Review of Batik Air flight from Singapore to Jakarta in Economy

Report #46: ID7158 - Rendezvous with the pizza
This will be my report on flying Batik Air economy class from Singapore SIN to Jakarta CGK, a short haul international flight within SE Asia.

Background

As I was about to renew my passport and sign the employment contract for my work after my graduation (and of course after knowing the exact appointment time for the passport application, I needed to proceed to Jakarta again. I had been trying to avoid LCCs charging for everything (with mostly 3K and TR) like a plague, so me and my parents finally agreed to let me fly on ID, which include 20 kg of free luggage allowance and snacks among others at Rp1.451.300 (~US$101) after OTA discount.

Trip to SIN and check-in

I first frantically tried to clear my belongings from the bedroom before returning the key to the office.

As I had loads of baggage I opted for the social carpooling service, which costed me only S$16 (~US$12) for the 40km trip, though there were a few other people inside as well.

I soon arrived and was dropped off at the departure kerbside.

ID's check-in counters are located near SQ's first class check-in annex, which was quiet. The overall process took quite long at 9 minutes as I had excess luggage and therefore needed to pay the excess luggage fee at the cashier.

I received my excess luggage payment receipt as well as boarding pass.

As it was quite close to the departure time I directly proceeded to the departure area.

I first went through the ticket check, after which I was selected for random bag screening.

After the security check I went to the immigration, which I cleared in less than 2 minutes combined.

SIN transit area and departure

I first went up one floor from the transit area.

Tradition dictates a drink for every departure/arrival at SIN terminal 3 on evening, so I opted for the all-familiar, complimentary Singapore Sling.

I took the automated people mover to the terminal 2 as my friend asked me to buy something from a store only available at terminal 2.

Unlike at terminal 3, which got pretty busy at night, the terminal 2 was quieter.

Back to the flight: I proceeded to the gate couple, which would be used for another flight to FRA/JFK.

There were some queue on the security so it took me 5 minutes to clear it

This depend from gate to gate, but on this flight's case the ticket was scanned and torn right after security.

Due to the high load, the gate was quite packed.

On this flight boarding commenced from one door.

As the business class passengers was allowed to board, many other economy class passengers were gathering around the door to board, after which it was a free for all boarding.

Since the door managed to churn many people into the corridors, ….

It wasn't unusual to have a long queue forming at the aerobridge.

It was not until more than 3 minutes later that I managed to get to the plane.

On board

Flight: ID7158
Plane: PK-LAT
STD/ATD: 22.05/~
STA/ATA: 23.10/~
Load facto: 83%J (10/12), 100% Y (144/144)
Seat type: Standard economy class (middle seat)
Details: ~
After I was welcomed on board I walked past the business cabin.

The cabin consisted of recliner seats with their PTV located at the seatback.

I walked further back to the economy class cabin.

Those who know me, know that the window seat at the second emergency exit row is my favourite seat.

Instead, I got a normal middle seat for this flight.

Legroom was acceptable.

Seat tour time: the armrest just contained a recline button.

The seatbelt was nothing unusual.

The seat was equipped with a 3.5mm port, an USB port, a table, and a literature pocket.

Despite ID's rather generous pitch, the table doesn't extend by much.

Their inflight magazine was available.

A safety card was present this time.

As I have mentioned in my previous report JT group seemed to believe in the power of prayer so much that there were 3 prayer cards in my seat pocket.

Selfie test: the seat was wide enough, though the head support can be improved.

A briefing was conducted for the passengers on the exit row.

ID has its IFE, and although it was touch-responsive the interface doesn't feel well thought of.

ID is well-known to be rather stingy in terms of the IFE so there was no proper music available, only either audio books or podcasts.

A couple of JT's own ads were displayed before a movie was screened.

We were initially parked beside SQ's 388.

A safety demonstration was screened.

The demonstration followed with the IFE preview.

During taxi the cabin light was already dimmed.

Note the no electronic sign, which was placed in lieu of the no smoking sign.

As we were about to depart from runway 20C we passed by the terminal 1.

During taxi I watched the Young Sheldon movie. While the show can be rewinded, the movement was by the minute so it was especially crude.

QF's 388.

We soon took off and left Singapore.

The moving map was not adjustable and only showed the airports the group served.

After the fasten seatbelt sign was switched off the cabin lighting was turned just slightly dimmed.

Supper was then served.

The flight attendant came to my seat and provided the snack.

When opened, it revealed the standard JT group pizza, which was the exact one as the one I had from KUL.

ID offered a copious amount of cheese on the pizza.

A drink was also offered, which was served in ID-branded glass.

Another trolley offered coffee or tea, to which I opted for tea.

Following the meal was the lavatory visit, which was clean.

Is it a JT group thing not to put sink stopper?

A fake rose was also put.

A view of the cabin from behind.

Customs form were distributed afterwards.

Soon the flight attendants were preparing for arrival.

Before landing the screen turned to a thank you message.

We soon made our final approach to CGK.

Landing was uneventful, which was then followed by a taxi to the terminal 2.

We were finally parked at one of the E gates, surprisingly beside SQ's 772 (or else, since SQ has its own lounge at CGK near the D gates are the E gates also used for overnight stays?)

After bidding farewell to the crew I left the plane.

As usual, this involves walking through the dated aerobridge.

I then walked down the stairs to the apron.

Last view of the -LAT.

This is JT group after all so we got bused to the D gates.

Arrival at CGK and post-arrival trip

We were dropped off below gate D7.

A short walk to the main area of the terminal followed.

After reaching the main area I turned left to go to the immigration.

There was a long queue to the manned immigration counters for Indonesians, though I skipped that and opted for the automatic gates.

The same kind of queue can be seen for the foreigners' counters.

I reached the luggage claim area, which thanks to the many flights arriving together doesn't feel dignified at all - time for more carriers to move to terminal 3?

The luggage claim for ID/JT was also crowded. My bags then arrived 26 minutes after I deplaned, which was quite long.

To leave the luggage claim area I needed to pass the customs, where I was let through despite my luggage amount.

Outside the customs exit there were many greeters waiting, mostly from hotels.

There was quite a bit of queue for the airport taxi.

Instead, I walked all the way to the bus shelter via the terminal 2F exit.

The bus shelter was rather dismal.

While that was not the bus I actually took, here is how the typical bus looked like.

Damri operate airport bus services to various destinations, though the most reliable one is the service to Gambir Stn.

I proceeded to enter the bus, which as usual ended being half-full.

The seat wasn't particularly comfortable, though that beats paying for taxi all the way.

After the bus ride I connected to a taxi to my hotel for the night before applying for my passport replacement later in the afternoon.