A Journey to Java

December 9, 2019February 17, 2023 Koen 0 Comments

This is the introduction of our Indonesia trip report, in which I will travel to Indonesia on holiday to visit the island of Java, and have a quick peek in Rome and Singapore during stopovers on the way there and back.

Trying to reach platinum status

After reaching Flying Blue gold status last year after the epic Air France error fare, followed by a couple of short haul flights on Sky Team airlines in spring, I started to realise that I was suddenly halfway to platinum status.

Not that I care too much about platinum in itself as the extra benefits aren’t much to write home about when compared to Flying Blue’s gold status.

It however did got me thinking that if I would reach platinum, it would be like an extra lifeline.

If I wouldn’t requalify for platinum the year after, I’d have a soft landing back to gold and thus still keep the important benefits (such as lounge access) for at least two years more.

Failing to requalify as a gold member means you drop back to silver status and would lose the most important benefits.

Saudi Arabian Airlines

It was at that point that I saw again a great post on Flyertalk writing about some great Saudi Arabian Airlines business class fares from Italy.

With Saudia being a Sky Team member, flying to Indonesia would easily earn me enough miles to get me from gold to platinum status with Flying Blue.

Coupled with the fact that I didn’t yet have any real holiday booked in summer and never visited Indonesia before, it was an easy decision to travel to Java.

For just 350 EUR I was booked in business class from Rome to Jakarta via Riyadh.

saudia flight java jakarta — *I would fly to the Indonesian island of Java with Saudia. ©Paliparan*

Booking the return

As I was unsure what to do with the return (and how many days I could get off from work for my trip) I only booked a one-way ticket to Indonesia, postponing the decision how to return for a couple of weeks.

In the end I probably waited for too long with my decision.

If I would have immediately booked a return ticket on Saudia straight away, I would have everything settled for just 700 EUR return in business class – an excellent deal.

Unfortunately, one-way tickets back from Asia to Europe on Saudia were expensive and thus not a real option.

While contemplating my plans I also missed another great business class sale on Oman Air on tickets from Jakarta back to Europe.

When I finally was ready to book my tickets, also this deal was gone. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose out on such flight deals!

Getting creative

In the end I had to get a bit creative for my flight home. I just could not find a decently priced one-way fare out of Indonesia back to Europe.

When looking for flights out of other Asian countries I managed to find a decently priced 280 EUR Manila-Taipei-Rome ticket on China Airlines in economy class.

With China Airlines being a Sky Team airline as well, the additional miles earned would be a nice extra benefit.

Of course, that meant I still needed to find a way from Indonesia to the Philippines! Luckily, I still had enough frequent flyer miles in my Aegean Airlines Miles+Bonus account which would suit my needs.

One of the sweet spots of the Miles+Bonus programme is their gigantic Far East region, which stretches all the way from Japan and China down to Indonesia.

At just 21,000 Aegean miles, one-way business class flights in this region are an absolute steal (at least at the time of travelling – after a recent devaluation you now require more miles to redeem the same ticket).

singapore esplanade skyline — *On my journey back I would make a short stopover in Singapore. ©Paliparan*

Booking the tickets

I ended up booking a ticket on Singapore Airlines from Surabaya to Manila via Singapore for 21,000 Aeagean miles plus a mere 16 EUR in taxes.

And what is not to like about trying out Singapore Airlines’ new regional business class product on the Boeing 787 and eating your first ever lobster thermidor in the sky?

Having never flown Singapore Airlines before, I was immensely excited as the airline is known for being one of the best airline companies in the world.

As I decided to visit Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Surabaya on the island of Java, I also had to cover transport between these cities as well.

I opted for a flight between Jakarta and Yogyakarta and a train between Yogyakarta and Surabaya.

For the Indonesian domestic flight I went for national airline Garuda, as other airlines in Indonesia have questionable safety records. With economy class costing 80 EUR and business class being just 40 EUR more, I opted for the latter.

After booking a cheap Wizz Air flight from Bucharest to Rome (40 EUR) and a slightly more expensive flight on TAROM (80 EUR) to travel back from Rome to Bucharest to get me home, I was all set to go.

This is how all flights look like on a map:

java flight map — *The flights (9 in total) which I will take on this trip. ©Great Circle Mapper*

Highlights

In this Java (Indonesia) trip report you can expect the following highlights:

– Saudia’s surprisingly good business class product
– Three great historical hotels on Java: the Hermitage (Jakarta), the Phoenix Hotel (Yogyakarta) and the Majapahit (Surabaya)
– The magical Borobudur and Prambanan temples on Java
– Singapore Airlines’ superb regional business class product on the Boeing 787