A rather narrow question, but it appears to me that Garuda Indonesia does not schedule its Airbus A330-900neo in advance, but rather swaps it in at the last minute. That is making planning for an upcoming review trip rather difficult.
I’m Trying To Review The Garuda Indonesia A330-900neo In Business Class…
I’ve got a very fun review trip to Asia coming up this autumn and am trying to plan it out in advance, as time has come at such a premium this year.
Part of that trip will be in Indonesia, and I really want to try Garuda Indonesia in business class. Garuda has a strong network in East Asia and I’d like to review the A330-900neo, even though the seat itself isn’t all that special. However, in my extensive searches for flights, I’ve noticed the following:
- Garuda Indonesia does not appear to be scheduling A330-900neos in advance right now
- Instead, on all A330 routes, the A330-200/300 is placed as the default aricraft type
- A day or two in advance, some A330-300s are swapped for A330-900neos
- This is a fairly common occurrence on certain routes like Tokyo, Seoul, and Melbourne, though not daily
I realize that both the A330-300 and A330-900neo have 24 seats in business class (some A333s have 36 seats), but it seems strange not to schedule specific aircraft in advance.
Garuda may not be as bad as Ethiopian Airlines, which is notorious for last-minute aircraft swaps, but I’m thinking I’ll book Seoul or Tokyo to Jakarta and hope for the best…Although I welcome any suggestions you may have.
On this trip, I’m looking into Starlux, EVA, and also reviewing the new Malaysia Airlines A330-900neo…but it’s all still in a planning stage.
Yes, I’ll be reviewing the new Hyatt hotels in Kuala Lumpur and also (finally) check out the Park Hyatt in Jakarta. It should be a fun trip…
I don’t know about the neo but I’ve seen quite a lot of flying blue availability from dps to Sydney lately for 29k miles in biz. Not bad for 6hrs plus flying. I’ve flown it before. Lovely staff. Worlds worst lounge 🙂
Yes, the FB prices are amazing! Not much more from ICN or HND.
Ooh, Starlux? I’ve heard many good reviews about it!
Personally I think Starlux is far more interesting to North American readers (which I assume is the majority for you) as they are aggressive in the U.S. and I expect more to come. Garuda is fun as a niche carrier but the reality is they are off the radar for most other than inside Asia. But you do you!
News flash: the universe doesn’t revolve around Murica.
Emery, I am the last person you have to remind of this. Truly. My point being, and perhaps Matthew can confirm or not, but if you are providing content for a particular demographic that dominates your market, when given a choice, it makes common sense to choose content that the majority market (for this blog…not all) has more use to read. If this was a British or German blog of course, Garuda would make more sense at this point. If there was no choice, of course, Garuda would be fun. Not everyone here is American First, just sayin. But there are practicalities at times.
Presumably you’re trying to burn some SK miles on GA. To be honest, any GA review is good. Outside of domestic Indo or flights to Australia, I feel like I never read anything about it.
I actually think most people would prefer a review of MH as it just seems like an all around easier product to book. I’m always a little reluctant to fly MH. Not for safety reasons, but because they almost seem like a Latin carrier to me. It’s like, are you an LCC, are you AA, or are you an actual nice Asian carrier. They have multiple personalities.
You are right Matthew, as someone who loves this aircraft and has a house in Indo. DPS-ICN, the route I’ve flown them on.
Presumably, it’s based off of demand, as they only 24 seats on the 339 in J. Also be aware, if you want the proper experience (soft product) look at DOH-CGK, as they only have limited stock for blankets and champagne flutes and these are prioritized on longer flights.
As an example, my ICN flight had a small red blanket and baby flute, but DOH had a lovely blue duvet and real stem flutes like TG.
Just my advice. Also, I’d take the 777 if you can, much better all around product.
Very helpful. Thanks, Konrad!
Do Jakarta-Tokyo Haneda, it seems most likely to get an A330-900neo unless it’s rostered as the 777 w/ First Class
Yes, it does but it gets swapped to an A333 without notice.
Arrived in ICN yesterday & found out my flight to JKT next week is now an A333.
Same for next month’s trip as well.
You are welcome, Klint.
Just roll the dice and hope for the best. An update on the state of GA’s business class and lounge is always welcome (though I have a feeling the lounge is still meh).
Garuda does a lot of equipment substitution with regard to wide-body planes. Except for the Garuda flights out of outstations, it’s hard to know what equipment they are going to use — and mostly then it’s not a certainty until the plane actually leaves Indonesia.
Garuda does not have a strong network in East Asia. It has a very average network in East Asia. SQ, CX, TG, Air Asia among others have much better networks.
Hello K, my favorite blogger this week 🙂
Just arrived in Jakarta, lounging at the Platinum lounge of Garuda till the next flight home.
Last week, the aircraft for Seoul was a dreadful old A333 with 2-2-2 seating config. In J class.
Oh the horror.
This morning from Seoul, it was not the A339 Neo but it was a newer A333 with 1-2-1 seating config.
So besides the Neo aircraft, I guess the next better option is that newer A333 config.
Indonesia is awesome, food is great. So underrated in global tourism. Come visit Indonesia, y’all 🙂
I’ll be there soon… appreciate this data point!