Hi everybody,

I am an infrequent reader/poster on FlyerTalk, but thought I could add a few tips on this topic:

There is some useful general information about booking Indonesian domestic flights here:

Plane Sailing? Booking Indonesian Flights Online
http://www.indonesiamatters.com/4938...lights-online/

It is originally written mostly for Indonesian residents (whether locals or expats), but here are some of the key points:

- The only Indonesian domestic airlines that permit payment with non-Indonesian credit cards are the local subsidiary of Air Asia and Garuda; the latter for a short list of countries only.

- Mandala Air and Batavia Air allow payment by Paypal in $US only, for flights more than 10 days in advance. Batavia Air seems to charge a fair bit extra for the privilege, though.

- Another site like travelindo that solves the problem of how to pay/book before you arrive is Mau Ke Mana:
http://flights.indonesiamatters.com
They accept payment via Paypal in any of the 19 Paypal currencies: $, €, £, etc.

If you would like more information in English about train travel in Indonesia, check this out:
http://www.indonesiamatters.com/4398...vel-indonesia/

Here is the official Indonesian Railways website:
http://kereta-api.co.id/
It is in Indonesian only, but you can understand enough to be able to choose the right cities and use the electronic timetable and get a list of prices ($US1 = Rp9000) and times.

Trains are always faster than buses and often faster than cars too due to small roads in poor condition.