I suddenly have to go to Medan, because the sister of my father-in-law (sister of Eva’s father) passed away. We were told on Thursday, and we have to go by Friday night. Initially, Eva and I have to go, but Joan had a slight fever, so Eva stayed and I go.
This time, I want to share my experience looking for tickets in a short notice. Maybe it won’t be the same in all situation, because it is not peak season. But maybe this experience will help others in need.
Because of current bad weather in Indonesia, and because my trust in airlines is the lowest, I selectively pick the airlines that I think is “safe”. So, I only contacted Garuda, AirAsia, Lion Air and Mandala. I tought about calling Merpati because their planes is quite new, but somehow I didn’t call them.
My flight plan is not fixed until Friday morning, so I only start to look for tickets by that time. Very short time. I go to AirAsia website (http://www.airasia.com) but I can’t order a ticket for Friday, because it have passed the time limit. So I called them (021-80899099) and got the last flight (18.55) for around 480.000 rupiah. I called Garuda (021-24519999) and their last flight (19.50) cost me around 800.000. Lion Air (021-63871111) last flight (19.05) cost me around 700.000. Mandala (021-56997000) last flight is around 5pm, so I didn’t take it.
In the end, I pick AirAsia. One thing to note, when you buy the ticket less than 24 hours before the schedule, Garuda and AirAsia will only accept cash payment. Actually, you can use credit card with Garuda, but only for normal ticket price, which is more than 1 million rupiah. I didn’t check with Lion Air, because the price (for that flight) already too expensive. So, I take the AirAsia ticket at their rep at Panglima Polim, and pay in cash.
While going thru the traffic of Jakarta, I start looking for flight from Medan to Jakarta, for Sunday, with the hope that I can use credit card to pay, because it is still 2 days from the schedule. I check AirAsia using my mobile (http://mobile.airasia.com) and find the flight at 8.50 for around 500.000 and at 13.30 for around 1 million. I called Lion Aid, and I can get 13.30 flight for around 500.000. Just to share the experience, that AirAsia might not be the cheapest price. You’d better check with other airlines, especially Lion Air, because sometimes with different flight schedule, the price is the other way around. In this case, Lion Air’s 8am flight already priced more than 700.000.
To ensure that I can pay using credit card, I go to Lion Air headquarters at Gajah Mada (after Carrefour Duta Merlin). I found out that the office is 24 hours, so next time I’ll check Lion Air’s availability. This office also hosts their call center.
So, that’s my experience looking for tickets in a very short time. A few things to note:
1. Always keep the numbers of all airlines in your mobile, just in case you need to call them while on the road.
2. Always check with other airlines to compare prices.
3. Take benefit from Internet and mobile access of AirAsia. It can save a lot of your time.
4. And of course, if you can, don’t look for ticket in a very short notice.
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