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ocal skies are becoming more crowded with increased flights from existing and new low-cost airlines. Customers hunting for the best airfares, however, will need to be patient and smart.

The Idul Fitri holidays will fall in August but early-bird airfare hunters will surely not be able to get the best deals if they try to buy online or at travel agents even five months ahead. It’s the same case for the Easter holiday next month and the long weekend next week. The common belief of “the sooner you buy airline tickets, the better” is apparently not totally correct.

School holidays and year-end are the best periods to shop because airlines generally tag “normal” fares, but it is almost impossible for bargain hunters to get discounted prices during the so-called high season. Sometimes, it’s also tough to get low-cost fares for long and even regular weekends.

The hunt for budget airfares is fun for those fond of traveling.

“You have to be patient and smart,” said Mario, a young executive in Jakarta. He said he found from experience that some popular destinations might be sold out online, but the best last-minute deals could be had.

“But you have to be careful and smart with those who add certain fees for counter check-in, cabin baggage, seat numbers and so on. The low-cost airlines may charge as much as full-service carriers,” he said.

The reality is that with the growing middle class in the country, more people are traveling by air. In the meantime, new private players have entered the commercial aviation industry by operating low-cost carriers, enabling even more people to take to the skies.

An efficient aviation industry is crucial in Indonesia due to the country’s unique geographic situation. The world’s largest archipelago, the vast nation stretches over 5,100 kilometers and comprises a series of over 17,000 islands. As Indonesia’s skies become more crowded with budget airlines, it should benefit customers and spark healthy competition. More importantly, passengers also want to see improved quality and safety in their airline services.

According to one frequent holiday maker, dealing with low-cost carriers really means “you get what you pay for.”

“I use this airline about once a week and when checking in I noticed that the ground attendant rarely asked for my ID,” said executive Steven Adi. “The disturbing thing was that when boarding, as the aviobridge was not used, passengers were competing to get their seats first and it was chaos. The flight attendants mostly did nothing to assist them. But since it’s really cheap, I always take that airline.”

Another traveler said that she always compared air fares from the website and travel agents to get the best deals.

“If you’re serious about finding the cheapest ticket, you’ll need to explore the airline’s own sites. For me, after trolling through all of the sites, I usually find what I consider an exceptional fare. A few times I also bought tickets from travel agents, but I often found the fares cheaper on the airlines’ websites,” said Sari Yudanti, a dentist living in Bogor who traveled about eight times a year.

She said purchasing tickets online was always easy and she never had any problem. “Services from low-cost airlines are not bad too; once I got a call from an airline informing me my flight would be delayed,”
she said.

It was always hard to find the best deals during high season, she added.

Highs and lows

Higher air fares during peak season and weekends are traditionally introduced by most airlines. But they also need to secure their load factors, so they regularly offer discounts during the low season, the period beyond year-end, major celebrations and school holidays.

“Promo or discounted fares are necessary to maintain load factors during low seasons. So it’s like a gimmick to get passengers. We normally introduce promotions as well, which is formulated through specific periods and routes,” said Herri Darmawan, senior manager for corporate sales and support at Garuda Indonesia.

“Garuda also offers a corporate rate, a program that extends benefits for contracted corporate customers, such as tax deductions,” he said.

Similarly, Cathay Pacific provides promo or discounted fares in specific periods beyond peak seasons. The airline links Hong Kong with three cities in Indonesia including Jakarta, Surabaya and Denpasar, five times daily.

“School holidays, Christmas and year-end and Lebaran are the peak seasons, so Cathay Pacific usually offers promotions beyond those periods,” said Ida Sylviana Bekti, Cathay Pacific’s assistant marketing and loyalty manager in Jakarta.

She refused to disclose how much discount the airlines normally offered during low seasons. “There is normally a surcharge of between US$50 and $100 for a ticket during high season,” she said.

Indonesia Air Asia, one of the budget airlines, has regular promotions. The carrier’s spokesperson, Audrey Petriny, said that Air Asia currently served eight domestic and 19 international routes with “zero fare” and “1 million free seats” promotional campaigns that were launched yearly.

Singapore Airlines also introduced promotional fares regularly in Indonesia.

The airline, popularly called SQ, currently operates eight daily flights between Jakarta and Singapore and three daily flights between Denpasar and Singapore. SilkAir, its regional full service airline, flies to several cities in Indonesia including Medan, Pekanbaru, Palembang, Balikpapan, Manado, Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Mataram.

Spokesperson of the airline in Jakarta, Glory Henriette, said that SQ would also offer promotional fares during the Travel Fair that opens on Friday, March 16.

“Singapore Airlines is once again pampering its customers in Indonesia with a special offer during the Indonesia Travel Fair 2012 at the Jakarta Convention Center from March 16 to 18. In this three-day event, customers can purchase Singapore Airlines tickets to various world destinations with fantastic fares, starting from $338 for a ticket to Bangkok, Hong Kong from $428, Beijing/Shanghai from $608, Japan from $688 and Europe from $998,” Glory said.

“All Singapore Airlines fares have included tax and fuel surcharges. There are many more destinations in Asia, Europe, as well as America that customers can explore with this special offer.”