When we were booking a flight to Bali, we were after one thing: the shortest route. And the flight that kept coming up was from Garuda Indonesia: 15 hours and 50 minutes, with only a 1.5 hour layover via Jakarta (or Singapore, on the way back). For this route, it was a fast ride. Business seats all had direct access to the aisle – a major bonus – and Champagne was served in actual, full-size flutes (wahey!) and red wine in Bordeaux glasses (yeah!). First class ‘suites’ have sliding doors, and menus in all classes included Indonesian favourites like nasi goreng, and oxtail soup. As for comforts, blankets were velour, slippers were included in amenity kits, and the ‘planetarium’ style mood lighting was soothing. The lounges may not be Clubhouses, but all in all, for an airline we weren’t familiar with (though it does have a five star rating), this was a good find (and we paid for our own flight too, in case you were wondering!).
