Short review
Seat: 4/5 (Good seat pitch, adequate padding)
Entertainment: 1/5 (My screen didn’t work, although fortunately the plane was empty)
Service: 4/5 (Friendly flight attendants who served passengers with a smile)
Food and beverages: 2/5 (Sad-looking pasta, small portion)
Pros:
- B777-300ER with a fairly generous seat pitch
- Less than 50% full, so plenty of space even in economy
Cons:
- Entertainment system on my seat did not work
- Choices of movies were fairly limited
- Mediocre food
Long review
My first international flight after the pandemic. Garuda Indonesia GA713 was scheduled to depart Sydney, Australia at 11:30, and to arrive in Jakarta, Indonesia at 15:00, with a total duration of 7 hours and 30 minutes. The route was served by B777-300ER, which was a pleasant surprise, since Garuda Indonesia used A330 for this route in the past.
I arrived at the airport about 2.5 hours before my flight. The check-in counters were still closed and there was already a queue developed, although it was not that long. Once the counters were open, the line moved fairly quickly. Check-in was straightforward. The staff asked for my vaccination proof since the Indonesian Government still required travellers to be fully vaccinated (twice or three times depending on your residency). Passing the passport control and security were fairly quick too. I entered the terminal airside before 10:00.
Boarding started rather late at around 11:15. Upon entering the plane, I was surprised to see that the plane was empty. Maybe only 40% full, at least in my section. The economy seat was arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration, which is a typical seat configuration in B777-300. I picked an aisle seat and the two seats next to me were empty. The seat pitch was reasonable as I had plenty of leg room. A bottle of water and a wet wipe were distributed to each passenger before take-off. The plane left the gate at 11:35.
Lunch was served around 1 hour after take-off. They offered two choices: beef rendang and pasta with Bolognese sauce. However, the beef rendang was already finished when the trolley reached my seat and the flight attendant apologised for the lack of option. The pasta came with a piece of bread, a piece of cake, and a cup of pudding. The sad-looking pasta was … edible, to put it mildly. Overall, the portion was small. The beverage options seemed reasonable. They had both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. I chose apple juice.
I did a bit of work on my laptop after lunch. There were 2 power outlets for 3 seats and a USB charger for every seat. I noticed that after several hours of charging my laptop, the power was off. I did not know before that there is a limit on the power that you can use to charge devices on your seat.
I also spent some time watching movies. The movies and TV shows could not be played on my seat. Fortunately, the plane was empty, so I simply moved to the next seat. This would be a big annoyance if no spare seat available. The choices of movies were fairly limited. Garuda also used to have some games in the past and they were all gone.
About 1.5 hours before landing, a piece of bread and another round of drink were distributed. I was so hungry at this point, so I devoured the bread.
Throughout the journey, I noticed that the flight attendants regularly cleaned the lavatories, so they were nicely clean throughout the flight.
The plane landed on time in Jakarta. Overall, it was a reasonable experience mainly because the plane was empty. I could easily stretch my legs and occupy 3 seats for myself. The entertainment system was poor due to being not operational on my seat and its limited movie options. If you have a reasonably big appetite, I suggest that you bring some snacks given that the food portion was small.
