Indonesian Airline Frequent Flyer and Loyalty Programs

Airline Frequent Flyers Programs

May 21st, 2009, in IM Posts, Opinion, Travel, by Chris

View the original article here.

8 Comments on “Airline Frequent Flyers Programs”

David Says:
May 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am
It often seems that businesses just make it deliberately hard to do some things. I don’t have an airline example but my bank, when I tried to change my postal address, they wanted documentation and proof that I had moved, utility bills in my name with the new address, or something from my employer, why? Why can’t they just believe me that I’ve moved?

Anyway, on the Lion Air site, this picture

The air hostesses look fine and normal, but that pilot looks as though he’s still in high school!
pjbali Says:
May 21st, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I think that the best that can be said about frequent flier loyalty programs is that they can get you through the check-in process a little bit quicker and into the executive lounge a little faster. Tyring to actually get a free seat on say, singapore airlines can be a very difficult process as only a few seats are allocated for rewards. Most of my colleagues will say that the best rewards program is offered by klm in terms of upgrades, seat choices etc… I use mostly singapore airlines and about all they are good for is the express check in and express boarding.
Patung: I can commiserate with you on the banking thing.I think it all started when governments starting cracking down on offshore banks as money laundering institutions.
Chris Says:
May 21st, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Hi Patung,

I can commiserate on banks too. Here are some assorted personal highlights:

BANK MANDIRI
I have to go to the branch where I first opened the account to do anything, e.g. change my address. I haven’t bothered to try to find out what documents are required for that.

BCA
As above for Mandiri, with the added bonus that if you have a USD account with them you can only withdraw USD from the “home” branch too. I only discovered this after I moved to another city; really useful.

BANK DANAMON
One of the few banks that offer a joint (husband and wife) account with 2 ATM cards, but customer service forgot to inform me that to avoid huge fees you had to keep the minimum balance above Rp6 juta.

I am slowly migrating across to Commonwealth Bank, because you can do online transfers (both SKN and RTGS) to others without any fees, plus a few ATMs have USD in them as well as Rp. Oh yeah, and I have successfully changed my postal address with them a few times without supporting evidence.
David Says:
May 21st, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Yes I’ve had those types of experiences with BCA (although many moons ago I was able to open an account with them only using a passport for ID, nothing else), although the bank I’m talking about was HSBC. For my other bank, which is not in Indonesia, I could change my address online, no paper, but traditionally I think you just have to fill in a form and sign it….anyway when these little frustrations happen I’ve learnt to just smile and nod and say ‘ok, I’ll do that’ or whatever, then forget about it.
diego Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 6:37 am
anyway when these little frustrations happen I’ve learnt to just smile and nod and say ‘ok, I’ll do that’ or whatever, then forget about it.

That’s a lesson only 3rd-world countries — all over — can teach you .
Sunda Wijaya Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
For me loyalty programs itself can be usefull only when flying frequently with a specific airline or groups like Star Alliance or Sky team. Otherwise the process of collecting reward miles is quite cumbersome and long.

However, FF combined with credit cards (co-branding) is another issue. If one plans to visit overseas family or friends or simply likes to travel, it can be usefull particularly for long distance flights. Longer flights = more reward miles = more expensive tickets.

However, ticket purchasing with co-branded card means in already substantial number of miles for the next flight. Moreover, collecting process can be speeded up by paying everday purchases and utility bills with co-brands. Now monthly expenses multiplied by 12, 24, 36 etc and there is a ticket for visiting uncle in Japan, USA or Europe.
Sunda Wijaya Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
When I said “Longer flights = more reward miles = more expensive tickets”, I should have stated “longer flights = more expensive tickets BUT also = more reward miles” to be precise.
sipaul Says:
June 28th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Garuda used to be good on frequeent flyer service but something happened last year (probably finance department taking over} and now you get no miles for discounted tickets which are still higeher than other airlines. The other really annoying thing about Garuda is that they say nowhere on the frequent flyer site that redemption flights are subject to taxes and fuel surcharges, so you can wind up actually paying half the fare. So much for “free flights”. They also estimate mileage redemption on the maximum fare applicable. All in all, the garuda program is now just not worth it when you can get cheaper flights left right and center.