Hamlet in Indonesia to the Windy City
 

Hi,

I will be travelling from Surabaya to Chicago this summer and am having trouble to find the right itinerary. Basically, i like CX and so trying to fly with them as much as possible. I was wondering whether it would be very stupid to fly using the new HKG-JFK and then connect to ORD (dun worry, i am flying after sept 1st!) or will that be ridiculously expensive?

Also, is Oneworld a price alliance rather than just a plastic alliance? i.e. connecting to a fellow oneworld airline is cheaper than connecting to a let say star airline. HELP!!!

Your advise is very much appreciated!


Odin
The amateur traveller.

Surabaya a hamlet? I don’t think so…

Your best bet for a r/t ticket is SUB/HKG/LAX/ORD vv, with the LAX/ORD sector on AA. Same itininery on return, except if you don’t want a long (10 hour) layover in HKG, then fly back HKG/JKT or DPS, and pick up a Garuda shuttle flight back to Juanda.

The alternative is to buy a RTW explorer ticket, and go SUB/HKG/LAX/ORD/LON/HKG/SUB, with the ORD/LON sector on BA or AA. The advantage of this is (1) short layover in HK and (2) a trip back to Blighty. That might of course be a disadvantage! RTW tickets are quite expensive in Indonesia though.

Travelling all on OW carriers should be an advantage. Ask the travel agent to get a quote direct from the Cathay office.

Travel agents in Surabaya can be a dodgy lot. I would recommend Murni Tours as being honest, and having good contacts with the airlines. Most expats use Haryono, who are fine for local trips but they played games with currency during the ’98 crisis for people buying int’l tickets.

I would also recommend paying for the tickets in USD direct, rather than let the travel agent convert into Rp, they have a habit of using the most advantageous rate for themselves. Of course, if your company is buying tickets for you, no need to worry so much about which agent.

Is there still the British night once a month at the Hyatt? The Cathay manager in Surabaya is English, and can probably be found there. Otherwise just drop in the Cathay office in the Hyatt. He’s the blond.