usmsbow

The Chicago and Toronto consulate websites are wrong. There is no $15 visa option when arriving in Jakarta. I now can speak from my own experience (flew to CGK a month ago).

califcajin

I just got back last night from this run. The Visa On Arrival price was now $35 US and there was no other one offered for a shorter duration, even though I was only there less than 48 hours.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn Kemayoran for $89/night. Since I arrived at CGK at 1am, I did have to book an extra night as there was no early check in (not that early) available. Which would be the same anywhere else. I did not want to exchange much money, so I had the hotel set up Silver Bird transportation and add it to the hotel. Only downside was the fire alarm/message to evacuate the building that went off at 12:45am on the morning I was leaving. Check out agent said an exhaust fan in the kitchen quit working and smoke from cooking set off the smoke detector. The alarm was cleared just as I was getting ready to walk out the door. It was not worth it to go back to bed at that point.
However there is a Rp150,000 exit fee paid to your airline upon checkin which can only be paid in cash.
I was also impressed by JAL. The aircraft were very clean; I saw them clean the toilets at least twice during the NRT-CGK legs. The customer service (and attitude) of their flight attendants was exceptional. It was interesting that on both legs on 767's there were 40 pax or less in economy. On both of these there were two classes only,no premium economy-I did inquire about a paid upgrade.
Used the Admirals club in NRT-each shower cubicle has a separate A/C control, DFW and MIA should take lessons on that. The Pura Indah club at CGK opens very early, not at 5am as I found somewhere on the JAL website.

mmthomas44

I read somewhere that your EXP card is no good at the CGK clubs. You have to get an "invitation" from your airline when you checkin for access to a club; and you cannot visit another one with your oneworld emerald card. Only the "invitation" gets you into a club. Was that your experience, or were you able to use your AA card for entry to a club?

scholity

On my last leg of this run (did ORD-NRT-CGK-NRT-ORD) and thought I would quickly reconfirm a couple of pts and add a couple of my own observations:

1 - NRT-CGK on JL - my 767's were also basically empty (32 out/23 back in economy) and with such attentive service it felt like first class (well, at least business). Plenty of room in the sleeper section (middle section of rear economy cabin - everyone got their own bed for the night). Wondering how long JL will continue to fly this route.
2 - $35 USD VOA, payable in USD. Note that there are two VOA counters on arrival - everyone kept going to the one on the right so I veered left and had no line. Transaction took all of 30 seconds.
3 - Took approx. 45 min. to clear immigration upon arrival. 2-3 minutes per person and there were at least 10 agents. Allow extra time if you are coordinating transportation (see below)
4 - Stayed at FM7. Positives - I had noted my arrival time/flight in the booking notes and sure enough a driver was waiting for me by name at the airport exit. What a pleasure. If you are not this lucky and choose to stay here the bus departs from the upper level (up one lvl from baggage claim). Staff friendly, pleasant and accommodating. Restaurant very good. Also stayed 2 nights (incl. 1 am arrival first night). Negatives - In the middle of nowhere - I mean nowhere (2 km from airport located in an oasis in the middle of a heavy industrial/shanty area). Superior rooms very small. Large fitness center and pool but very few lounge chairs (all were taken the day of my stay). Recommend only for a mileage run.
5 - Departure from int'l term 2, door 2 (my driver was absolutely sure it was door 1, perhaps it really doesn't matter). Arv 4:30 am was a bit too early for 6:30 am departure - bag scan, check-in, immigration took only 10 minutes. Rp150,000 departure tax payable directly at the JL check-in counter. Was provided an invite to the Pura Indah Lounge upon check-in, but never used it so can't comment on the club or where it is located (I am OW Emerald, was traveling on Y fare). Drive from FM7 took approx. 20 minutes - great way to see the 'real' Jakarta albeit briefly.

Safe travels and thanks to OP for the tip on a very enlightening adventure.

pfbloom

Thanks for the CGK reports! I'm flying a MR there mid-Oct and will add my notes then...

UPDATE: in Jakarta now, 10/19. I can confirm most of what has been posted above. My flight from DFW-NRT cleared for SWU at about T-36. A real pain because the required ticket reissue for the SWU updates the time stamp on your domestic leg. I figure I dropped from #1 to #4 on the BOS-DFW upgrade list because of this. Any FT workarounds for this AA anomaly? It doesn't seem right that adding a SWU should drop you in the ranking....

That said the DFW-NRT trip was very pleasant, and the AA and JAL lounges in Narita are both very nice. I had a 5-hour layover to sample both AA Admirals Club and JAL First Class lounge. The latter has better food selection, as does the JAL Sakura lounge. All 3 quite pleasant, with Sakura the most active.

As others mentioned the 6:55pm NRT-CGK flight is very lightly booked: maybe 40 passengers tops for a B767, with only 4 or 5 in business. One could pretty much pick any row of economy and have it all to yourself. It's the only time I've felt that the B767's 2-3-2 seating was a disadvantage. 3 seats in the middle is not enough to fully stretch out.

CGK is pretty quiet at 0100 arrival time. I was through visa, Immigration, customs in about 15 minutes. I'd booked a Golden Bird executive car pickup through the hotel. This was way overkill as a spontaneous Silver Bird taxi would have been about 1/2 as much; and a curbside Bluebird taxi probably 1/3 the $30 fare I paid. It was very quiet on a Friday night, and traffic into Jakarta was also very light.

Think I will try to post a more thorough trip report later...

califcajin

I did not ask for access to their lounge, the ticket agent just gave me the entry 'invitation'. At the time I thought they did not open until after 5 and was not going to bother. When the agent gave me the invite, I asked what time they open and he said they were already open, opened around 3am. I assumed he gave me the invite because I was traveling in Business/First on the NRT-DFW-SNA segments. Although I am an Admirals Club member, so that might have gotten me in anyway.

consultant22

Anyone having problems getting this to price out?

I see LAX-DFW-NRT-CGK for $974 all over ITA but when I try it on American's site its almost $1600. Any ideas?

Djokison

Did you try to search by schedule, specifically choosing the flights (under the codeshare numbers)?

You can also try pricing it out on google flights.

mialink

Currently on a similar run. XXX-DFW-NRT-CGK. Instead of staying in Jakarta I opted for a J ticket on MH to KUL (highly recommend KUL btw). A word of caution about CGK, my JL flight arrived a little after 1am, the MH ticket desk closed earlier, how much I have no clue. I was given the option of wasting $35 and going outside to a closed airport or wait till 2:30 spend 2 hours alone in the arrival hall until the MH ticket counter opened for my 430 am flight out. Was fun, a total ghost town, a few bugs and the occasional roach said hello. 245 went by, no one at this point I set out to find someone to help. This guy wore a blue uniform, not sure his job but said, you transit, go up the escalator. I find an empty terminal, no ticket counters only closed outbound immigration and security for the different gates. I wait another 30 minutes until a security guard shows up. To make a long story short I was thinking I'm about to get arrested for breaking through security, luckily in the end everyone laughed at the stupid American and a very nice man have me my boarding pass and an invitation to MH's contracted lounge.

The return I am currently completing has had a slight bit of drama as well. To make sure I make my 955 pm flight to NRT, I booked the 300 arrival flight. I thought I'd be smart and get my JL boarding pass in KUL, but no dice JL ticket counter is closed. Get to my favorite transit desk in CGK to find out that I can pay $35 for a VOA again or wait until 7 for the JL ticket counter to open. At least this time people were around, a couple movies later I get my pass, met a couple friendly Aussies that talked my way into the MH contracted lounge and here I sit with a beer but only after 7pm and wifi.

Btw my 767 in coach was 1 person to a row as well, hoping my 777 flight tonight is the same.

mialink

Almost forgot, didn't pay the exit fee the first time, got hit with it the second. Reasoning was different PRN's despite transiting. First time, pity? Person processing? Who cares I finally got out of the arrivals hall construction zone.

Peter_Ng

Anyone stay at the Grand Hyatt Jakarta? Please comment about the taxi at 1 am and / or other transportation to and from. I am having a CGK run and will stay at Hyatt as a day room. Thanks

Djokison

I also arrived at 1AM. Taxis are plentiful outside (and cheap.) Go for a Bluebird one, they're the most reliable and are always metered.

Shareholder

I arrived at CGK two nights ago and there was a Visa on Arrival for U$35 (up from U$25). My reference was to CGK offering a Visa on Arrival, and not any "discounted" priced version.

BTW the woman in line in front of me at immigration did not have 6 months left on her passport so was sent off to be evaluated, so remember to have enough life left on your passport! (I had read somewhere about this being reduced to 3 months but cannot find that now.)

Shareholder

What day did you fly in? I was on the flight departing NRT on Friday night. I am told loads are always light on the red eyes. Like you, hoping for a similar situation on the 777 back Tuesday night. Seating chart is quite full though, but mostly with empty centre seats. As AA codeshare, unable to select seats in advance on JL, nor was I able to do OLCI ex-PHL. Hoping it will be different tonight when I try OLCI. (At least all my AA segments have cleared the upgrade list.)

Shareholder

At airports where OW (and STAR and SKYTEAM) carriers use contract lounges one must always obtain a pass when checking in. This is automatically provided to all passengers who would otherwise have lounge access based on their class of travel or elite status. However, just having an elite tier card will not get you access to a non-airline operated lounge. There appear to be four PriorityPass lounges in T2, so anyone with a PP card could access any of these, in addition to the one that is also the JL contract lounge.