First Melbourne Bali flight in two years

Markit

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Sep 3, 2007
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PT Central has at least one branch open, today's rate A$1.00 = Rp 10,250, so it's headed back to a reasonable level.

I've been here three days, and I've noticed a marked increase in traffic. Last night, outside my hotel, the local scene was buzzing, food stalls, motorcycles by the thousand.

I don't see many shops open though. The Pasar Seni in Kuta is about 50% open, not much in Kuta Square open, Daimaru shuttered, but when Sydney flights start, it will be 6 flights a week from Sydney and Melbourne, almost 2000 pax coming in, along with Singapore flights, things will start to move along....hopefully.
We just had huge full moon ceremonies - apparently the most important moon in the year. So this might account for any evening traffic increase you may have seen. As of today should all be back to new normal.
 

SamD

Active Member
Sep 7, 2006
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Seminyak
Agree, it is a differemt place, but it may recover to what it was. Who knows? Certainly it seems like a few locals are showing their greed, perhaps trying to make up for a lost 2 1/2 years.

I'll certainly enjoy it, but I spend minimal time on the south coast, Tuban to Canggu, not being a pub and club person, and most in the mountains around Bedugul with occasional excursions to Lovina and Candidasa.
So if your livelihood had been taken away from you for two+ years and you tried to recoup your losses by increasing your prices, you think that is "greed"? Unbelievable!
 

RossM

Member
Jan 19, 2022
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So if your livelihood had been taken away from you for two+ years and you tried to recoup your losses by increasing your prices, you think that is "greed"? Unbelievable!

I didn't post looking for a scrap, but there's always one looking for a confrontation.

I understand slightly higher prices, but 2 1/2 years ago I could get a taxi from the airport for Rp 50,000. The starting price this trip was Rp 250,000, and nobody would go for less. A$25 for a 15 minute taxi trip IS greed.

Australian businesses wouldn't get away with it, and they're in the same position.

I appreciate that most locals will never leave the island, and they see every tourist as pot of gold, but it's wearing, with shop owners begging for cash when I don't buy.
 
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Markit

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Sep 3, 2007
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I didn't post looking for a scrap, but there's always one looking for a confrontation.

I understand slightly higher prices, but 2 1/2 years ago I could get a taxi from the airport for Rp 50,000. The starting price this trip was Rp 250,000, and nobody would go for less. A$25 for a 15 minute taxi trip IS greed.

Australian businesses wouldn't get away with it, and they're in the same position.

I appreciate that most locals will never leave the island, and they see every tourist as pot of gold, but it's wearing, with shop owners begging for cash when I don't buy.
For all of those that complain about getting cheated or disrespected by the Balinese a couple of points:
Leave as quickly as humanly possible the area around Denpasar including the southern coast in its entirety - that whole are is and always was a tourist trap like Atlantic city, Las Vegas, London, Crete, Mumbai, Bangkok and most other major cities in the whole fecking world. Cheating people is what all these places have in common.
If you don't leave then stop whinging you have accepted the situation for your own reasons - Man the feck up!

Those Balinese that are cheating you most probably aren't but are most often from some other Indo island working here to get rich quick and they don't much care how - see they kind of think if they aren't shitting in their own nest then it doesn't count on the road to whichever heaven they are headed.

I have included a little map to help those with learning difficulties to differentiate the good parts of Bali from, well, the Not Bali.

1647611522442.jpeg
 
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RossM

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Jan 19, 2022
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For all of those that complain about getting cheated or disrespected by the Balinese a couple of points:
Leave as quickly as humanly possible the area around Denpasar including the southern coast in its entirety - that whole are is and always was a tourist trap like Atlantic city, Las Vegas, London, Crete, Mumbai, Bangkok and most other major cities in the whole fecking world. Cheating people is what all these places have in common.
If you don't leave then stop whinging you have accepted the situation for your own reasons - Man the feck up!

Those Balinese that are cheating you most probably aren't but are most often from some other Indo island working here to get rich quick and they don't much care how - see they kind of think if they aren't shitting in their own nest then it doesn't count on the road to whichever heaven they are headed.

I have included a little map to help those with learning difficulties to differentiate the good parts of Bali from, well, the Not Bali.

View attachment 3610


I agree Markit, and you've boxed in where I spend most of my time. In fact, I could halve the size of the box!

The only reason I'm in Kuta for more than a day is because I'm required to have a second covid test on day 3. That was late yesterday, and I'll be gone by 0900 today.
 
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Metter

Active Member
Oct 8, 2017
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Sanur Kauh
PCR tests are not reliable, they are so sensitive they often return false positives.


Repetitive PCR tests will go first, just not necessary. Travel insurance is necessary, but $50,000 minimum covid cover seems excessive now. I normally travel with only my free credit card insurance.


[/QUOTE]

I have ANZ credit card insurance - This does not exclude pandemics or covid provided you follow government travel advice. You only need to spend $250 on travel or accommodation and covers trips of up to 6 months.

Enough of my advert :D
 

RossM

Member
Jan 19, 2022
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Repetitive PCR tests will go first, just not necessary. Travel insurance is necessary, but $50,000 minimum covid cover seems excessive now. I normally travel with only my free credit card insurance.

I have ANZ credit card insurance - This does not exclude pandemics or covid provided you follow government travel advice. You only need to spend $250 on travel or accommodation and covers trips of up to 6 months.

Enough of my advert :D
[/QUOTE]


My CBA Mastercard travel insurance specifically excludes covid. Maybe I need to change card providers?
 

Foamcrest

Active Member
Jun 11, 2016
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We also use our ANZ card insurance and as Ross says you have to book $250 on some travel related item and it’s activated. We did question as to who was the ultimate insurer was and it was Alliance. We rang them and was sent all the terms and conditions etc and we were quite sure we were adequately covered.
I agree with Markit that the less time you spend in and around the Kutu area the better off you are. We immediately leave the airport and drive straight to Penestanan for a couple of weeks then head to Markit county, Lipah, which is my absolute favourite place. There is very little to do, no tourist stuff except diving and snorkelling, but surprisingly some very nice warungs and indeed a couple of high quality restaurants, Sails in particular.
Never change money at the airport, in fact any airport as you always get a crappy rate.
We are booked to fly in in August so Markit make your booking for Pondok Vienna and put the beer on ice.
 
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SamD

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Sep 7, 2006
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Seminyak
I didn't post looking for a scrap, but there's always one looking for a confrontation.

I understand slightly higher prices, but 2 1/2 years ago I could get a taxi from the airport for Rp 50,000. The starting price this trip was Rp 250,000, and nobody would go for less. A$25 for a 15 minute taxi trip IS greed.

Australian businesses wouldn't get away with it, and they're in the same position.

I appreciate that most locals will never leave the island, and they see every tourist as pot of gold, but it's wearing, with shop owners begging for cash when I don't buy.


The airport taxis are a different breed. Don't judge everyone by that standard. I agree, they are taking the piss but when you think about it, $25 isn't going to get you very far in Melbourne or Sydney either, especially if you get stuck in a traffic jam-watch that meter tick over as it empties your wallet. If you are a regular you will know that Bluebird is the best taxi group and now you have Grab/Gojek also.
Don't be a cheapskate. Pay up and be happy.
Cheers
 
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RossM

Member
Jan 19, 2022
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The airport taxis are a different breed. Don't judge everyone by that standard. I agree, they are taking the piss but when you think about it, $25 isn't going to get you very far in Melbourne or Sydney either, especially if you get stuck in a traffic jam-watch that meter tick over as it empties your wallet. If you are a regular you will know that Bluebird is the best taxi group and now you have Grab/Gojek also.
Don't be a cheapskate. Pay up and be happy.
Cheers

You can't compare Indonesian taxi rates with Australia.

A driver in Bali would be lucky to make $100 a month.

I'm happy to pay a reasonable amount, and I frequently tip.

Pre covid, a bluebird from central Kuta to the airport, on meter, was Rp 25,000. The airport hustlers, and taxi desk, asked Rp 100,000. Take out Rp 15,000 airport 'toll', it's 85 versus 25, a big difference.

If you paid the asking price on everything, you'd be broke after a couple of days.
 
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SamD

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You can't compare Indonesian taxi rates with Australia.

A driver in Bali would be lucky to make $100 a month.

I'm happy to pay a reasonable amount, and I frequently tip.

Pre covid, a bluebird from central Kuta to the airport, on meter, was Rp 25,000. The airport hustlers, and taxi desk, asked Rp 100,000. Take out Rp 15,000 airport 'toll', it's 85 versus 25, a big difference.

If you paid the asking price on everything, you'd be broke after a couple of days.
The airport is a 'closed shop' as far as taxis are concerned. I'm talking about pick up at the airport, Bluebird and Grab are banned as far as I know. So you can either pay the asking price or go through the hassle of trying to find an alternative. The last time I flew into Ngurah Rai in 2019 I paid 200,000 for a ride to Seminyak, about 15 minutes, using the airport taxis. So if it's 250,000 now it's not such a big hike. My experiences are different from yours. And having lived here since, I have not noticed any significant increase in prices for anything that I buy regularly. There are greedy people everywhere mate, but I haven't come across any in Bali. Desperate, yes. Greedy, no.

And I ALWAYS tip.

Cheers.
 

RossM

Member
Jan 19, 2022
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The airport is a 'closed shop' as far as taxis are concerned. I'm talking about pick up at the airport, Bluebird and Grab are banned as far as I know. So you can either pay the asking price or go through the hassle of trying to find an alternative. The last time I flew into Ngurah Rai in 2019 I paid 200,000 for a ride to Seminyak, about 15 minutes, using the airport taxis. So if it's 250,000 now it's not such a big hike. My experiences are different from yours. And having lived here since, I have not noticed any significant increase in prices for anything that I buy regularly. There are greedy people everywhere mate, but I haven't come across any in Bali. Desperate, yes. Greedy, no.

And I ALWAYS tip.

Cheers.

Alternatives WERE easy, just walk outside and be besieged by offers, always starting high, of course.

Pre covid, I never paid more than Rp 50,000 to central Kuta, and frequently 40, but this is 2+ years later, and there are VERY few flights, and even less offers from hustlers outside, but better days will return.

I'll differ on greedy Balinese, many desperate and just trying to get by, but amongst them there are the greedy, most often the already well off. If a foreigner thinks he's being screwed, just take a look at how they treat their own.
 
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PERtoDPS

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Dec 31, 2018
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Grab and GoJek aren't banned from the airport they were years ago but no longer. I found the voucher hustlers or whatever you want to call them to be fair in price, just whip out the grab app show the price and the match it. Sling the driver an extra 50,000 IDR or whatever if you can afford it, as discussed they're not making much these days, often driving rental cars or whatever too. Tips are the bread and butter of that job these days.

Re taxi prices when I arrived to Sydney in February, Airport to Randwick (about 15kms) very quickly racked up to $58 in the traffic, I ended up getting him to let me off at the local shops as I needed some things and transferred all my stuff to a $10 didi back to the airbnb I used to adjust to Sydney.

Polar opposite in service with the taxi and didi though, the taxi was very helpful where the didi was a young kid who really didn't care (nor was paid too). With fuel prices in Australia above $2 a litre and rising uber's just slapped on a fair surcharge too.
 

Markit

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Sep 3, 2007
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Contact someone where you are going and ask their recommendation for a driver and arrange with him (or her?) to pick you up at the airport and the price.
 

matsaleh

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May 26, 2004
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.....
Re taxi prices when I arrived to Sydney in February, Airport to Randwick (about 15kms) very quickly racked up to $58 in the traffic, I ended up getting him to let me off at the local shops as I needed some things and transferred all my stuff to a $10 didi back to the airbnb I used to adjust to Sydney.

Polar opposite in service with the taxi and didi though, the taxi was very helpful where the didi was a young kid who really didn't care (nor was paid too). With fuel prices in Australia above $2 a litre and rising uber's just slapped on a fair surcharge too.
I'm from Sydney and maybe I was away too long, but I've never heard of a "didi". What is it? :oops:
 

PERtoDPS

Active Member
Dec 31, 2018
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I'm from Sydney and maybe I was away too long, but I've never heard of a "didi". What is it? :oops:

Sorry, I was going to write in brackets what it is, it's been around a few years so I thought people probably know it, if you've been living in Bali of course makes sense you don't. Didi and Ola are same as Uber (or grab/go-gek), generally slightly cheaper and have more vouchers and promos, obviously in Australia.
 
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Metter

Active Member
Oct 8, 2017
221
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Sanur Kauh
The airport is a 'closed shop' as far as taxis are concerned. I'm talking about pick up at the airport, Bluebird and Grab are banned as far as I know. So you can either pay the asking price or go through the hassle of trying to find an alternative. The last time I flew into Ngurah Rai in 2019 I paid 200,000 for a ride to Seminyak, about 15 minutes, using the airport taxis. So if it's 250,000 now it's not such a big hike. My experiences are different from yours. And having lived here since, I have not noticed any significant increase in prices for anything that I buy regularly. There are greedy people everywhere mate, but I haven't come across any in Bali. Desperate, yes. Greedy, no.

And I ALWAYS tip.

Cheers.

I disagree with Sam, A rip off is a rip off regardless of the final price in Australian dollars. The good news is that GoCar and Grab as well as private hire cars will pick up in the airport (in the car park at a higher level to avoid problems). I have no problem paying a little extra for convenience but the taxi mafia at the airport are a no go for me. I would rather walk to the road and hail a blue bird (which I have done)
 

SamD

Active Member
Sep 7, 2006
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Seminyak
I disagree with Sam, A rip off is a rip off regardless of the final price in Australian dollars. The good news is that GoCar and Grab as well as private hire cars will pick up in the airport (in the car park at a higher level to avoid problems). I have no problem paying a little extra for convenience but the taxi mafia at the airport are a no go for me. I would rather walk to the road and hail a blue bird (which I have done)
Fair enough, not going to argue with that. It is a matter of opinion. One man's ripoff is another man's convenience. Maybe I am ok paying the mafia for the convenience of not having to walk to the road. It's not ideal but that is the way of the world everywhere. Tell me where in the world tourists are not taken advantage of.
Just happy that I am living here now and not in Australia. 3 years ago I remember paying $85 for a 30 minute taxi ride to the airport, when petrol was about $1.15/litre IIRC. That is what I call a rip off.

Cheers.