What is the most economical way for a group of 6 of us to travel between Jakarta and Bali -- fly or train? What airlines should we looking at? First thoughts are that we would save $ by renting a van (since there are 6 of us)-- not sure that we want to drive in that region as it will probably be too stressful!

Plan is to fly into Jakarta, spend a week in and around Jakarta, travel to Bali for a few days and then either return to Jakarta before flying to Hong Kong or fly from Bali to Hong Kong --- depending on the cost of the flights.

Little typo on the heading .... should be "JAKARTA TO BALI"

I understand that Air Asia now flies from Jakarta to Bali. That would be the quickest, most economical and safest way to go. Even if you took a train across Java, you'd still want to fly from there to Bali as the Indonesian ferries are best avoided, given their safety record.

That's good news about Air Asia flying from Jakarta to Bali, which is a trip I may be doing in a few months. I flew Air Asia for the first time last summer from Bangkok to Bali and loved it. Just had to change planes in KL.

I just checked their website, and they have 4 flights a day between Jakarta and Denpasar (Bali). I thank MichaelBKK for calling this to my attention last year.

Enroh, You definitely want to fly. Driving or taking the train would take almost two days and would definitely be logistically stressful.

In addition to Air Asia there are several other budget airlines that operate on that route -- Merpati, Lion, Sriwijaya, Mandala. Garuda costs a little more but has the most frequent options. Because flights are often cancelled or delayed this can be significant.

Curious to know why your group is spending a week in and around Jakarta? Unless it's for business or for family I sure would recommend less Jakarta and more Bali.

We have family in Jakarta.

Last time I checked Air Asia flies Jakarta-Denpasar for $25. i will be doing that myself.

If you are on a budget and want to go to Hong Kong anyway and you don't mind flying, you can look into Cathy Pacific's Asia Pass. It will be wherever you are-HK, HK-Jakarta, jakarta-HK, HK-Denpasar, Denpasar-HK, HK-home.

Lot's of flying but you'll save.

The airlines listed by Marmot don't actually think of themselves as budget carriers - they just have crappy service. The biggest problem booking anything other than Air Asia is that most of the airlines (including Garuda) don't take non-Indonesian credit cards over the web.

"The airlines listed by Marmot don't actually think of themselves as budget carriers - they just have crappy service."

There was a roach or something crawling where i was leaning against on Garuda. When I alerted the air hostess, she laughed and said,' are you afraid of it?' I said yes, she laughed more and didn't take any action. I thought that was pretty unprofessional then. Some months later, there was an accident, a newspaper reported that the crew members were fighting to get off the plane at first instance without attending to the passengers.

That did it for me.

Thanks .... we'll book flights on Air Asia.

Enroh, If you're talking about Jakarta to Bali only, then I'd choose Garuda. They have the most flights and the most reliable service.