I am indeed staying at the Hermitage in Menteng (sorry about the typo in my earlier post). Looking at the timings for the Airport train and considering my arrival/departure times, I think taking the Airport train when I land on the Friday afternoon is probably sensible. Not so sure about using it when I need to go to back to the airport on the Monday though, as it seems like I would have to leave the hotel more or less at the same time no matter whether I take a taxi to the airport or via the Airport train from Manggarai

As to HLP vs CGK, HLP is much easier to fly out of - with one big caveat.
Transport is easier to HLP, security is a breeze, no congestion, etc...
BUT there is a propensity to suddenly close the airport or cancel flights with no notice
if some bigwig is flying in or out of the airport - could be as senior as the President or VP,
or a group of cabinet ministers. And there is no warning until you drive up to the
airport grounds. I experienced this 3 times over some 30 years - so not common, but not so rare.

Any info on the Batik transfers anyone?

Is 2,5 hours connection time in CGK Intl T3 -> Intl T3 on separate tickets enough?

I'm considering a flight to Australia going through Jakarta (CGK) on separate tickets.

Arriving from Europe via JED with Saudia at 17.20 hours and the Qantas flight to Sydney is at 19.50 hours. Would probably need to clear immigration, pick-up bags and re-check, but I assume I have around 90 mins to do that as check-in supposedly closes 60 mins before departure. I would check in online as well, so just need to drop the bags. Unsure if there is an interline agreement and whether it's possible to check bags all the way through.

Anybody knows this?
PS . I have travel insurance

Variations on this question crop up routinely, and (sadly) there's no definitive answer. Even with a much longer connection, your plan could be blown out of the water if Saudia has a bad day. And such a disruption could mean buying last-minute, one way tickets between Jakarta and Sydney. Travel insurance would likely refuse any claim.

That said, it's more likely than not that you'd make it. But if you are at all risk averse you might consider a much more comfortable time-buffer in your connection: An overnight stop at a hotel close to the airport (e.g FM7) is going to cost around EUR40-60, and gives you the bonus of joining your Australia flight freshly rested.

Thanks for your answer. I understand that things can happen, but been looking at the flight history and it looks like Saudia has a pretty good on-time performance. But of course, things can happen. But if the flight is on time, is 2,5 hours enough? And what is the official Minimum Connection Time (MCT). Haven't been able to find anything for T3 Intl to T3 Intl. As long as you're within the MCT, my insurance will cover.

I think 2.5 hours is fairly safe from the same terminal, especially with your insurance coverage.

I'm sure you are right, but you might want to double check that the MCT-related cover would apply to separately-ticketed connections.

If things run to schedule you should have time to make the connection. I became ultra cautious after a 5 hour QR to KL connection on separate tickets got whittled down to just under one hour at MXP.

I think this is very dangerous but it depends as always on you appetite for risk, My last flight from SIN to JKT was delayed for 3 hours due to a technical issue found just before boarding.

No idea what your MCT covers and if its only a financial risk, but the is not something I would risk, also I dont know what options you have CDG-SYD if you miss the connection. By the way this is not CDG dependent, my experience is that you would probably get more help here if things are running late than most places but if its impossible it just is.

Have been reading this thread from most recent backward for a couple of hours to try and piece together a few things.

My OH and I will be transiting Indonesia twice (a little over two weeks apart) on a trip between Europe and Australia.

I didn't want to add too much risk to the transit so we've got 1 night layover (about 30hrs) on the trip over arriving from QR and leaving on the next evening's QF flight to Sydney, and on the return we're spending 4 nights in Bali - so not too worried about transit time etc. We'll arrive domestically on GA about 12hrs before our departure on QR and thinking to use a day room at a nearby hotel with a pool- a friend who's crew mentioned the nearby Sheraton as having a good pool and almost being within the airport grounds which seems decent for that 12hr period. On the way out, more likely to look to find somewhere nice and not too far away (maybe PIK avenue is the best).

Reading the info about Visas and processes etc has me a bit baffled as to the best one to use. I see there's the E-VOA which seems like a no brainer (particularly if you can use the e-gates?)

I mainly wondered if I can use the e-VOA twice for two separate visits, and is the process just to apply for the second one after getting the first one? As I don't think you can use the same one for multiple entries.

We're both UK passport holders. I've got AU also, but not sure if it makes sense to mix them up and just stick with the UK for the Indonesia part, I tend to only use my AU passport to enter Aus/NZ at the moment.

Sorry for the stupid/ignorant questions!

Pretty sure e-VOAs are single-entry only.
For two entries in a short period of time, I don't see why we wouldn't be able to apply e-VOA again before the second entry after exiting the first - but I haven't tried it myself.
As an alternative, someone suggested this approach (one e-VOA and one line up for VOA on the spot): https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36355191-post317.html.

Thank you. I guess the benefit of the second visit is it's likely a lot easier to have the right amount of cash for the VOA the second time round rather than needing to queue at an ATM.

Mainly am just trying to avoid being denied boarding for not having the right documentation!

For 12 hours I'd suggest the Anara hotel connected to T3. No pool, but you'll likely want to rest anyway...

There are hotels by, or attached to, the terminals - but without pools.
The Sheraton is very close by, with a shuttle and pools: but it can be very expensive.
Then there are places like FM7 resort a little further out, inexpensive with free shuttle.
PIK is great, further out but still only a 20 minute ride, it misses (most of ) Jakarta bound traffic but i don't think hotels there operate free shuttles: AirBnB or hotels offer a range of options and prices.

Thanks both. I think we'll do the PIK on the outbound as we have >24hrs and would like to leave a hotel to eat some tasty things etc.
On the other leg, the Sheraton was looking pretty competitive and as we'll be on local timezones, an afternoon of pool lounging and then a meal and a few hours kip before the 1am flight feels best like what we'd be after, but appreciate the insight!

Only real concern at this stage is making sure we're ok in terms of the VoA/e-VOA given two entries a little over 2 weeks apart