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Garuda Indonesia has a rich history. During its peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, the airline launched Indonesia onto the global stage, connecting its Jakarta hub to a network cities all of the world, in addition to an expansive intra-Asian network.
Years of subsequent financial hardships and political turmoil in the late '90s and early 2000s forced the airline to drastically reduce its service and stabilize its operation. In 2009, near rock bottom, the airline emerged with an ambitious turnaround strategy that promised revamped boutique branding, a modernized fleet and world-class onboard service.
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That same year, Garuda officially joined the SkyTeam alliance, enabling it to garner more international acclaim and expand its destinations through partner codeshares. While its route network is still but a fraction of what it once was, the airline has been able to achieve steady growth and develop a solid reputation over the last five years.
I'd been eager to fly this unicorn of an airline for quite some time, but they still haven't restarted service to the US, so I wasn't sure when the opportunity would present itself. When piecing together the marathon trip that would have me landing in Seoul, South Korea (ICN), and needing to position to Southeast Asia (either Thailand or Indonesia), I was beyond thrilled to find a wonderful mileage redemption pop up between Seoul and Jakarta (CGK).
One of the best ways to redeem miles on Garuda Indonesia is through its SkyTeam partners. While Delta notoriously charges astronomical rates when booking premium seats on its own metal, the SkyMiles program has a few sweet spots, especially when it comes to redeeming on partner airlines.
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I started my search using Delta’s award search tool, where I was pleased to find award availability in the business-class cabin for 45, 000 miles one-way (plus roughly $23 in taxes). As long as you’re not traveling on a particularly busy holiday, availability for these flights is quite widespread, even at the last minute.
Before I booked, I quickly searched other options to ensure I was getting the best deal. AirFrance-KLM’s Flying Blue often presents another great way to book award flights on SkyTeam partners. However, they were charging 57, 500 miles for the same flight, so booking through Delta was really a no-brainer.
With SkyMiles valued at 1.2 cents a pop, forking over 45, 000 miles (worth about $540) for a seven-hour business-class flight was really a bargain. Booking just a few days in advance, I was surprised to find that the paid fares were also fairly reasonable. Garuda was the most expensive of the three carriers flying between Seoul and Jakarta, charging $1, 335 for a one-way business-class ticket. This means we redeemed 45, 000 SkyMiles at a value of 3 cents each, which is a pretty great use of SkyMiles.
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Until recently, Seoul’s Incheon Airport had just a single, massive terminal. As the 16th busiest airport in the world, with continued growth on the horizon, it was quickly running out of space, so in 2013, the airport announced a major project that involved raising a new, world-class terminal facility on the north side of the airfield. This new Terminal 2 was to house the country’s largest airline and flag carrier, Korean Air, along with its fellow SkyTeam partners.
In January of 2018, after nearly five years of construction, the 1.2-million-square-foot terminal officially opened its doors with Korean, Delta, Air France and KLM relocating their operations across the field. The rest of the SkyTeam carriers trickled in throughout the course of the year, with Garuda Indonesia eventually making the switch in October 2018.
I arrived at Terminal 2 about two hours before my 10:35am departure to Jakarta. Garuda has a fairly small presence at Incheon with just two daily flights, one to its primary Jakarta hub and one to Denpasar, the leisure gateway to Bali. Both departures are scheduled in the late morning within 30 minutes of each other, so check-ins are handled roughly simultaneously.
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That being said, the counters were quite empty when I arrived. As a business-class passenger, I was invited to use the SkyPriority lane, which was also open to SkyTeam Elite and GarudaMiles Platinum members. There was absolutely no queue for the check-in counter, and I was attended to immediately after arriving.
Economy, on the other hand, had a short queue of five to 10 minutes. The airline staffed six check-in counters for economy passengers, which kept the line moving steadily.
After dropping my bag and grabbing my boarding passes, I was directed to the departures checkpoint just steps away from the counter.
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I was pretty surprised to find that there were no expedited security or immigration lanes for business- or first-class passengers. Given that all SkyTeam partners were in this terminal, you'd've thought this would be a seamless addition to the SkyPriority experience. I had a solid cushion of time before my flight, so it didn't really affect me, but had I been running late, it could have been a drawback to expect the priority experience to be included with a premium-class ticket.
Security and immigration took about 20 minutes to clear. Upon making it airside, I followed the signs for the KAL lounge (the west location, which was closer to my gate, 246). It took just a few minutes of walking and a quick flight of escalators to reach the mezzanine, where the lounge was.
The KAL Prestige Lounge was accessible by all passengers holding a same-day business-class ticket on a SkyTeam carrier, as well as SkyTeam Elite Plus, regardless of their class of travel.
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The lounge was about average in size but quite busy. The central seating areas and dining tables were almost entirely full, while some of the quieter sections, such as the theater room, still had seats to spare.
The food spread was solid -- perfect for a quick snack before hopping on a long flight. It was midmorning, so they had all sorts of breakfast cereals and pastries on offer.
For those looking to grab an early lunch, the lounge had hot buffet items like beef stir-fry, marinated shrimp and pork fried rice.
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The lounge also had a noodle cup station, which seemed like a perfect to-go snack, but they weren’t allowed to leave the lounge.
It was just barely 9am at this point, so I steered clear of the booze. They did have self-serve wine and whiskey stations, as well as the standard bar service over the counter.
Overall I enjoyed the quick visit to the lounge, as the food was simple but quite good. Finally, it was time to head out and to start making my way to my gate, about a 10-minute walk from the lounge entrance.
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As I approached the gate, I marveled at the majestic 777 that I'd be flying to Indonesia that morning. It was decked out in Garuda's SkyTeam livery, which I find to be really elegant.
I reached the gate podium about 10 minutes before boarding was to begin. There were two boarding lanes, one for SkyPriority passengers and one for standard economy.
The massive Boeing would only be flying about half full that morning, so the gate wasn’t particularly crowded. There was plenty of seating, even as boarding time drew closer.
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Exactly 40 minutes before departure, boarding commenced with SkyPriority passengers. There were only about 10 passengers booked in business, plus a handful of SkyTeam elites flying in economy, so boarding was extremely quick.
After taking a flight of escalators down to the aircraft level, I entered the jet bridge reserved for business class. (There was no first class on this aircraft.) This is always an exciting amenity to experience.
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According to Planespotters.net, eight of Garuda's 10 777-300ERs are outfitted in a two-cabin configuration, featuring 26 business- and 367 economy-class seats. The last two jets feature a premium-heavy configuration, with eight first-class suites in addition to 38 seats in business and 268 in economy. These two jets are typically deployed on higher-yielding business routes like Tokyo (NRT and HND).
This particular jet was configured in the former of the two layouts, without a first-class cabin. The 26 business-class seats were laid out in a staggered, 1-2-1 configuration between the first and second doors.
For an airline with such an exotic color palette (ranging from aqua to bright orange), the cabin felt somewhat dull, with patterned brown upholstery and beige finishes throughout.
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Similarly, along the windows, the even-numbered rows were flush against the aisle, while the odd-numbered rows were tucked away toward the window, offering more privacy.
Above the shelf next to the seat was an adjustable reading lamp and a literature holder containing safety cards and Garuda's inflight magazine.
Next to the lower seat cushion were the IFE remote and seat controls, which were conveniently within easy reach while I was in a lie-flat
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