Asia - indonesia domestic flights/travelindo.com

1) Anyone have any experience booking via travelindo.com?


with comparably short notice (few weeks) i've been trying to book a domestic indonesia flight from abroad for the first time.


theres a merpati flight i've been trying to book (only 1 flight per day)
I had asked a friend in indonesia to help check for me but the agent they asked said the flight was fully booked. Havent talked to an agent personally though so not exactly sure.

I called/emailed travelindo.com and heard that the merpati systems were down, but anyways they gave me a rupiah quotation that was just slightly more expensive than where my friend said it would have been. I asked other travel agencies (like foreign enablers) prior to this and there were much more markups so i figure travelindo price wasnt that bad and gave them the names and asked for a reservation anyhow.

They reverted with a mail saying that we were reserved and payment instructions in rupiah. I asked for USD settlement instructions (preferred payment) and they quoted me a USDIDR fx rate of 10,000 when it is currently above 11,500. Im questioning them now on this and waiting their answer.

I would only be able to get the ticket via "flight voucher/MCO/Exchange Order with PTA Process" where I get an email and exchange it with Merpati at the airport.


Its my first time booking a flight via a travel agency that I am not sure about, and expected to pay over 1000 usd (the total invoice for my travel) in advance for an exchange voucher. Is this normal?

Now generally my impression now of booking domestic indo flights is one where there is a lot of marking up. So anyone have some insight into this situation if I end up needing to book via travelindo.com?

I certainly wouldn't be happy paying over USS$1000 for a single domestic flight in Indonesia. That sounds like too much by almost an order of magnitude to me.

its about 500 round trip and two travellers. just noting a relatively large invoice amount and my lack of experience dealing with domestic agents is making me worried about just paying and getting some exchange voucher - is there any likelihood of getting ripped off or what not here.

What route that you want to book and on what exact date?

US$500 round trip sounds really expensive -- even Jakarta-Papua fares aren't much more US$200 r/t. If you can give us the route, we can probably figure out better options than "it's Merpati and I'll fly if I want to"...

Unless you're traveling during a peak season, it's pretty unlikely that the flight will be full, and tickets for travel in Indonesia are much easier and cheaper to arrange once you're in the country.

i'm on a tight schedule so don't have the luxury of booking myself in-country.

it is jakarta-papua (soq) and my friends' agent said its about 2.7-2.8mio rupiah one way. but then again was the same agent who said it was fully booked.

For Jakarta-Sorong, your options are Merpati, Lion Air (http://www.lionair.co.id/) (via Manado or Ambon) and Express Air (http://www.expressair.biz/schedule.php?dari=CGK) (via Ujung Panjang/Makassar). A quick look for a random date next week on Lion Air's online booking engine finds eg.

JT0776 CGKMDC 05:00 09:10 M IDR 602,727 Lion Air
JT1178 MDCSOQ 11:05 13:55 Y IDR 839,091 Wings Air

So 1.5 mil one way via Manado, with a 2-hour layover.

I can't comment on the price or other options. As I have mentioned previously, I have purchased tickets from travelindo.com before. I have also said before that dealing with them is not for the faint hearted. This is Indonesia after all. But amazingly enough I have never had any problems and all of my dealings with them have completed successfully and I have no complaints.

As for the "flight voucher/MCO/Exchange Order with PTA Process". After you pay them, they e-mail you a .jpg scan of a paper voucher which you then print out and take to the airport ticket office or any official airline ticket office in Indonesia at your convenience, and after extensive consultation by cell phone with the "home office" the agents issue you a hand written paper ticket in exchange for your printout of the scan of the voucher. Paper ticket in hand you are then all set. It's all wishy-washy as hell but the few times I've done it, it all worked out.

As for paying in US Dollars rather than Rupia, you would pretty much have to expect that any time you have any entity other than a bank or exchange house making an exchange, the rate is not going to be favorable. Sure they may accept Dollars to accommodate a customer but exchanging money is not their primary business. I'm sure you would find a similar rate at many hotels if you asked to pay in Dollars. Why not pay in Rupia?