Garuda's business class In long or medium haul we say yes!

The airline landscape is full of airlines that are on the rise (and others that are on the way down, but that’s another topic). Some airlines that were “exotic” not so long ago claim to be hunting on the territory of the historical ones today and the passenger legitimately wonders if it is reasonable to be tempted or if it is preferable to prefer the established players.

Last spring, we tested Garuda Indonesia on a route from Amsterdam (AMS) to Jakarta (CGK) to Denpasar (DPS), which allowed us to test several aircraft (B777-300ER, A330-300 and B737-800) as well as the long and medium haul service. An article that took a while to come out given our busy agendas but that we hope will be enlightening for our readers.

Garuda: from blacklist to Skytrax 5 stars

A bit of history to begin with and to situate the level of questioning for the passenger. For some, the name “Garuda Indonesia” does not evoke much while it is the Indonesian national airline, member of the Aliance Skyteam and therefore partner of Air France KLM for French passengers going there (possibility of crediting Flying Blue miles on Garuda flights among others…) and classified 5 stars by Skytrax which corresponds to the highest standards of quality (for information no European or American airline is 5 stars). For the informed passenger, however, it is a 5-star airline that was still on the European Union’s blacklist until 2009. This raises questions about the reality of this quantum leap.

A decent cabin but a real plan to move upmarket

Let’s start with what is immediately obvious: the cabin.

For anyone who likes to test the latest business cabins on the market, we can’t say that the cabin of the 777 we flew in is ecstatic. It is a cabin that can be described as old generation, even if, contrary to what can be found on too many long-haul Air France aircraft that have not been “updated”, it offers a totally flat seat-bed, which is the minimum acceptable in 2016. The cabin is in a 1-2-1 configuration which gives everyone the ability to access the aisle without having a neighbor to step over.

A seat already seen and reviewed which if it “does the job” does not make either dream. But this is worth more than a “slide” bed on a European company…

On the medium-haul side, we had a very comfortable “almost flat” on an A330 in 2-2-2 configuration. A “normal” configuration on a medium-haul aircraft for an Asian company but leaves us, Europeans, dreaming.

On the 737 it was more classic with a 2-2 configuration with improved pitch.

A short comment on the long-haul cabin though. To allow a 1-2-1 configuration without having to adopt a herringbone configuration as on many airlines and without reducing the capacity of the cabin, it was necessary to cleverly “nest” the rows into each other. This means two things in concrete terms.

– On the window side, one seat out of two is next to the window and separated from the aisle by a sideboard which reinforces the feeling of intimacy. On the other hand, the back seat has its sideboard next to the window and the passenger really has the impression of sitting in the aisle.

Illustration in photos :

Having spent the outward journey in the second configuration I can tell you that you have the unpleasant impression of sleeping with your legs in the corridor. I’ll change rows on the way back and then I’ll have a real sense of privacy.

– In the center seats, every other row sees the two seats next to each other and protected from the aisle, the other sees them open to the aisle and separated from each other by the imposing sideboard. If you are traveling solo and don’t know your neighbor, the second configuration is perfect and the first if you are traveling together. But if you reverse the situations it is much less comfortable. On the outbound trip as well as on the return trip, we had window seats (so we were separated) and the cabin was not full, so we asked to take our meals on two central seats. On the outward journey the “close” configuration allowed us to have a pleasant discussion, on the return journey it was almost impossible to exchange with the separation between the two seats.

In night configuration, the cabin is very pleasant. The bed is quite long even for a European. Not as long as on Air France for example, but we were able to fit our meters almost ninety (which was not the case on an identical seat in medium haul on Thai). On the other hand, beyond 1m90 it can get less comfortable.

For a more peaceful night, the ceiling is strewn with stars.

However, this comment will soon be a thing of the past as Garuda has decided to equip both its 777s and 330s with the Super Diamond seat from B/E Aerospace. The first examples of these new cabins are already flying and that changes everything. (Apparently the Super Diamond will first equip the newly delivered A330s and the next delivered 777 before being deployed on the existing 777s).

And before moving on…a very well-made comfort kit…of purely French origin since it is signed l’Occitane.

Food and in-flight service: Garuda at the level of the best (or more)

Then comes the essential question: do one eat well and is the service of quality. Let’s remember this constant: no matter how good the cabin is, it’s the staff that will make it possible to keep a good or excellent memory of the flight.

I let you discover the menu of the two long-haul flights.

The service is done by the plate (understand that the dishes are not reheated and served as is but assembled by the staff in the galley). The quality of the service and the presentation of the dish are greatly improved.

Our conclusion will be unanimous: it is both beautiful and very good. And to say it honestly, we are far above what we find on European airlines in terms of food, presentation, quality and attention in the service on board.

I would highlight the lamb served impeccably pink, a feat we are not used to. The service is fast, polite and attentive.

A snack menu allows you to order hot meals throughout the flight, in the middle of the night. Eggs with the request (fried egg, scrambled… again a delight and a very positive surprise), satay skewers… we tried (almost) everything.

Add to this a real tea and coffee menu and a very honest selection of wines and champagnes, and the conclusion is obvious: if we compare it to things that have already been seen and are very well known, we are more at the level of the quality of service of an Air France First than of a business. We wonder what Garuda can offer better in terms of service in first class (their private suites seen from afar are very appealing…)

As for our two 2-hour medium-haul flights, hot food was served each time. No wine on the other hand but very acceptable beers.

Absolutely nothing to complain about.

Garuda: a flawless service in the great Asian tradition

Throughout the night, the crew passes through the aisles offering snacks prepared on demand, drinks and ice cream. Every time you open your eyes you feel like someone is coming to take care of you within 10 seconds. The question is how they do it.

However, there is a downside to this idyllic picture. It is common practice for an airline to offer better service from its home airport than from foreign destinations. Logically, Air France is better in Paris-Singapore than in the other direction and Singapore Airlines better from Singapore than from Paris. With Garuda we have seen the opposite. So much so that the service (including champagne) from Jakarta left us a little hungry compared to the flawless outbound trip. But let’s be honest: we are at the same level or even better than the European airlines.

But let’s not kid ourselves either. To achieve such a service you need two things:

a lot of staff: here the galley was overflowing with people and there was a real chef at the helm
Dedicated and caring staff at the service of our clients. Here it is the norm, elsewhere it remains random and they just serve the meals, forgetting to take care of the passenger in between.

The first point assumes a cost structure that a European company cannot match. The second is a culture that some have forgotten or never had.

However, there is room for improvement

However, not everything is perfect. Let’s start with the “less annoying”. If the IFE (in-flight entertainment system) is good, the European (and especially non-English speaking) passenger will quickly come up against a list of films that is not only limited but also very poorly available in French. A big gap for a company that claims to play in the big league, especially in the very exclusive 5-star Skytrax.

A youthful mistake for a fast-growing company that is moving upmarket at breakneck speed and will surely be made up for.

The same causes have more dramatic effects on another area: non-airline services. Understand: everything that happens when you are not flying.

Lounges that can be improved

We used 4 lounges on this trip:

KLM lounge in Amsterdam (not relevant here)
Domestic lounge in Jakarta
Domestic lounge in Denpasar
International lounge in Jakarta

Let’ s quickly mention the one in Denpasar. Very basic offer, acceptable food but nothing more, looks more like a canteen than anything else.

Domestic lounge in Jakarta. Large and beautiful lounge, very good hot food offerings, alcohol offerings limited to beer.

International lounge in Jakarta: the same as the domestic one but with champagne and wine…of very average quality.

As far as lounges are concerned, Garuda does the bare minimum. We don’t complain about it but we don’t rave about it either. There is room for improvement.

Garuda’s “non-airline” services: on the verge of a red card.

So let’s get started.

– Impossible to pay with AMex online ( corrected since : this option is now available)

– If you call the customer service for a flight modification or the purchase of a supplement you will get an Indonesian call-center (so call from your unlimited landline if you don’t want a 300 euros mobile bill). Despite the friendliness of the staff, the exchange lasts 3 hours (having to spell names and addresses letter by letter in English takes time). Impossible to pay the agent, you are redirected to a voice machine that sends error messages in Indonesian. No way to know that your Amex card is not accepted… so you call back, so…

– The mobile application is terrible. Impossible to change flights (even on a flexible business fare…hence the call center).

– A ground staff of a rare kindness but which does not have the means and/or the training to properly do their job. For example, we were able to check in on our DPS-CGK from Bali but not on the next flight and no one was able to tell us why at the counter. “You will see once you arrive in Jakarta”. Once in Jakarta no problem, there was not even a report of anything.

In short, in terms of customer experience, we are far from being seamless as soon as we leave the purely air service. Training ? Process ? Tools ? Online/offline convergence ? It was quite unpleasant and we thought that less experienced passengers could have experienced the situation in a much more anxious way. And in the end, this is what remained of this flight and a good lesson for all customer experience managers or communicators: our comment on our return was “it’s great [sous entendu mieux que ce qu’on a jamais fait sur cette destination en vol direct] but …. the side events spoiled the party a bit.

Note that we are not the first to make this observation, and not only about Garuda. Many 5 or 4 star Skytrax airlines, starting with Emirates, Qatar and even Turkish (the best European airline) often have this in common: excellence in flight and a chronic inability to manage exceptions, irregularities and crises.

On this point, let’s give credit where credit is due: if after reading this post you tell yourself that the service is superior to what you will find on Air France, KLM, British or Lufthansa… you are 100 times right. On the other hand, in case of any problem (weather, process, other) you may quickly regret the ground agents and the customer service center of your favorite European airline.

Garuda, in addition, it is affordable

So of course this is all well and good but you will ask us “but how much does this above average experience cost”.

It is difficult to draw generalizations in terms of prices as they fluctuate so much according to the context. To say that such a flight will cost you so much is unrealistic. On the other hand, Garuda is now systematically cheaper than its European competitors and offers, in addition, a non stop flight on Jakarta that is very appreciable.

For your information we paid a little less than 1500 euros for this round trip. Expensive for the common traveler but given for a flight in business on this destination where one usually spends 2500-3000 euros or more. It was of course a promotional fare as airlines often propose in off-peak periods. When you see how much an economy ticket to Jakarta can cost…

However, this fare was not available through Garuda’s partners. You had to buy directly on the Garuda website and not on Air France, KLM or others.

So even if the gap won’t always be that big, Garuda remains a very competitive company in terms of price. And who knows…check it out next winter for a spring trip if they repeat the same promotions.

Garuda in business class we say “YES

What can we conclude from this experience? Despite the few drawbacks mentioned at the end of the article, it is obvious that Garuda Indonesia is a more than credible choice for those traveling on business between Europe and Indonesia.

The company is also pursuing a strategy of upgrading its services, which in a few years’ time should bring it up to the level of the best in the world, all at a very attractive price.

I’m just a little bit skeptical about the Skytrax 5 stars. In terms of service it is well deserved and we can see the difference with the European 4 stars that we all know. On the other hand, I believe that we can only take into account the quality of the flight and forget the rest, and here there is room for criticism. On the other hand the objectivity of Skytrax… personally we have hundreds of flights under our belt and never seen a Skytrax questionnaire, wondering how they collect customer reviews.

For me Garuda deserves a 4.5. The 5 should wait for the new cabins and improved non-air service.

We only regret that Garuda does not operate from Paris even if Air France and KLM take care of the pre-routing to Amsterdam without any problem. Garuda also serves Jakarta from London Heathrow.

The complete photo albums of these flights: