Thanks for the unbiased and totally honest review. The good the bad and the ugly of the flight. Nice to see all items reviewed unlike some others who do airline reviews. Thanks for all your content and continue to enjoy.
@@johnattersley2135 thank you so much, dear John! That was really good to read, just after I got pretty annoyed if all the comments I got recently on Facebook - telling I was doing clickbait or advertising or I'm paid by airlines g all the crap that makes me wanna stop it all, since I don't make but loose a lot of money with my reports. It's all just for my audience... Great people like you. Thank you! 🙏🏻
I agree with you I flew Garuda business class last year from Jakarta to Melbourne in the same plane an A330-300. Firstly the lounge is sub standard for a flagship lounge. The food and wine offerings were poor . I had a shower after a 9 hour flight from Istanbul, the shower room was quite bare, very few amenities and I had to put my clothes on the floor as there was nowhere else to put them. As you pointed out the plan was tired and shabby around the edges. No menu and I didn't know what the wine offerings were. The crew were quite helpful and friendly but the hard product was of a poor standard. I won't be flying Garuda again unless they lift their game.
I quite agree with you. Having flown Garuda Indonesia in Economy two weeks ago, I was quite excited as they marketed themselves as providing a 5-stars experience. However, I felt the whole experience underwhelming. I flew them from Singapore to Semarang VIA Jakarta VV. For the four sectors, I felt that the ground and cabin staff were a tad unmotivated. They would do their job but would not go above and beyond. Even though I am not a big fan of SQ, I felt that their boxed meal tasted better than Garuda's meal. So a bit disappointed there. They would make a solid 4-stars airline but not 5-stars IMO.
Thanks for the review. SQ Biz Class on SIN-CGK is almost always full any day of the week, any time of day while your GA flight was completely empty. It appears travellers in both Singapore and Jakarta totally agree with you. The Skytrax consultancy service they paid for seems to have just bought them a plaque for the front of the cabin 🤣
Well, Garuda had a turbulence period before covid with a massive corruption scandal involving 2 former CEO’s that hampered their plans for fleet renewal into the 2020’s. While it’s true covid almost made the airline going bankrupt and suspending their order for A339’s (Garuda currently only have 3, but there were 4 for more aircraft already built but they don’t have the money to operate those aircraft), the grounding of the 737max also make Garuda cancelled their plans for newer shorthaul aircraft without many options. CEO’s corruption regarding aircraft leasing also contributed towards the problem that led Garuda to it is today, making the airline unable to fly some of their A330’s due to a dispute with their lessor. Currently, i do believe there is still hope for Garuda after finally gaining operational profits and to make a comeback with fleet renewal plan as in their financial reports, until now it has not been announced publicly but it is quite remarkable with massive orders and continuing their A330 Neo program.
Thank you for the long, dedicated, insightful feedback! I couldn't talk about corruption inside the company as I had no proof. But I had a feeling that that's what keeps the airline at where it is right now. It just ticked all the boxes for signs of corruption... Poor crew, because they are really nice
@@TravelSingFlyEnglishEdition The corruption case itself is quite the news in Indonesia, with one of the CEO caught smuggling a harley davidson motorbike from france WHILE delivering the first A339 Neo, and the other is the one that actually make Garuda on the map of being the top 10 airlines during 2014-2016.
Another super and thorough report, many thanks. I think it says a lot that you appear to be alone (or nearly?) in this cabin. Most might flight economy or (dare I say it) low cost carrier. My own rule is low cost carrier if it's 4 hours or less!
I totally agree. Also, that they simply don't provide the high quality as the competition. And yes, of course it's much better to fly shorthaul low cost than pay a lot and then have this.....
The problem is the Indonesian mindset. Increase awareness what the industry has to offer. Cabin product consistency, cabin refurbishment, cabin product development should be improved and standardized. Aswell as certain ground facilities.
Renew the Fleet are the urgent problem that Garuda Indonesia need to fix it. Lack of new aircraft and the aircraft was old are the major reason causing your experience.
That's true only in part. I don't mind so much an older cabin - but I do mind when it's too run down and things are not fixed. On top, I had a really inferior experience in Jakarta. Staff at the gate hardly spoke English nor would they care if an international passenger had a question. At their "flagship lounge" there's not a single tasty dish, no good beverages and really no nice atmosphere, plus the way too basic shower rooms, like a 2-star hotel.
Honestly, I cannot say Garuda was that bad, the airline was currently under a huge debt due to plane leasings, COVID, and lots of corruption problems. In 2019 after introducing their 1st A330-900neo, their CEO got caught in a scandal for smuggling some Harley Davidson motorcycles. They also has orders for Airbus A350s in 2014-2015, but cancelled after the CEO at the time also got caught in corruption scandals. I was expecting Garuda to get lots of new planes like A350 and A321neo, new seats, new touch screens, new tools, etc., but it will take time and the airline is currently not in good health to do so
I agree. Actually my impressions on this flight screamed "Corruption" everywhere... But I didn't wanna say that in the report. Meanwhile I heard so much about exactly this within Garuda. It was a great, proud airline back in the 1990s and early 2000s
Customers don’t care about whatever excuses they make. Singapore airlines made it, emirates made it, Qatar airways made it and all other airlines made it through COVID. They need to privatize the airline and fire all their incompetent and worse, corrupt executives. Unbelievable what they have made this airlines into. It’s a joke
i am Indonesia can speak english, 50% of Indonesiaan can speak english lol Philippines more better speak english than Singaporean, Singaporean pronounciation bad like Chinese😂
I think I'll give this airline a miss. Maybe it's 5 stars out of 10?! I could cope with this seat for 2 hours but certainly not long distance. A lot of money and miles for such a poor product.
When they first re-branded the coporate image and product, used to be 5 stars, but then Covid changed everything, plus deep down to the roots, it's Garuda Indonesia.....
Thank you for your comment. Yes, it's really sad. Every airline worldwide has to deal with Covid and they all got back on their feet. So that argument actually doesn't count...... 🙈
Your review is spot-on. I really want to love Garuda, but the quality of seats and service is highly, highly variable. On this JKT-SIN route for example, depending on your luck you might get the beautiful latest A330 neo; or you might get faded, torn cabins of their 737, 777 or as you 've experienced, the classic A330.
correction Garuda has A330-800 neo not the 900’ model 😊 btw, i would love to see your impressions flying with Malaysia Airlines. yes Malaysia Airlines also got the old fleets but their in flight service will not disappoint you i believe. and for your information, Malaysia Airlines will be upgrading their old A330’s to new 20 units of A330-900Neo with new cabin concept and most upgraded cabin among airlines in asia. the first 3 units of A330-900neo of Malaysia Airlines will be deliver soon as the news said the airlines will get their first new aircraft in the Q3 of 2024 😊
Thank you very much for the contribution! Avvertiamo actually there's 2 flight reports about Malaysia Airlines on my channel. You can find in the meantime over 100 aviation reports here and on my original channel which used to be bilingual German English until 2021. Nice to have you here!
I explicitly say in the video that I got a very nice crew on the plane. So please watch the video before disqualifying yourself..... On top, I'm inviting you to watch all over 100 aviation reports on my two channels. You will see I'm actually very human and understanding and the opposite of arrogant. I even speak Indonesian as I studied country and language at university back my years ago, so there's an interest in your country, dear Gaijin family. I'm also inviting you just to read the comments under this video of other passengers who seems to have had the same experience as me. I'm just saying it.....
There's no arrogance at all here. Garuda is sadly falling behind by a lot (probably due to their debts) and it's in my opinion really not worth the 5 star rating anymore.
Honestly Garuda is in shambles right now. As an Indonesian who has flown Garuda a lot I'd say it's really gone down. It's because of their CEO and management team being corrupt. Garuda's soft product is amazing but everything else is outdated. We still have early 2000s style economy seats on their flagship Aircraft the 777 on their flagship/longest route CGK-AMS. But during their prime, they were never 5 stars. It's some corruption once again that caused it
@@RafaRadityo7 you know, I didn't want to say it in the video. But I felt the word corruption so much in the lounge with who was sitting there, not all business passengers at all. And then of course I know what has haltend in Thailand with Thai Airways - extreme mismanagement and a lot of corruption almost brought down a formerly beautiful airline. Garuda was even more extreme with who's in the airline. The soft product, the staff, were wonderful
@@TravelSingFlyEnglishEdition The CEO of Garuda literally smuggled 4 bikes in the A330-900neo's cargo hold when it was being delivered from Airbus. How is that not corruption. And sadly that's the case for our entire counrry
Thanks for the unbiased and totally honest review. The good the bad and the ugly of the flight. Nice to see all items reviewed unlike some others who do airline reviews. Thanks for all your content and continue to enjoy.
@@johnattersley2135 thank you so much, dear John! That was really good to read, just after I got pretty annoyed if all the comments I got recently on Facebook - telling I was doing clickbait or advertising or I'm paid by airlines g all the crap that makes me wanna stop it all, since I don't make but loose a lot of money with my reports. It's all just for my audience... Great people like you.
Thank you! 🙏🏻
I agree with you I flew Garuda business class last year from Jakarta to Melbourne in the same plane an A330-300. Firstly the lounge is sub standard for a flagship lounge. The food and wine offerings were poor . I had a shower after a 9 hour flight from Istanbul, the shower room was quite bare, very few amenities and I had to put my clothes on the floor as there was nowhere else to put them.
As you pointed out the plan was tired and shabby around the edges. No menu and I didn't know what the wine offerings were. The crew were quite helpful and friendly but the hard product was of a poor standard.
I won't be flying Garuda again unless they lift their game.
Thank you for your feedback and your very own experience! The lounge is exactly as you described..... Very strange.
I quite agree with you. Having flown Garuda Indonesia in Economy two weeks ago, I was quite excited as they marketed themselves as providing a 5-stars experience. However, I felt the whole experience underwhelming. I flew them from Singapore to Semarang VIA Jakarta VV.
For the four sectors, I felt that the ground and cabin staff were a tad unmotivated. They would do their job but would not go above and beyond. Even though I am not a big fan of SQ, I felt that their boxed meal tasted better than Garuda's meal. So a bit disappointed there. They would make a solid 4-stars airline but not 5-stars IMO.
Thank you for sharing your own experience with Garuda! That's so highly appreciated! Thank you for being part of this TravelSingFly community 🙏🏻❤️
Thanks for the review. SQ Biz Class on SIN-CGK is almost always full any day of the week, any time of day while your GA flight was completely empty. It appears travellers in both Singapore and Jakarta totally agree with you. The Skytrax consultancy service they paid for seems to have just bought them a plaque for the front of the cabin 🤣
I'm afraid you're really right 🙈
Well, Garuda had a turbulence period before covid with a massive corruption scandal involving 2 former CEO’s that hampered their plans for fleet renewal into the 2020’s.
While it’s true covid almost made the airline going bankrupt and suspending their order for A339’s (Garuda currently only have 3, but there were 4 for more aircraft already built but they don’t have the money to operate those aircraft), the grounding of the 737max also make Garuda cancelled their plans for newer shorthaul aircraft without many options.
CEO’s corruption regarding aircraft leasing also contributed towards the problem that led Garuda to it is today, making the airline unable to fly some of their A330’s due to a dispute with their lessor.
Currently, i do believe there is still hope for Garuda after finally gaining operational profits and to make a comeback with fleet renewal plan as in their financial reports, until now it has not been announced publicly but it is quite remarkable with massive orders and continuing their A330 Neo program.
Thank you for the long, dedicated, insightful feedback! I couldn't talk about corruption inside the company as I had no proof. But I had a feeling that that's what keeps the airline at where it is right now. It just ticked all the boxes for signs of corruption... Poor crew, because they are really nice
@@TravelSingFlyEnglishEdition The corruption case itself is quite the news in Indonesia, with one of the CEO caught smuggling a harley davidson motorbike from france WHILE delivering the first A339 Neo, and the other is the one that actually make Garuda on the map of being the top 10 airlines during 2014-2016.
Another super and thorough report, many thanks. I think it says a lot that you appear to be alone (or nearly?) in this cabin. Most might flight economy or (dare I say it) low cost carrier. My own rule is low cost carrier if it's 4 hours or less!
I totally agree. Also, that they simply don't provide the high quality as the competition.
And yes, of course it's much better to fly shorthaul low cost than pay a lot and then have this.....
For all sort of reasons I never understood the 5 stars for Lufthansa. I've my doubts about that "reward organization"
Exactly
I nearly fell off my chair when Lufthansa got 5 stars from Skytrax. LH better than Emarites, Singapore or QATAR? Don't think so.
If you understood Skytrax you would know those star ratings can be bought. And how much extra is Singapore Airline compared to Garuda?
I know. I leave it to the comments to write that. 😊
Thanks for the review Chris. What you experienced is far from 5 star. The breakfast actually looked good though.
It was really nice and well presented
Love your vlogs thanking you so much ..x
Thank you so much, dear Pauline
The problem is the Indonesian mindset. Increase awareness what the industry has to offer. Cabin product consistency, cabin refurbishment, cabin product development should be improved and standardized. Aswell as certain ground facilities.
I love garuda Indonesia
That's great. I know there's lots of wonderful people working there, too
Renew the Fleet are the urgent problem that Garuda Indonesia need to fix it. Lack of new aircraft and the aircraft was old are the major reason causing your experience.
That's true only in part. I don't mind so much an older cabin - but I do mind when it's too run down and things are not fixed. On top, I had a really inferior experience in Jakarta. Staff at the gate hardly spoke English nor would they care if an international passenger had a question. At their "flagship lounge" there's not a single tasty dish, no good beverages and really no nice atmosphere, plus the way too basic shower rooms, like a 2-star hotel.
Garuda Indonesia used to be good but now it's a lost cause due to horrible management. I'm Indonesian.
@@Primasanto2011 yes, I'm convinced it has to do with incredibly bad management that's not based on individual excellence.....
@@TravelSingFlyEnglishEdition yeah, and the thing is Garuda is NOT cheap, so as a paying customer I'd rather fly with its competitor Singapore Airline
Honestly, I cannot say Garuda was that bad, the airline was currently under a huge debt due to plane leasings, COVID, and lots of corruption problems.
In 2019 after introducing their 1st A330-900neo, their CEO got caught in a scandal for smuggling some Harley Davidson motorcycles.
They also has orders for Airbus A350s in 2014-2015, but cancelled after the CEO at the time also got caught in corruption scandals.
I was expecting Garuda to get lots of new planes like A350 and A321neo, new seats, new touch screens, new tools, etc., but it will take time and the airline is currently not in good health to do so
I agree. Actually my impressions on this flight screamed "Corruption" everywhere... But I didn't wanna say that in the report. Meanwhile I heard so much about exactly this within Garuda. It was a great, proud airline back in the 1990s and early 2000s
Customers don’t care about whatever excuses they make. Singapore airlines made it, emirates made it, Qatar airways made it and all other airlines made it through COVID. They need to privatize the airline and fire all their incompetent and worse, corrupt executives. Unbelievable what they have made this airlines into. It’s a joke
The first 3 star is free. The 4th & 5th is gonna cost Benjamins… 🤣
Except for Singapore, many staff in Asian airports do not really speak good engish
But they try. Here they didn't, not would they have cared. Despite my multiple tries to win over with a smile...
Very strange....
i am Indonesia can speak english, 50% of Indonesiaan can speak english
lol
Philippines more better speak english than Singaporean, Singaporean pronounciation bad like Chinese😂
I think I'll give this airline a miss. Maybe it's 5 stars out of 10?! I could cope with this seat for 2 hours but certainly not long distance. A lot of money and miles for such a poor product.
I'm afraid I have to say that you're doing the right thing
When they first re-branded the coporate image and product, used to be 5 stars, but then Covid changed everything, plus deep down to the roots, it's Garuda Indonesia.....
Thank you for your comment. Yes, it's really sad. Every airline worldwide has to deal with Covid and they all got back on their feet. So that argument actually doesn't count...... 🙈
Your review is spot-on. I really want to love Garuda, but the quality of seats and service is highly, highly variable. On this JKT-SIN route for example, depending on your luck you might get the beautiful latest A330 neo; or you might get faded, torn cabins of their 737, 777 or as you 've experienced, the classic A330.
Thank you so much for your feedback and sharing your very own experience! 😊🙏🏻🙏🏻
correction Garuda has A330-800 neo not the 900’ model 😊 btw, i would love to see your impressions flying with Malaysia Airlines. yes Malaysia Airlines also got the old fleets but their in flight service will not disappoint you i believe. and for your information, Malaysia Airlines will be upgrading their old A330’s to new 20 units of A330-900Neo with new cabin concept and most upgraded cabin among airlines in asia. the first 3 units of A330-900neo of Malaysia Airlines will be deliver soon as the news said the airlines will get their first new aircraft in the Q3 of 2024 😊
Thank you very much for the contribution! Avvertiamo actually there's 2 flight reports about Malaysia Airlines on my channel. You can find in the meantime over 100 aviation reports here and on my original channel which used to be bilingual German English until 2021. Nice to have you here!
nope, Garuda currently fly the 900 neos, not the 800. but they are currently ordering the 800 variant
@@rafidadrianto951not wonder, he is Malaysian 😋
Garuda Lounge 👎👎
This airlines is a joke
Yes... Well..... It's complicated at the moment, I'd say.... 🙈
Garuda going back to it's Roots!
@@Thepastwasexciting 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈
arrogance video because of bad service u got
I explicitly say in the video that I got a very nice crew on the plane. So please watch the video before disqualifying yourself.....
On top, I'm inviting you to watch all over 100 aviation reports on my two channels. You will see I'm actually very human and understanding and the opposite of arrogant.
I even speak Indonesian as I studied country and language at university back my years ago, so there's an interest in your country, dear Gaijin family.
I'm also inviting you just to read the comments under this video of other passengers who seems to have had the same experience as me. I'm just saying it.....
memang Garuda Indonesia kualitasnya udah gak bagus kok
There's no arrogance at all here. Garuda is sadly falling behind by a lot (probably due to their debts) and it's in my opinion really not worth the 5 star rating anymore.
Honestly Garuda is in shambles right now. As an Indonesian who has flown Garuda a lot I'd say it's really gone down. It's because of their CEO and management team being corrupt. Garuda's soft product is amazing but everything else is outdated. We still have early 2000s style economy seats on their flagship Aircraft the 777 on their flagship/longest route CGK-AMS. But during their prime, they were never 5 stars. It's some corruption once again that caused it
@@RafaRadityo7 you know, I didn't want to say it in the video. But I felt the word corruption so much in the lounge with who was sitting there, not all business passengers at all. And then of course I know what has haltend in Thailand with Thai Airways - extreme mismanagement and a lot of corruption almost brought down a formerly beautiful airline. Garuda was even more extreme with who's in the airline.
The soft product, the staff, were wonderful
@@TravelSingFlyEnglishEdition The CEO of Garuda literally smuggled 4 bikes in the A330-900neo's cargo hold when it was being delivered from Airbus. How is that not corruption. And sadly that's the case for our entire counrry