Come On Indonesia, Our Jakarta Transit Was Needlessly Painful…

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I’m live-blogging my SAS EuroBonus SkyTeam Milion Mile challenge this week. Click here for background and route information.

We made it to Jakarta, where I hoped to check in for my Xiamen Airlines flight to Xiamen and proceed directly to the lounge for our four-hour layover. But who I was kidding…the inefficient transit process in Jakarta meant hours of wasted time. Indonesia could learn a lot from Singapore, Hong Kong, or Taiwan.

Oh Indonesia, Our Jakarta Transit Was Complicated…Needlessly Complicated

We arrived on-time on KLM at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport and followed the signs for international transit. Admittedly, I knew what was coming, but was still hoping we could visit the transit counter, pick up our boarding pass for the Xiamen Airways flight to Xiamen, and then just head upstairs through transit security.

There is a transit desk next to the visa-on-arrival counter. And it was staffed…

Oh, look! A SkyTeam transfer desk. Oh, wait…

But the two ladies sitting at the desk rather smugly informed me that transit was for Garuda Indonesia (the flag carrier) passengers only.

Oh well, it was worth a shot.

I could have obtained an e-visa and then proceeded right to the immigration line, but I felt it was worth a try to see if I could transit without a visa. Nope.

Just for kicks, I went upstairs to the transit security and the folks were baffled to see us and shooed us back downstairs. I gather they are not used to seeing a lot of transit passengers!

So I waited in line while Augustine rested and purchased two visas for 35 USD each.

Even worse? I’ll have to do this again in a day when we fly Garuda back to Jarkata and then connect on China Eastern to Shanghai…

I checked on getting a multiple-entry visa and the cost was 3 million Indonesian Rupiah (about 188 USD at current exchange rates), so we just stuck to the single-entry visa and will buy another one when we fly through Jakarta again.

We waited in line…

and line again…

and then there was customs…

Outside, thankfully the check-in counter was open and we obtained our boarding passes, went through security again, and were stamped out of the country.

It all seemed so pointless…such a mark of a disorganized airport and government. Oh yes, yes indeed the people of Indonesia are lovely, so don’t get me wrong there…but I’d love to see Indonesia look to places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or even Thailand for a far better approach to transit passengers (you do not have to enter the country if just transiting and can check-in for your connecting flight on any airline).

But it’s part of the adventure…