Confirmed! 90% OFF Garuda Miles Redemptions

by Enoch

Update (12/23/16 10:00 pm ET): Garuda Indonesia has pulled the promo.

Update (12:37 ET): Read this article before jumping in on the deal and making any transfers!

Garuda Indonesia has a pretty fantastic First Class product, and it can be difficult to achieve on points and miles. This is because they only offer First Class on a handful of routes, and the number of miles required to redeem First Class is pretty high. Garuda Indonesia is a transfer partner with Citi ThankYou, so you can theoretically rack up Garuda Indonesia miles easily. However, their booking process is cumbersome, and used to require you to physically visit a Garuda office to ticket your award.

Garuda Indonesia First Class Seat. Source: Garuda Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia First Class Seat. Source: Garuda Indonesia

Earlier this year, Garuda Indonesia started allowing redemptions online, which should save a lot of trouble in actually redeeming miles. However, their booking engine is still a bit finicky, and does not support booking of any partner or SkyTeam airlines. Still, it’s a nice tool to search for award availability.

Well, Garuda Indonesia is launching a promotion on award ticket redemptions. Through the end of the year, you can get 90% off when you use Garuda Indonesia miles for redemptions for flights between February 1 and May 31, 2017. This is absolutely incredible.

Get a 10% discount when you redeem Garuda Indonesia miles for award tickets through the end of 2016.

Get a 10% discount when you redeem Garuda Indonesia miles for award tickets through the end of 2016.

I was a bit skeptical at first, since it seems that Garuda may be offering 90% off, and not 10% off redemption tickets. In many Asian languages (my native language of Chinese included), we express discounts in the % to be paid, not the the % to be taken off. However, it does seem like Garuda Indonesia got this one right. They are indeed offering 90% off the cost in miles (i.e. you pay 10% of the regular price). 

Garuda Indonesia’s Twitter team confirmed that this is the case (pardon my use of a throwaway account…)

Since point transfers are not reversible, I wanted to be extra sure. I asked about the pricing, in number of miles required, and got the confirmation that it is indeed 90% off (Jakarta to Tokyo normally requires 90,000 miles for one-way First Class). This should eliminate potential questions about whether this promotion is an error in translation.

It does not seem like the discount is reflected online, and you will have to call their contact center to make a reservation. They have a few worldwide offices, though the few that I called are either closed or have no idea whatsoever about this promotion. (The London office repeated gave me another number to call, which turned out to be a Dutch bank). The Indonesia office operates 24/7, though at the moment they are hanging up on people due to high call volume. Update: I was just able to get through the phone line, and was (correctly) quoted 19,000 miles for a one-way First Class ticket from Amsterdam to Jakarta. 

Here are the other terms and conditions:

Redeem your mileage in Garuda Indonesia contact center at 0804 1 807 807 / +62 21 2351 9999 or nearest Sales Office in your city.

Terms and conditions :

  • This promo eligible for flight classes R (First Class), O (Business Class) and X (Economy Class)
  • This promo is subject to seat availability
  • This promo eligible in Garuda Indonesia contact center or sales office redemption channels.
  • This promo eligible for all GarudaMiles members
  • Registration is no needed in order to get this promo

You can search for award availability online, though will have to book through the phone per the T&C. This means you will likely have to physically visit a ticketing office to get your itinerary ticketed. In the US, they only have four offices, in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Houston. This alone might be a deterrent for people.

I will also note that their First Class award space can be limited sometimes. Still, with a 90% discount, you are paying just 19,000 Garuda miles for a one-way ticket from Jakarta to Amsterdam in First Class, or 9,000 Garuda miles for a one-way ticket from Jakarta to Tokyo. That’s unbeatable.

There is one final caveat, though. Citi ThankYou transfer to Garuda Indonesia isn’t instant, so you may find yourself in a bit of a catch 22 situation. By the time your miles arrive, the award space may be gone. Couple limited award space with an extremely lucrative promotion, and you might end up with a bunch of Garuda Indonesia miles in your account you won’t be able use for this promotion. Still, you can always redeem miles for Business or even Economy Class, and at 90% off, it’s one heck of a deal.

Will anyone be taking advantage of this amazing deal? 

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Related Articles

10 comments

Nik December 22, 2016 - 9:20 am

I cannot seem to sign up for the frequent flyer program. Have tried google amd chrome on the iPad and both give a drop down box for city with no drop down options available. Argh.

Reply
Nathan December 22, 2016 - 9:33 am

Is it 10% for business class too?

Reply
Garuda's 90% Off Award Promotion Is CONFIRMED! - One Mile at a Time December 22, 2016 - 9:45 am

[…] (Tip of the hat to Point Me to the Plane) […]

Reply
Deo December 22, 2016 - 10:38 am

By Original Membership card, you mean the one which comes after months of registering?
Can I not print the card out?

Reply
Enoch December 22, 2016 - 10:43 am

Hi Deo! I asked the agent on the phone, and he said the physical (plastic) card. There is always a chance that they could accept the printout, though I wouldn’t count on it :\

Reply
Deo December 22, 2016 - 10:46 am

Thanks for the reply, although if it comes to that, printing and laminating one shouldn’t be that hard. 😉

Although my big issue is if GA has opened a sales office yet at BOM, where I live. They started flights here last month and their website doesn’t mention one right now. I suppose you have to have a sales office at each station you fly right? I might just have to figure out where its at, after all.

Reply
Haha, Good Luck With The Garuda 90% Off Award Promotion - Rapid Travel Chai December 22, 2016 - 4:54 pm

[…] Word broke of Garuda’s self-titled Best Deal of the Year: 90% off awards on Garuda flights using GarudaMiles. Open to all Garuda flights and all classes of service. Book by 12/31/16 and fly 2/1/17-5/31/17. Call to book or stroll into one of your friendly Garuda sales office: the US has 4! […]

Reply
Allison S December 22, 2016 - 7:23 pm

Purchasing miles is only US$30 for 1000 miles. https://garudamiles.com/TopHome/earn-miles/buy-mileage/

Reply
How to book a Garuda Indonesia first class trip (for 90% off!) - Points with a Crew December 23, 2016 - 7:15 am

[…] Yesterday, the miles and points Internet world pretty much exploded as news came out that Garuda Indonesia was offering a promotion for 90% off Garuda Indonesia first class.  Originally the thought was that it might be a mistake (that it was intended to be 10% off), Point Me to the Plane confirmed that it was intended to be 90% off […]

Reply
tesyasblog December 24, 2016 - 7:09 am

The offer is stopped just 2 days after it was promoted. Too bad for those who have not done the redemption (:

Reply

Leave a Reply to tesyasblog Cancel Reply