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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!
