Asia - seeking CGK info

I have an upcoming trip through CGK - coming in on KL from AMS and leaving to Denpasar (Bali) on AirAsia. I know that I need to get a visa on arrival, then go through immigration and customs, pick up the bags and head over to terminal 3. Is CGK transfer-friendly? Does immigration usually take a long time? Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

Please follow the thread to our Travel->Asia forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

CGK is many things, but transfer-friendly isn't one of them, especially inter-terminal. Depending on when the flight arrives it'll probably take between 30 minutes and an hour to get your visa, go through immigration, get your luggage and get out through customs.

From there you've got to get across to Terminal 3 from Terminal 2 - there's a semi-regular shuttle that runs, you'll just have to plough through a sea of touts to get to it. If you've never been to CGK before it's certainly an experience anyway!

Ouch.:( Thanks for the info.

If you're in any kind of hurry it'll make more sense to take a taxi. Expect to be asked up to Rp. 50k, which is daylight robbery by Indo standards, but only US$5... and not entirely unreasonable once you see the multi-hour queues the cabbies need to wait in to catch their next fare!

Thanks for the suggestion, jpatokal. I take it the shuttle is slow and/or unreliable? I don't mind parting with $5 if I do make the next flight...

The shuttle isn't too bad - it's meant to be every 15 minutes or so and generally seems to run to schedule. The only downside is if you just miss one the 15 minutes of touting you'll probably have to put up with while you wait - worth paying the taxi fare just to avoid that I'd say :D.

I fly into CGK a couple of times of year, and I really don't mind the VOA and customs lines too much. If you're in the front of the plane (or a quick walker), you can get the VOA in a minute or two. There are usually two Visa booths, one to the right, one to the left. People often don't seem to see the one on the left side, so it can often be very speedy. Just make sure that you have US dollars for the VOA fees. They have some crappy exchange rates for other currencies.

I've never done a transfer between terminals. The advice you've gotten sounds good, though. There is a departure tax for Domesic and International, payable at the airline counter. I know the Intl is 150k.

If you want to whiz through customs, I've seen some people get escorted through. I know that the IC in DPS does this for customers booking higher category of rooms, if you request it. Of course, since you clear in CGK, this won't do you any good there.

If you want to whiz through customs, I've seen some people get escorted through. I know that the IC in DPS does this for customers booking higher category of rooms, if you request it. Of course, since you clear in CGK, this won't do you any good there.

I know people who always tip the police standing around the VOA windows 50k Rupia or so and have their passport handed through the VOA window ahead of everyone, then escorted to the front of the immigration line and directly out to baggage claim in about 2 minutes. Never done it that way myself.