I am planning on flying Jakarta-Pontianak on January 21, 2009. From Pontianak I will be either flying (if I can buy a ticket on Batavia) or busing it to Kuching. I then pick up my business class award return via KL, MNL, NRT, LAX back home to PDX.

My dilemma is that I have found a cost effective one-way CGK-PNK on Mandala Air. 643,000 rupiah all in (about $65 US). Unfortunately, just like Garuda they only accept Indonesian credit cards. When I called their call center the agent suggested that I get an Indonesian friend or family member to buy my ticket. Since I have no relations in Indonesia nor in fact do I know anyone who lives there that was a completely ridiculous suggestion. He told me then to buy it in Jakarta the day of departure.

My other option is Garuda whose Indian call center has quoted me $240.00 finally reduced to about $170 when I told him that I found it on www.expedia.com for about $150.00. I truly hate to spent the additional $85 especially based upon Garuda's business practice of trying to get the most out of the passenger. Additionally Mandala's baggage allowance is 30kg while Garuda's is 20kg.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to a method to book both the Mandala and Batavia tickets from the U.S? I will be in Singapore for SinDo and will be taking a group to Batam on January 15 so I could buy tickets there at an unknown price. This would mean that I will have to abandon a group of FTers for a couple of hours while I attempt to sort it out in Nagoya. Apparently, these type of tickets are not bookable in Singapore where my credit cards are valid. Actually, from experience in Bali and Batam, my credit cards are also valid in Indonesia.

So your help is requested.

Lion Air flies CGK-PNK 4 times a day for ridiculously low prices.
http://www.lionair.co.id/
Their web site booking is pretty flaky and has some serious quirks but I have successfully made it work before from the US with a US credit card.

I have successfully booked Mandala and Batavia paper tickets before from the US with http://www.travelindo.com. But just e-mail them since the forms on their web site don't always work, and although they have been honest and straightforward with me, the process of dealing with travelindo is not for the faint hearted

The above says it all. This is the same problem that I have been having with both Master Card and Visa in attempting to book in Malaysia (Malaysian Airlines), The Philippines (Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines). I was finally able to book using my U.S. Credit cards by calling the U.S. toll free numbers for MH and PR. Los Angeles MH office accepted an American Express for my two tickets-SIN-KUL and KUL-CGK. PR accepted a U.S. World Master Card to MNL-CBR-MNL. The Master Card is the same one that they denied on-line.

I tried one Master Card and three Visa Cards all of which went through their respective verification processes and all were denied. I totally cannot understand what the problem is. The issuing bank for the Master Card reports that they do not see any verification request coming through for the charges.

Perhaps my only alternative is to try another computer to see if I can book and pay for these tickets.

Perhaps an e-mail to www.travelindo.com will do the trick since I am not faint of heart.

Looking at my last Lion Air ticket. It was in May of this year, purchased with a US WAMU Visa. It cleared my account as "Www.lionair.co.id Jakarta Pusat". That was more than a few tickets ago so my memory is a little foggy but I seem to have some vague recollection that I was directed off-site to some Indonesian bank's secure site to make the payment and later the reservation just showed "REMARKS 1.H-PAYMENT CODE 1**********3
RECEIVED FROM - SYSTEM". I also vaguely recollect that I may have had to go through a "Verified by Visa" process https://usa.visa.com/personal/security/vbv/index.html and the part I remember quite vividly is that about 30 seconds after I clicked "OK" to authorize the payment, my cell phone rang from WAMU's fraud department asking if I made that purchase.

I also seem to vaguely recall there may have been more than one payment option on Lion Air site and the link directing me to the bank to pay was not the most obvious way to pay with a credit card, but I may be confusing some other Indonesian Airline on that point.

Of course just because it worked in May does not mean it works today and if it doesn't work today, it may work tomorrow. E-Tickets are still kind of a new concept in Indonesia.

Actually Mandala's baggage allowance is also 20 kgs, in fact all Indonesian carrier's baggage allowance is 20 kgs.

Just buy the ticket once you arrive in Indonesia. Other than the June/July/August crush my understanding is flights are not difficult to come by.

Actually no further along than when I posted. A WAMU Mastercard was tried on the Lion Air site and came back denied. Mastercard was less than helpful again.

I have e-mailed the suggested TA and have received no response. Also have e-mailed the Santika Hotel in Pontianak and also received no response. Yes, I can buy the tickets in Indonesia but Pontianak is not an easy destination. If flights are full the week before Chinese New Year, (Pontianak has a large Chinese population), there are no good alternatives. It is mandatory to be in Kuching to pick up the award ticket itinerary so my preference is to have a ticket in advance, just not a $240 OW on Garuda or even a $172 one from Expedia when the LCC's are selling now for around $65. Price will go up closer to departure especially if load factor is high.

Anyone have any further thoughts?

Hi opushomes,

The lads say that Batavia Air do not accept credit cards EVEN though they promote they accept Visa Mastercard and Amex, and advise that you may have no alternative other than to pay cash. I mentioned that the airline site clearly invites c/c payment on the home page, but they recite experiences only 3 months old.

If you are coming through DPS, PM me, as I could arrange it, it's just that I do not have any plans formulated until the "current issues" are finalised, and it may well be late November till I am back. My next advice is to go onto Airline net site and access the Indonesia Airlines forum. Most are expat pilots and airline engineers and will be able to guide you that extra bit. I would have thought Batam was the best bet, but personaly i would have no trouble waiting and paying at jakarta, with a couple of emails confirming your intentions beforehand. However, I can't work out where you are getting the Garuda fare from, as their page is showing specials at 200000idr (about AU$25)and pre book fares for AU$65.75, and as far as i am concerned, they are good, regards bkkrop

Thanks for the offer. That is what FT is all about. Unfortunately I will not be in DPS, but actually have a method of getting cash to you with a FT friend who is heading to Denpasar after Singapore if it comes to that. For now I'll wait and continue other options.

Re: Garuda fare - Yes on-line, I am able to find less expensive options, but since the web-site refuses my US-issued cards and they have a toll-free number, I called it. Where else but India would one find the call center, certainly not in Jakarta or even Banda Aceh. Large unemployment in parts of Indonesia but Garuda in its quest to squeeze out the last rupiah outsources to India. India call center obviously knows that the call is coming in on the U.S. toll free number so apparently in Garuda's quest for cash flow, they quote fares in U.S. dollars. First go around (two different calls on two different days got the $240 fare. When pressed on the second call he came down to $170. "No, we do not quote fares in rupiah!", said he.

Interestingly, in my successful bookings with MH and PR using their toll-free numbers they actually gave me the internet price and in the case of PR one that was actually 900 pesos less. MH just annotated the PNR and had me call when the U.S. call center was open. They converted to ringat at the current rate.

Try Bayu Buana at http://www.bayubuanatravel.com/ . They're the biggest TA in Indonesia and, in my limited experience, have been reasonably competent by Indonesian standards. They've got branches in a number of the bigger hotels in Jak, including the JW Marriott.

Alternatively, your Jakarta hotel may be able to arrange the reservations for you.

Yeah Bayu Buana are OK but I'll be very surprised if you they respond to emails booked through the website.

What you can do is call Garuda here. +62 21 23519999. You can pay by credit card over the phone and then pick up the tickets at the airport. It probably won't be as cheap as Mandala but it will be the regular local price.

Batavia Air do accept credit card bookings. I book through them regularly using my Australian credit card. I live in Indonesia though, so that might make a difference. I've also booked online with Lion many times.