etizens have been complaining about Garuda Indonesia and Citilink flights not showing up in search results on travel site Traveloka. Some are wondering whether the latter is still cooperating with the national flag carrier and its low-cost arm.
Twitter user @herylink on Monday asked, "Is @traveloka no longer cooperating with Citilink? I want to book [tickets for] Yogyakarta-Jakarta on Nov. 14; Citilink did not appear."
Apakah @traveloka sdh tdk kerjasama dng Citilink? Mau pesan JOG-JKT tgl 14 Nov tdk muncul Citilink.
— Mbah Darmo™ (@herylink) October 11, 2016
Meanwhile, @black_dosi tweeted, "Dear @traveloka, why does Garuda not show up in my app?".
Dear @traveloka mengapa di aplikasi saya maskapai garuda tidak.keluar yah?
— raynaldo pardosi (@black_dosi) October 9, 2016
Through its official Twitter account @traveloka, the travel site has issued general statements apologizing for the inconvenience, stating that it is working to fix its system to improve service.
@WawanEvil Hai Ilham, ketersediaan maskapai Garuda & Citilink masih dalam perbaikan sistem maskapai guna peningkatan layanan Traveloka -WJ1-
— Traveloka Indonesia (@traveloka) October 12, 2016
When contacted by The Jakarta Post, Traveloka said the company was still working with both airlines.
"Traveloka partners with over 70 international and domestic airlines, including Citilink and Garuda Indonesia. Related to availability during searches [for flight tickets], it depends on the airlines' system; thus if there's a glitch sometimes flights are unavailable for certain airlines," said Traveloka communications executive Busyra Oryza via email on Wednesday.
(Read also: Traveloka’s ‘Price Alerts’ promise best flight deals)
Separately, Garuda Indonesia vice president of corporate communications Benny S. Butarbutar said on Wednesday there were no issues with Garuda or Citilink's system. "We check the system every day since it is a reservation system that has access to traffic transactions," said Benny via a messaging app. "Customers can always purchase tickets directly from Garuda and Citilink's websites. There's no issue with traditional travel agents as well."
Regarding Garuda's response, Traveloka said the issues encountered by users were not solely caused by the airline systems. "We are currently solving the problems from our side [in order to provide the service again] as soon as possible," said Busyra.
Meanwhile, amid the situation, Traveloka competitor Tiket.com has released an ad highlighting the fact that its service offers Garuda Indonesia and Citilink's flights, even offering a Rp 70,000 (US$5.38) discount for all routes.
Tambah nyaman & hemat terbang dg Maskapai Bintang 5! Harga terbaik, ketersediaan kursi & diskon di https://t.co/sCIsnPFGuT #TiketcomPastiAda pic.twitter.com/pIRCU6kC1h
— Tiket.com (@tiket) October 12, 2016
Dailysocial.id tech editor Amir Karimuddin, @amirk, who noticed this said, "So there is a problem with Garuda and Citilink on Traveloka, while Tiket promotes both airlines."
Jadi ada problem utk Garuda dan Citilink di Traveloka, sementara Tiket malah promosi dengan 2 maskapai ini.. hmmmm..
— Amir Karimuddin (@amirk) October 11, 2016
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