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travel check list | Exit/FISCAL tax | booking your tickets | at the airport
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Departing Jakarta

Travel check list

1. Passport with 6 months+ validity
2. Exit/re-entry permit for return to Indonesia (for Expat KITAS/KITAP holders)
3. Visas (if applicable)
4. Departure tax (Rp150,000 per passenger, children under 12 exempt)
5. Fiscal tax (Rp1,000,000 for all Indonesian citizens and expat KITAS/KITAP holders)
6. For children under 12: Fiscal Tax Exemption form (available at airport) with passport photocopy
7. Immigration departure card (all residents)
8. Prescription medications may require a letter from your doctor.

Exit/Fiscal tax

Effective from 1 January 2011, Indonesian residents, including expatriates, will no longer be required to pay fiscal tax or produce their tax ID card to receive an exemption.

• Pre-pay your exit tax to save doing it at the airport. This can often be organised through the working spouse’s office or through your travel agent. Note that children under twelve years old do not need to pay fiscal if a fiscal exemption form is completed.
  
  
• Check out www.expat.or.id/info/docs.html for more information.
  
  
• Ideally, stock up on all of the forms you need to leave i.e. departure cards. For frequent flying to the same country e.g. Singapore, stock up on the forms you need to complete in the country you are flying to.
  
  
• If you need to complete forms on the plane, make a list of all family members’ passport details and use that list to complete the forms to save you juggling numerous passports.

Booking your tickets

• Book a bassinet seat at the time of buying your tickets. Remember, though, priority is given to young babies. These seats in front of the bulkhead give more leg room for younger children travelling with you. However, they usually cannot see the TV screen. Check with your airline, but generally babies over 11kgs cannot use the bassinets. Seats in front of the bulkhead are also easier to get in and out of for those frequent trips to the bathroom. However, armrests are usually fixed so older children cannot lie across their seat and yours so easily.
  
  
• If your child requires a specific meal or has allergies most of the major airlines now cater for this but you have to request this at the time of booking.
  
  
• You cannot travel on your own with two children under the age of two.
  
  
• Check with your airline either directly or through your travel agent as to whether they will allow parents to take approved child car seats on board the aircraft and fit them to the seat as if the child were travelling in a car. To avoid any hassles or confusion, get written approval from the airline before you travel (I had a rather frustrating experience when a flight attendant told me I couldn’t leave my baby in a car seat strapped into the airline seat). This is what Qantas say on their website:

Are there bassinets onboard for my infant?
Bassinets are fitted to most Qantas aircraft but are limited in number and should be requested at the time of reservation, this facility is not available online. Bassinets may be requested for infants up to eighteen months, and there is a weight limit of 11 kgs (25lbs). Bassinets are subject to availability. The safest way for an infant to travel on an aircraft is in a Child Restraint Device (car seat). A passenger seat can be booked for a reduced price for placement of a child seat. A child seat can be approved for carriage through the special handling area of Qantas.

What type of child car seat can I take onboard?
Child restraints (car seats) can be carried onboard and secured to an aircraft seat for carriage of infants and/or children usually aged up to five (5) years, if approved by Qantas (refer to question above). The following information on weight and type of restraint can be used as a guide:

• Rear facing child restraint systems for infants weighing under 9kgs (20lbs)
  
  
• Forward facing child restraint systems for infants/children weighing between 9 and 18 kgs (20 and 40 lbs)
  
  
• For children over 18kgs (40lbs) - a standard passenger seat is recommended.
  
  
• Book special assistance if you are travelling alone with your baby/children, for your transit and final destinations. Singapore is fantastic and will take care of you until your next flight leaves. However, don’t expect such service in other airports.
  

At the airport

• Check in with plenty of time before the flight. You may be required to repack a heavy suitcase or be delayed by the children and the stress of thinking you will miss your flight does not help. Use the extra time to change nappies, feed etc. before you get on the plane or run the kids around the airport to wear them out.

  

On the plane

• Go for expeditions up and down the aisles to try to break up the monotony.
  
  
• Take a supply of small snacks and the child‘s empty cup. Do not rely on the airline to provide items such as formula milk, nappies and baby food. In 99% of cases, they most probably will but mistakes happen!
  
  
• Take an iPod with talking story tapes or music. Some suggest investing in portable VCD/DVD players, particularly worthwhile if you plan to do a lot of flying with children.
  
  
• If you have a video camera with a small television screen, record your child’s favourite video onto a video camera tape and play it back to them in the plane like a small television. Make sure you have an extra battery or two to prolong the entertainment.
  
  
• Buy some new toys, wrap them up and give them as surprises.
  
  
• Take you child’s favourite cuddly toy, bedtime story, blanket or pillow. Airlines recommend dressing children in their pyjamas to help persuade them to sleep. Follow your usual bedtime routine as much as possible.
  
  
• Take not only changes of clothes for the children but for you as well (Don’t follow in the footsteps of one mother who travelled alone with two young children from Denmark to Jakarta with each child’s vomit covering just about every inch of clothing she had on with no chance of a change of clothes until she reached Jakarta!).
  
  
• Take plastic bags for collecting garbage, dirty clothes and nappies; wet cloths/baby wipes for wiping children and you; sticky tape for sealing luggage and mending toys.
  
  
• A fold-up umbrella type stroller is an essential. Some airlines/flights will stow this in the cabin for you so it’s ready for you to use when you step off the plane, even during transit. Ask and get a ticket from the check-in counter. (Never assume this though; always check where your stroller will be when you touch down and make sure it’s got an address label.) Prams/strollers can be delivered to the door of the aircraft on request (Note: this can delay you and put you at the end of the immigration and/or customs queues).
  
  
• Give your child something to drink or suck during take off and landing, swallowing will help to take the pressure off their ears. Some suggest a lollipop for older children (beware of sugar overload in a confined space!!). For young babies put them on the breast or give them their bottle.

  
  

Websites

www.flyingwithkids.com
A fantastic website from New Zealand featuring a wealth of information for flying with your children. Baby air travel tips from parents, checklists, health - jet lag remedies, sedatives and homeopathic alternatives, activities and what to expect on the plane.

www.familyfun.go.com/vacations/
Linked to Disney Online this site has a travel checklist covering air travel and first aid packs. The focus is on travelling in the US so it is a good site to check if you are planning a trip to the US with the family.

www.travelwithyourkids.com
A clear and well laid out site covering all aspects of flying, with headings such as ‘Before you go’, ‘ On the plane’ and a few tips on dealing with jetlag. There’s a best books section and good links to other useful sites. Also, check out their moving abroad section.

Planning a holiday?

www.familytraveltimes.com
Unlike other family travel websites and magazines, every one of their writers is a parent who understands first-hand the real needs of parents travelling with kids. Most contributors have travelled extensively and cover many different types of vacations, always from the point of cruise ship that caters to teenagers and their parents - in short, information that is up-to-date, biased towards kids and instantly useful. They suggest ways for all family members to take advantage of this precious time together.

www.travelforkids.com
Useful site about places around the world to visit with kids.

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