Jaunted

SkyTeam / Delta / Virgin Atlantic / Garuda Indonesia / Hop / Uzbekistan Airways / Airlines / → All Tags

What's Up with SkyTeam in 2013

Last week we highlighted what the world of travel can expect from all of the major airline changes occurring around the globe and how that affects the big airline alliances of Oneworld and Star Alliance. Now, it's SkyTeam's turn as we have a look what's in store for the Delta-led airline partnership that has had some big growth in the past few years.

The Indonesian flag carrier, Garuda, is gearing up to be a strong South East Asian presence for the alliance. Although not technically joining until 2014, travelers will see the beginnings of the buddy-up to ease the long-haul travel woes. If this means it's easier to head to the beaches of Bali while accruing frequent flyer miles, then we're all for it.

more ›

Airline Lounges / Garuda Indonesia / Bali Travel / DPS / Business Class Travel / Photo Gallery / Indonesia Travel / → All Tags

Inside Garuda Indonesia's Executive Lounge at Bali-Denpasar Airport

Saying good-bye to a tropical island like Bali is not easy, but if you are flying on Garuda Indonesia the trip to the airport can be a bit more bearable if you have access to the airline's Executive Lounge.

The Executive Lounge is reserved for travelers flying in business class (Executive Class) on a Garuda flight or those flyers holding gold and platinum status. As we'd bought our own Executive Class tickets, we escaped the chaos of the airport and bid fond adieu to our Bali island getaway. And believe us, the airport is pretty chaotic with limited places to sit and very few food outlets.

more ›

New Airlines / Airline News / Batik Air / Lion Air / Indonesia Travel / Garuda Indonesia / 787 Dreamliner / CGK / → All Tags

New Airline Alert: Indonesia's Batik Air

Indonesia has just gotten even more accessible for travel to their tropical paradise. With the introduction of a premium subsidiary, Lion Air will try to go head-to-head with the national flag carrier, Garuda. Batik Air is planning to get their birds in the sky by March of next year.

Usually, we see premium airlines creating low-cost offshoots, but this the exact opposite. Lion Air is the low-cost carrier while Batik will be the one with higher ticker prices and, to go with it, high levels of service. It's to be based out of Jakarta, flying to South and East Asian destinations and Australia.

more ›

Plane Spotting / Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Bali Travel / Indonesia Travel / Beach Travel / Aviation / Thai Airways / Air Asia / Singapore Airlines / Lion Air / Garuda Indonesia / Cathay Pacific / DPS / → All Tags

Swim, Surf, Lunch, Tan, Plane Spot, Repeat. That's the Bali Formula.

We have a little secret, and it involved airplanes, seafood, blue waters and, if you've got 'em, binoculars. It's the secret to what is probably the best place to plane spot on the exotic Indonesia island of Bali: the south seafood warungs of Jimbaran Bay.

Finding it was a total fluke. We weren't even trying to plane spot, we swear! We were hungry. We heard the Jimbaran seafood warungs (super casual, mostly outdoor cafes) were good. We heard the ones on the southern end of the big beach were great. Now what makes them excellent: a perfect viewing angle for watching all variety of airplanes take off from Bali-Denpasar Airport's runway that juts out in the ocean.

more ›

In-Flight Entertainment / Garuda Indonesia / Garuda / Indonesia Travel / Food Travel / CGK / DPS / HKG / SYD / JED / → All Tags

What's Cookin' Good Lookin': Garuda Indonesia's Secret Recipes

...And we're not talking in-flight food, but off-flight food.

Did you know that in-flight entertainment systems can be more than just an avenue for catching up on episodes of 30 Rock or Gossip Girl? Well, on Garuda Indonesia, there's heaps of information in a very well stocked seatback TV.

When we perused the offerings to watch some television on a recent Garuda flight, we found more than just Bahasa-language sitcoms. Since we don't speak enough of the language to even get one wise-crack, we opted to go deeper into the pages and pages designed to keep passengers happy until final approach.

more ›

Flight Reviews / Business Class Travel / Garuda Indonesia / Bali Travel / Jakarta Travel / Photo Gallery / CGK / DPS / Seats / Seating / A330 / Indonesia Travel / → All Tags

Flying Garuda Indonesia's Executive Class Actually Has...Class

Since an important part of traveling includes how you get there, it's always nice to sit up front in an airplane. While it makes more sense to experience first or business class on long-haul flights, doing so requires a lot more digging into pockets than most people can manage. The most economical way to fly in the premium cabin is to use miles for an upgrade.

We recently flew an airline that isn't part of our favorite airline alliance (yet). This means no opportunity to use those frequent flyer miles to stretch our legs. While planning a Bali trip, we needed to fly to Denpasar/Bali from Jakarta, and found one of our options to be Garuda Indonesia. Knowing little about them beyond that they're the national airline, we were curious.

more ›