What time do I need to be at CGK for a 6 AM flight on Batik? Im
the kind of person that tends to cut it pretty fine on getting to the airport, but this will be my first experience going through check-in and security at CGK. We will likely have to check our bags because their carry-on weight limit is so low.

Is this a domestic flight? I’d say 90 minutes is the minimum, but I always shoot for 2 hours. If international, add on another 30 minutes.

Traffic shouldn’t be too bad, early morning, depending where you are coming from. Sundays are usually the most calm, traffic-wise.

Is Grab the best/easiest way to get from CGK to my hotel in the city center? Easy to use with a US credit card? How about Gojek, and which would you recommend?
I've used plenty of other non-Uber/Lyft rideshares around the world, but first time to Indonesia and don't have any experience with Grab or Gojek.
(When I land, I don't have time to deal with public transportation and I don't necessarily want to set up a car service in advance)
Thanks!

Yes, Grab is what you want for Jakarta and most of SE Asia. In Jakarta, there is Grab Premium which offers Uber Black equivalent at ridiculously inexpensive fares.
Just download the Grab app, sign up and add your credit card. The Grab app is so much better than the Uber app IMO.
There is a Grab kiosk just outside of CGK arrivals where you can chill while you wait for your car.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7d1b9c36a.jpeg

Whilst Grab Premium is a pretty decent option, waiting times can be quite long at CGK. Of course, it depends — but especially during peak hours, Grab Premium can take a while.

Personally, I have a strong preference for Silverbird when I arrive at CGK. They use Toyota Alphards, which is a step up from Grab Premium cars. The price is usually similar to Grab Premium, sometimes a bit higher. You can order a Silverbird using the MyBlueBird app and pay by credit card. Besides the comfort, the main reason I use Silverbird is that their cars are almost always just a few minutes away (and often instantly available).

Agree that Silverbird is the best option and easy to book

Grab works well, there are helpful staff at the pick-up points. Maybe the premium service would be a better introduction for a first-time user: it's significantly more expensive - but the cars are more comfortable and you get looked after at the (well signed) pick-up points.

If you are paying for Grab by card, do not pay any cash extras; everything goes through the system and onto your card.

Bluebird is by far the most widely trusted of the "regular" taxis. That means there can be a quite a line for its cars, but the dispatchers are efficient and the line moves quickly.

Bluebird's more comfortable, "Silverbird" service is also available at a significant premium. The same company also offers the considerably more expensive, prepaid "luxury" Goldenbird limo through its desks in the arrivals areas. If you were considering a hotel car, you might want to switch to Silverbird - it's pricey but likely to be much less so than the hotel version, which may well subcontract the ride to Silverbird.

Thank you all! Super helpful.

Thanks! We ended up getting to the airport at 4:15 AM because that was the only real option (hotel shuttles left on the hour, and obviously leaving at 5 was not feasible). We had a ton of time—check-in took about 15 minutes but would have been faster had it not been for a couple of group tours ahead of us. Security was also very quick, so we had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast in the terminal. Traveling today from PKN-SUB and I think we’re going to be there 1:45 before flight time…a long time to spend in a much less congenial airport! Ah well.

Would someone be able to kindly advise, how frequent is the Skytrain? I have a 3h35min T2-T3 transit though the inbound doesn't have so good on time performance.

Interval between trains is around 13 minutes. Assuming your inbound flight arriving at T2 is not so much delayed, you should have enough time for the transfer.

The Skytrain goes T1-Railway Station-T2-T3 and return. So T2-T3 is only one stop and takes about 5 minutes, Check the screens on the platform to see which platform (A or B) you should board at. I've found CGK to be quite efficient and 3h35min should be plenty of time.

NFC Transit Card FLAZZ
 

It has been around 4.5 years since my last Jakarta visit, so I was interested to see if my FLAZZ card would still work.
n.b. FLAZZ is an NFC card used mostly for public transit, but also some convenience stores. It can be topped up at BCA banks, but much easier would be at Indomaret convenience stores. Probably other places, but I'm not sure (someone bought the card for me back then).

Sure enough, it still had value on it.

p.s. got to use the new Tanah Abang train station. Quite the improvement...but it would've been nice to know that exit E was closed...before my rush hour slog to it.