Buying a Plane Ticket to Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
I consider myself an expert on travel logistics to Indo. I've planned flights for myself and a other people. I've spent hours on the phone trying to cash in frequent flier miles for Indo tickets with American, Delta, and United. I've worked all the angles. I know how much time and money it takes to get people from the west coast of the US to the Mentawais, and here's the scoop:
Buying a cash ticket to Padang
If you are in the US, traveling with surfboards (as opposed to bodyboards), and want to pay cash for your ticket to Padang, you should definitely book with Quiksilver Travel. That's right, a human agent, not a web site. I've worked for internet travel companies for years spending time building a better travel mousetrap but right now there is no website that can put together the itinerary that most surfers need at the best price. The itinerary has to be manually built by a human agent on one of those green-screen things. Bryan Pohlman and Debbie at Quiksilver travel are on the ball. That's really all you can ask for in a travel agent, just someone who's responsive and pays attention to detail. Wavehunters is also a decent alternative, but steer clear of Waterways unless you absolutely have to.
Pinching Pennies?
The major surf travel agencies have contracts with Singapore Air that will save you some money. There are two catches though: You have to pay by check (this saves the airline 2.5% credit card fee) and you DON'T get frequent flier miles for your 19,000 mile roundtrip. Nineteen thousand frequent flier miles is worth about $200. So for a $1500 published fare plane ticket you should save at least $250 by booking through Quiksilver. Sometimes the airlines offer the agencies contracts with an additional 10% off over the credit card and mileage savings so you pay about $1100 to go to Indo.
Book early to get on Singapore AIrlines
Singapore airlines flights from the west coast will totally book up, especially for Friday departures. They don't overbook, so when the plane is full you can't buy a seat at any price. Because Singapore Air is the poshest way to get to a bunch of cities in India without connecting in Delhi, lots of Indians fly this way. Expect your plane to be full of ethnic-Indian extended families who go as far as Singapore. Your flight to Indo will typically be empty.
Cashing in Miles to get to Padang - Airline alliances
Unless you oddly have a lot of miles with Singapore Airlines, cashing in miles means you will get as far as Singapore or Jakarta, then have to buy a separate, cash ticket to get you to Padang.
United - Best best - can put you on either United or Singapore Air - push hard for Singapore, get your own TV and save big on board fees.
Delta - Delta's ludicrously useless deal with China airlines will only get you to Taipei. Delta miles are good on Singapore air though.
American - Only Cathay Pacific or JAL can get you to Indo.
Northwest - They can get you as far as Singapore or Bangkok on Northwest planes. Expect less from Northwest, but free is free.
US Airways - You can definitely get tickets on United but I have no idea about Singapore.
Southwest - Rapid Rewards won't even get you to Mexico hahaha you have no hope, give up and pay cash
Upgrading for free?
If you fly a lot you may be upgraded for free from time to time on domestic flights. However, don't expect this on a long-haul transpacific flight. Transpacific flights frequently take off with empty seats up front because this is how they get business travelers to actually pony up $5K for the ticket.
