UASPG

In the case the website is not working and you need to reach a sales agent in the U.S. and Canada:

Garuda Sales Agent
Telephone
Facsimile

CANADA

Toronto
1234 Bay Street Suite 601
(416) 9243175
(416) 9720185

Vancouver
1167 Alberni Street, Suite 1406
(604) 6897479
(604) 6818953


UNITED STATES

California
16250 Venture Boulevard - Suite 115 Encino
(818) 9907083
(818) 5012098

Chicago
401 North Michigan Ave - Suite 3320
(312) 3290053
(312) 8220048

Houston
3050 Post Oak Boulevard- Suite 1320
(713) 8771942
(713) 6261905

New York
450 7th Ave - Suite 705
(212) 2790756
(212) 2796602

On this Sat. morning, 10:25 am EST, the number in NY is not answering, the telephone number in Houston answers with a fax signal and the number in Chicago has been disconnected.

The "Contact us" feature does not list any email address.

holtju2

If it is a SITI fare, it won't help contacting Garuda or their GSA in the States.

UASPG

I was just giving general information, that might be needed, when the website is down.
I understand that the SITI fare can only be purchased in Indonesia, but a sales agent, if any can be reached, might be able to help with a fare found on the website.

UASPG

For this latest attempt, the credit card process was really in motion, with screens that kept appearing. It lasted for a short while, but the response was:

"Sorry, your transaction has been declined and your booking has automatically been cancelled."

This time, I had tried with a Citibank Visa and did not have to go through the verification process, that came up with the card from Chase.

I give up on the website.

DJGMaster1

I experienced this same nonsense prior to my trip to Indonesia a couple of years ago trying to get from Jakarta to Jogyakarta. The easy solution for me was to book on Air Asia instead, where at least they have enough business sense to understand that if your customer cannot be enabled to pay for the service you provide through reasonable means, you will not be successful in selling it to them.

UASPG

This is the same route that I am trying to book, but I was unaware that Air Asia was flying it. Thanks for the information.

Garuda lowest fare on their website was IDR 1,022,000, for the RT, and was USD 284 through Expedia.
Let's see what Air Asia comes up with.

Maluku_Flyer

I've booked several domestic GA tickets this year. Always online and using a European CC. Worked every time.

Lion Air on the other hand still doesn't seem to accept non-Indonesian credit cards.

UASPG

The RT on Air Asia is IDR 687,600. This will be my first time on this airline.

A low cost would not have been my first choice, but the website works and there was no problem with my credit card.

DJGMaster1

You're welcome. As I said, I went through this issue nearly a couple of years ago. It's amazing to me that the clowns at Garuda and Lion still have not figured out that this issue is costing them significant business.

BTW, I still have never flown Garuda as a result of this issue - but I can say with complete certitude that Air Asia is a VASTLY superior carrier to Lion Air. For short, direct flights such as the Jakarta - Jogyakarta round trip, Air Asia provides a far more than adequate product. They only fall down if they do not offer direct flights to your destination and you need to transfer.

Maluku_Flyer

GA has greatly improved in the last two years. Never had any problems booking flights on the interweb with non-indo CCs. For Lion/Wings I always need local contacts.

Air Asia Indo is "vastly superior" just how? For travelling in Java and Kalimantan and to DPS, maybe. Otherwise AA-Indo still has a very poor network. They are of little use if you want to fly to Nusa Tenggara, Maluku or Papua. And they only fly to UPG and MDC in Sulawesi.

DJGMaster1

As I specifically said, Air Asia is a superior carrier than Lion for direct routes that they serve. Obviously, it is not a better carrier on routes they DON'T serve. As for just how, I'd say, specifically in terms of professionalism, efficiency and reliability of their service. The fact that you personally were able to book on Garuda's website does not alter the obvious fact that MANY other posters, including the OP, have NOT been able to with their credit cards, as evidenced by this thread.

Maluku_Flyer

Well, the OP had the problem over a year ago. The GA website has definitely become more reliable recently. I fly about 25 sectors per year in Indonesia, and my experience with GA is recent. CC problems just happen sometimes. Also on AirAsia. Lion's online service is still pretty hopeless, though.

DJGMaster1

Yes, but UASPG experienced this same problem just a couple of days ago. And the worst part is that they take you through the entire process before kicking out the fatal error in the end. Surely, they should be doing some sort of pre-verification that doesn't completely waste your time before failing at the final step.

UASPG

We must be using a different website; the one I used is highly unreliable and I tried to book that ticket every day, several times a day, for about 10 days.

The credit card payment was only one issue. The majority of my attempts resulted in not being to access the site that was down. A couple of times, the calendar was not working and you can't key in the dates. Sometimes, the issue is between the steps and you can't access the next screen. The only positive thing about the website is that you are able to go back and find the entries that you posted earlier.
I travel quite a bit and book all my tickets online, but I have never encountered so many problems on an airline website and I was always able to book my ticket at the end, when there were minor issues.

Then, there was the problem of not being able to contact a booking agent, yesterday (no message indicating that the offices were closed on Saturday morning, number disconnected and fax signal answering on a phone line). Plus no email addresses found on the website.

Maluku_Flyer

The final step is always the CC verification. I cannot think of any sales platform where that works differently.

But Lion Air adds another layer of annoyance on top of that. They first send you to the MasterCard secure-something-or-other and THEN tell you that they don't take foreign cards. Doh.