Indonesian agent

I am planning a trip to various islands in Indonesia, and am looking for a recommendation for an agent there who can help me arrange things like excess baggage fees for inter-island flights etc. for me.

I'm sure most of you recognise my scenario - I'm going to be carrying perhaps 60kg of luggage & gear. I'm fine sorting things out getting there internationally, but I am concerned about the national travel. Perhaps I don't have a reason to be? Advice is welcomed.

Domestic air travel within Indonesia is pretty straight forward with only a couple of exceptions. The baggage allowance is 20kg total, so we all are overweight. Some airlines offer an extra weight allowance for scuba equipment, but it depends on departure airport & check-in agent. I make a point of asking for this. Flying out of Denpasar there generally has been no allowance (at least on Garuda), but out of Manado for example I've gotten 10-15kg extra & on one trip no charge. The cost/kg also varies from airport to airport, Denpasar & Jakarta being the high rent districts. If you have a connecting flight on a different carrier you cannot check baggage thru to final destination. Claim baggage & recheck, so may sure you allow time to do this. They like rupiah as payment for overweight. Credit card may not be accepted. Stock up in rupiah at local bank ATM's.

Whomever you are staying with or using to dive should be able to get local ground agents to help you. If they can't, then I'd reconsider using them. You will want a company which knows the airport crew WILL make sure you keep your seat and bags (now if you get caught with a change of flights, then as I found out, it can be dropped off for someone else's luggage). Good thing it was on my way back so it didn't matter as much.

The overweight charge is actually a % of your domestic airfare. Goes from 1-2% depending on airline. Only the international sectors get funky numbers with different rates for different destinations.

Thanks for that.

Garuda is the national airline of Indonesia with typically newer aircraft and less restrictions on their luggage allowance. All the other airlines are privately owned: Merpati, Lion, Batavia, Express Air and one or two no-name brands. These airlines make their money on excess baggage, and they LOVE the tourists with their cameras and dive-gear.

Be careful; allowances change weekly, some airlines will charge extra after 15Kg and others after 20Kg. Try and carry your heavy stuff on board:- batteries, lenses, toiletries etc. They don't seem to care too much about carry-on luggage. Just remember to be ready when boarding commences, shove and push your way to the door, otherwise there will be NO space left in the overhead lockers when you get to your seat!

You can save at least 5Kg on a soft bag instead of a heavy dive-bag; just wrap your dive-gear in bubble-wrap and pack it tight! You can also hand-carry your housing with the camera inside!

Just make sure you carry at least 2 million Rupiah ($200) on you, (ATM's are EVERYWHERE in even the smallest towns!) and most of the time the airline guy at check-in is happy to make a 'deal'.

Never lose your cool, be humble, friendly, and patient; it will take you long way (and save you some money!)

Excellent info. Cheers.

What amount of those 2 million notes would someone hypothetically flash when smiling, keeping cool and being friendly?

I wish there were 2million notes! Instead they came out with a new 20k and 2k note. The largest denomination are 100k notes. Only certain Bank ATM machines have them (noted by 100,000). Otherwise it's 50k notes. Also watch out for the limits of the ATMs. Many rural ATM have about a 1-1.8 million limit. A few ATMs in bigger cities like JKT and Bali have a 10 million limit, but 3 million is the more common limit.

You don't need to flash the money. Just say you are on holiday and bargain nicely. Just say "Tolong" at lot. My group just got away with 120kg worth of overweight for nothing because I was being VERY nice to the ground staff.