Bali & Indonesia: €1,523 / £1,308 Business Class from London with Garuda Indonesia

Skyteam member Garuda Indonesia offers some astonishingly low fares for business class roundtrips between London-Heathrow and Indonesia starting in August 2019. Garuda’s nonstop service to Medan starts at €1,523 (~£1,307) – a business class connection flight to Denpasar, Bali is basically free in this fare! All roundtrips have to be booked before November 30, 2019.

A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330-200 serves London thrice weekly from Medan. These airplanes are equipped with fully reclinable lie flat seats. Their premium cabin is arrangend in a 2-2-2 seating pattern. Therefore, window seats do not feature direct aisle access. The three hour ride to Bali features the same plane. Flight to Jakarta are shorter and operated by Boeing 737-800. You will find 2-2 seating up front.

Search & Book

According to the fare rules, these fares are offered until November 30, 2019. Your have to leave London before March 31, 2020 to get these prices. You may stay a maximum of one month in Indonesia, while a minimum stay does not apply.

Google Flights shows you when fares a lowest. Enter the dates you’ve in our flight search to see if online travel agenices offer even lower fare, which they usually do. We still recommend to book directly with the carrier.

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

Mileage

Garuda Indonesia issues these tickets in booking class I. You will gain 125% of your travel distance in award mileage on most Skyteam frequent flyer programs. A noteable expection is Delta SkyMiles, crediting just 100%. A trip to Bali should yield the following award mileage:

Thanks to our source YHBU!

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