The annual movement of the people to celebrate Idul Fitri, the end of Ramadhan fasting month, may still be three months away, but many have already made reservations.

Hundreds of thousands of travelers leave the cities annually to celebrate with family members and relatives in their hometowns.

According to the national calendar, Idul Fitri is expected to fall on August 8 and 9.

Eko Lubis is determined to bring his wife who works in Jakarta to his hometown in Medan, North Sumatra, despite the skyrocketing price of airline tickets.

'I have not celebrated Idul Fitri in my hometown for five consecutive years,' he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

'But we are newly wed, so we want to go to Medan this year.'

Eko said in March he found a ticket from Jakarta to Medan for Rp 420,000 (US$43).

However, he did not book its straight away thinking that it might be still safe to leave it until
another day.

'By the middle of April, a ticket for August 4, reached Rp 1.2 million. I immediately bought the tickets, fearing that the prices would increase again,' he said.

On Tuesday, national flag carrier Garuda offered economy and executive trips to Jakarta to Yogyakarta on August 4 with prices that ranged from Rp 921,000 to Rp 2.18 million.

Air Asia's tickets price for the same date started at Rp 802,000.

Travelers who plan to travel by train began to book tickets last week as state-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) opens reservations 90 days prior to the departure date.

'We saw robust demand for the three and four days [August 4 and 5] prior to Idul Fitri,' Sukendar Mulya, KAI spokesman for regional office (Daop) I overseeing Banten, West Java and Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said economy, business and executive trains from Jakarta to various destinations in Central and East Java on August 5 were almost sold out, 90 percent, while August 4 saw 85 percent of seats sold.

Aini, an employee of Indomart minimarket in Palmerah, Central Jakarta, said her store had been busy selling tickets to customers who bought online since last week.

'We have run out of the tickets for August 2 and 3. Tickets for August 1 are still available,' she told the Post.

Sukendar said the company had applied a one ticket per customer regulation since last year to prevent ticket scalping.

He suggested that customers only buy tickets at the train station, online or at official stores.

'If your ticket does not match your identity card, don't expect to board to the train,' he said.

'If you do not want to use your ticket, you should cancel it instead of giving it to someone else,' he added.

The touring carriage, which offers exclusive comfort for passengers, will be operated if there is
demand.

'Currently, we are still discussing a plan to add carriages or trains for popular dates,' Sukendar said.

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