Hi all,

Flying from Jakarta with ET in biz.
Had a look at the Star Alliance lounge website and it seems to show that the lounges at CGK are only for Turkish, Thai and Singapore passengers.

Does anyone know which lounge ET passengers can use?

As I recall, there are just 2 lounges- the Garuda lounge and the Saphire Plaza Premium Lounge, which is
used by Star Alliance as well as Priority Pass. I'm sure ET will give you a lounge invitation card when you check in.

We are planning some domestic travel in Indonesia (first time there) and will likely need to overnight at CGK before taking another flight the next morning. Looking at Batik Air CGK-LBJ. How crazy are check-in (we will be checking bags) and security lines at CGK? Is it worth paying extra for Batik's business so we can possibly get expedited check-in/security?

Batik Air is flying from T2 D for domestic, never seen any long queue at check in nor at security check even at peak hours in the morning, being CGK their main base check in desks are open to all flights, not allocated to a specific flight and check in can be done even different hours before flight schedule. Then if you want to fly business that is ok but no relevant difference in term of check in/security experience.

Are any of the hotels in Terminal 3 inside immigration? Or do you need a visa to get to a hotel for an overnight layover?

I haven’t noticed any hotels inside terminal 3 before immigration. Jakarta isn’t a big Intl to Intl transit point.

Depending when your flights are, I’d try for a nice hotel. Taxis aren’t that expensive. If you have a 10 hour or more layover, that’s what I’d choose. I’ve stayed at two, near airport hotels, and even when they were $20-25, they were only good for a short 6-7 hour layover.

Spotted this immigraton desk/baggage screening between Gates 7 and 8 of T3 Int'l. Everyone I saw using it was entering from our side which seems to defy logic. Anybody know what's going on here? Going the other way, is this where airside transit passengers enter T3 int'l and is the immigration desk there to check their docs (again) on the way in?
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4631c8243.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...28078be1a.jpeg

I've used T3 before, but I don't remember it looking that dank. Yeesh...as much as I disdain the CGK at-gate check-in of T1 and T2, the vernacular architecture is neat:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ae369af10d.jpg
T2

Anyway, I've divagated from the thread subject.

The next time I visit Indonesia it will probably be on that GA flight Tokyo Narita - Manado, so I probably won't even both with VOA.
Just hope that random flight lasts.

Getting rupees
 

I had a,horrible time getting rupees in Indonesia last trip. I am going to be in a remote part of Indonesia this time (Raja Ampat.) Is it possible to get about $1500 in rupees in Jakarta at the airport or should I order them from my bank?

You can get them at the airport. It's not the best rate, but usually not a rip-off as some airports are.
You will probably lose about 2% compared to better exchange rates in town.

Why would anyone need to purchase Rupees in Indonesia?

Rupees are from India. Rupiah is the currency of Indonesia. There are usually currency kiosks at the Jakarta airport. I’ve only used the ones when exiting customs, and gotten ok rates, if you have brand new, perfect $100 bills. Latest version, no older currency. No folds, no cuts or marking on them. Count your money carefully at the counter.

That's what I meant, rupiah. Sorry. It was a very long day. I only remember the awfulness of being trapped in a foreign country with no phone and no money and no credit cards that worked.

So to be clear, I need to carry US dollars in cash and not rely on my debit card, correct?

A debit card may or not work. Used to use my Paypal debit card regularly 10+ years ago, but the rates I got were less than doing the cash option.

Most ATMs also severely limit the amount of cash they will dispense. Most have a 20 bill limit, which would be 1 juta ($65 approx) if it has 50k bills or double that if it has 100k notes.

My Schwab debit card works fine in Jakarta, so depends on your bank.