Review of Garuda Indonesia flight Amsterdam Jakarta in Business

Airline Garuda Indonesia
Flight GA89
Class Business
Seat 9K
Aircraft Boeing 777-300ER
Flight time 13:30
Take-off 04 Dec 15, 15:55
Arrival at 05 Dec 15, 11:25
GA   #24 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 212 reviews
Razza_Pr
By 5224
Published on 15th December 2015
I started out my morning on a flight from LHR to AMS on KL1002 (report here: http://flight-report.com/en/report-12476.html ). An I was connecting in AMS for a flight with their fellow SkyTeam member, Garuda Indonesia. I got 2 different bookings (one for KLM and another for Garuda) and was told that I need not leave the airside to retrieve my baggage and do another check-in, yet I simply needed to contact a Garuda Indonesia ground staff to ensure my baggage will get onboard the next flight, which is exactly what I did and why I did not spend any of my time going to the KLM Crown Lounge. Rather, I was drinking Starbucks to up my dose of caffeine as I needed the energy boost after starting out early.

About an hour prior to scheduled boarding time, I approached the friendly, smiling lady who worked as Garuda's ground crew as she was going to the gate and informed to her about the assistance I requested. Immediately she dealt with my request in a friendly and professional manner.

Everyone else started to appear on the gate F7 as the scheduled boarding time approaches. However, due to 'technical issues with Schiphol', boarding was delayed until 16:30 CET. I took partial blame for this, as it may have been caused because of my baggage issue. But it really could've been because of something else I know nothing of. I'm hoping it was the latter. But hey, at least the flight actually departed. I heard 2 cancelled flight announcements. One of Thai Airways (I think) and one of Singapore Airlines.

Oh yeah, after I booked my tickets for this flight, I chose my own seat (9K) because I know if I choose a window seat on row 9, I will get to see this beautiful thing:

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.11.59
Isn't it a lovely view?

Welcome drinks were offered immediately by flight attendants who addressed me by name. Whilst they went away to start preparing and serving the welcome drinks and hot towels, the ground crew from earlier had approached me to inform me that I can be sure that my baggage is already on board, to my delight. After a profound thank you from me, she left the aircraft.

A flight attendant then came to my seat to bring me my welcome drink and scented hot towel. I love how Garuda Indonesia flight attendants bring trays with them to bring your food and beverage to your seat as opposed to pushing a trolley from the galley. It feels more personal and upmarket. Magazines were offered during the welcome drinks service (if memory serves correctly, options included but aren't limited to TIME Magazine, and National Geographic. Unfortunately for me, no US Vogue).

During taxi, the flight attendants picked up all the finished drinks and used towels. Then, one came up from the galley to begin writing down orders for drinks after takeoff and meal services from dinner to breakfast. Again, I was addressed by name by the friendly attendant.

After she left to take others' orders, I decided to take some more photos.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.29.55
Welcome on board screen on my seat
photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.30.12
Noise-cancelling headphones. Worked really nicely
photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.34.41
Starry-night ceiling feature. Accompanied by mood lighting to simulate sunset but unfortunately I took no photos of that.

After takeoff, amuse-bouches were distributed to the passengers. I requested water to go along with it, and hot chocolate to go with my dinner later.

For dinner, you're offered 3 options for a 4-course meal. Options include Indonesian, Modern European, and Japanese.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.39.22
Macadamia and almond nuts in one saucer, and that thing I don't know the name of but tasted pretty good, in a small plate.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.47.13
For starters, roll with butter. Gravlax with black sesame seeds, potato in garlic cream sauce. Tasted great. Notice my hot cocoa?

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.51.36
For the main course, oven-baked sea bream with carrots, rosemary, and creamy sauce. Tasted great as well.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 18.54.27
Chef's cheese platter. Camembert and cheddar. The cheddar fell short in my opinion, but the camembert tasted good. I wasn't in the mood for liquor, so I had water instead of wine. Did I mention their water bottles on board are Evian? Yeah, it's a big deal for some people out there.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.00.05
Dessert. Vanilla ice cream with strawberry syrup. Tasted great but I wished there was a chocolate stick or two to go along with it.

By the time dinner service was done, it was already 00:50 at the timezone of my end destination. So I opted to go to sleep after having (another) cup of hot cocoa.



After about 4 hours of sleep, I was no longer in European airspace. I browsed through the menu and called a flight attendant to ask for a plate of Nasi Goreng to be served with a glass of milk to go with it.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.06.44
In-between fuel. Round 1, Nasi Goreng with slices of chicken.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.07.54
To go with the Nasi Goreng, the flight attendant who served it to me kindly recommended that I have some Rempeyek crackers to go with it. Go on and Google it, it was some good stuff.

After the Nasi Goreng, I decided to turn on my IFE and browse through it. Funny thing is, I remember flying PK-GIE from Amsterdam to Gatwick not too long ago and I clearly remembered it had more movies listed on the programme. This was PK-GIA (an older 777). Did they not update their IFE fleet-wide? How come younger aircrafts have a longer list of movies compared to an older one? This one they need to fix, but I still liked the design as it was easy to navigate through, however not as easy as that of neighbouring rival Singapore Airlines or the benchmark set by Emirates.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.11.35
In-between fuel. Round 2, Nachos with cheese + another glass of milk. In the background I was watching Dragon Blade.

After I finished watching the movie, I had a long sleep until about an hour before breakfast services start. Yes. Their seats are convenient enough for me to sleep that long. Unfortunately, I made the stupid mistake of procrastination. I had intended to take photos of the inflight menu, however I kept telling myself 'just do it later. You're tired now and you should just get some rest like everyone else.' I was watching live news on board from BBC World News.

An hour later, breakfast service begins. You're offered 3 options between Indonesian, Japanese, or Modern European for your three-course breakfast
photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.23.38
For starters. Assorted breakfast rolls with butter and jam. Bircher Muesli. And of course, a glass of milk. Tasted nice

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.29.50
Main course. Free-range hen's egg cooked to your preferred style (in this case, fried). Served with turkey bacon and rosemary. Tasted great.

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.36.37
Dessert. Fruits with vanilla cream. It was really quite nice

We were already in Indonesian airspace, above Sumatra. Local time was about 11 AM after I finished breakfast

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.38.55
See? It's beautiful. I'm not referring to the clouds, though.

We touched down at CGK around 12:20 WIB. Barely anyone else was there when I went through immigration.

Oh, and here's the crème de la crème after a nice flight experience:

photo Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 19.39.37
Premium Arrival Service. Available to GarudaMiles member on Gold tier upwards, and of course to Business & First Class passengers. You get to sit on the arrival lounge, maybe freshen up and take a shower, or have some drinks whilst a staff member goes to retrieve your luggage for you.

Overall, it was really nice. They really earned the 'World's Best Cabin Crew' award from Skytrax. Looking forward to my next flight with them.
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Verdict

Garuda Indonesia

9.3/10
Cabin10.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering9.0

Amsterdam - AMS

8.8/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services6.0
Cleanliness9.0

Jakarta - CGK

5.9/10
Efficiency10.0
Access4.5
Services4.5
Cleanliness4.5

Conclusion

Information on the route Amsterdam (AMS) Jakarta (CGK)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 8 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Amsterdam (AMS) → Jakarta (CGK).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Garuda Indonesia avec 8.0/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 13 heures et 53 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 152558 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Ah, now that's more like it! Much more pics in this 2nd report!

    Did you not ask to check your bags through in AMS? Even though they were two separate tickets, you should have been able to check them through no problem to the final destination as it's all on SkyTeam. So did they have to give you a new bagtag and everything in AMS? Doesn't sound like a fun way to spend connecting time. I'd much rather be hanging out in the lounge or planespotting.

    because I know if I choose a window seat on row 9, I will get to see this beautiful thing:
    I'm the same way. When I get a window seat in Business, I like to be towards the rear of the cabin for more privacy and to see the engine/wing

    Little tip as you are new to the site, the comments/captions are better above the picture on this site due to the large format in which the pics are displayed.

    I've read a lot of good things about Garuda in all classes and your report seems to confirm their good reputation. Would have been nice to see some cabin pics--looks like these are Cirrus seats?

    Thanks for sharing!
    • Comment 330313 by
      Razza_Pr AUTHOR 215 Comments
      Thanks for reading and the feedback :).

      Negative. I asked the ground staff available at a KLM transfer desk and they told me to ask about it with security, and security referred me to Garuda's ground staff, so yeah. I had asked the KLM social media team and they did confirm to me that they are unable to check my bags all the way to Jakarta regardless of the fact that they're both SkyTeam members. Upon arrival, I saw that Servisair (the ground handling company at Schiphol) had simply layered the baggage tag from my KLM flight with a handwritten baggage tag to redirect it to Garuda's Jakarta bound flight. About 20 minutes prior to the (new) scheduled boarding time, I did spend a bit of my time buying chocolates for the ground and flight crew (a little habit of mine) which was thankfully not too distant from the gate.

      It was actually the frontmost seat in the second, larger Business Class section. I wasn't really bothered about privacy as it was a window seat, and not an aisle seat.

      Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to do that next time but for this report I'd like to keep it the way it is and not edit the contents, one of my very first.

      There are numerous photos and videos of the cabin, so I thought that wouldn't be necessary. But yeah, I'll be sure to add them next time.

      Indeed, Garuda have seriously stepped up their game. And if you see the price tag, it's actually very cheap as opposed to neighbouring competitors and even the Middle Eastern carriers. Actually, they're EADS Sogerma Business Class Seats, identical to that equipped in Thai A380 and only a little bit different than Asiana Smartium, but at least they don't have a layout of 2-2-2 or even worse, 2-3-2.

      Again, thanks for the comment and feedback!

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