ATM, enter the reference number and directly transfer the money instantaneously.
In practice, finding a local contact to willing to do this was a PITA, and I wasn’t able to find anyone to complete the transaction
Last Resort: Fly to a Sales Office (Hong Kong)
Having exhausted my other otpions, I finally decided to physically go to the Garuda Hong Kong office. Normally, last minute tickets are quite pricey at over $240 round trip, but thanks to British Avios, I was able to book a business class flight leaving Taipei in the morning, and a return on the same evening for only 13,500 British Avios.
Note: Cathay Pacific has recently started blocking all award space less than 6 days out for British Avios bookings
After my morning flight, I made my way to the Garuda Sales office located a couple minutes walking from Causeway Bay MTR station.
The actual sales office is a bit small, although it’s located in a rather posh building. I was greeted by the agent, Mr. Low, who proceeded to confirm the flight details.
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–>Amsterdam to Jakarta in First class, along with a tag on flight in business class to Hong Kong for 23,500 miles.
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–>Jakarta to Tokyo in First Class, along with a tag on flight from Hong Kong in business class for 13,500 miles.
The total cost of my two trips was a mere 37,000 GarudaMiles + $290 in fees, which was one of the best mileage deals I’ve ever redeemed.
Contrary to the previous rumors, you actually don’t need a physical GarudaMiles card to book your trip. A passport matching the reservation name is all that is required.
After filling out a bit of paperwork, including an award reservation form confirming the 90% miles off, he swiped my US visa card to pay the $295 in taxes & fees, which went through without a hitch.
To finalize the ticket, the agent created a printed out of the ticketed flight, amazingly using a dot matrix printer.
Overall, the process was quite seamless and I booked my award in less than an hour.
Alternative Way?
If the nearest sales office it on another continent, there seems to be a small workaround loophole.
There are reports on FlyerTalk that the Garuda Amsterdam office is able to issue mileage redemption tickets through a credit card authorization form, which means you don’t have to actually physically go to an office. This seems like the only sales office that processes tickets , so it is extremely YMMV, but if you can’t make it to an actual sales office, this may be your only option.
