Tipping

No idea.
I tip when it suits. That's commonly based on the honesty of the person.
If the taxi driver doesn't take me the tourist route, he gets a fair tip but, if he tries to play, he gets what's on the meter.

If there is 21% tax and surcharge in a bill then I wont tip. If they give me coins as change in restaurants, I normally leave them behind. In taxis, I will just round it up to the nearest note so around 2 - 3 not more than 5000. Of course you can tip as much as you like but often in restaurants there is already a surcharge for service already included in the bill.

Hi lukereg

Thank you very much for replying. My boss is leaving, going to Indonesia and I am trying to show how professional I am by putting together all the information he might need on arrival..

Could I ask you another couple of questions, still to do with taxis and restaurants?

I understand that the company to use is Bluebird, and I also know that I am asking you how long is a piece of string...

What would be the average cost of a taxi ride, say, locally (15mins in fair traffic) and another 30/45 mins? (very roughly)

The same with restaurants. What is a reasonable estimate of costs for one person between the cheap acceptable, and the expensive restauants? (leaving the champagne and caviar aside...)

Don't say that you are happy to answer these questions, as I stll have another dozen....

regards

qim

Hard to say for taxis it is purely dependent on traffic. A 30 minute ride is around 45,000 with Blue Bird and from there it goes up.

For restaurants, it all depends on taste and budgets. 60- 80,000 gets you a reasonably good western style dish where as 40 - 60,000 normally gets you pretty good Indonesian fare.

If your boss is coming here, better you arrange a PA or someone to help him for a few days rather than a list because for Indonesia, the list is endless

Probably leaving tips weren't part of Indonesians habits, but if you might, it'll commonly range from 5-10 thousands. Good luck

Thank you lukereg and sammybee.
Where would he get a PA from? Reading sammybee's comment do I take it that tipping was something introduced by foreigners and do Indonesians tip now?

One unrelated question, if I may: do you know the opening times of government offices? and do they close for lunch?

Yes, the Indonesians do tip now. I will say most of them, but as Luke said, if the bill already includes service charge, then you dont need to tip them ( though if the service and food is good, I always leave a few thousand behind).

For 15 mins taxi ride, you'd have to pay approx 20 K IDR.
I usually tip my taxi driver around 4-5 K. But if the driver tried to fool me and going to different roads that takes longer time (rarely happened because I always told him which way is the shortest while looking at my GPS), I would get cranky and just pay whats on the meter.

Some government offices arent closed for lunch. One example is some of the embassies. I'm not sure abt others.

Annie

Opening time usually at 9-10 AM

Im sure when you're in major cities in Indonesia such Jakarta people would have been pretty much familiar with concept of tipping, but if you go to rural areas, probably tipping isn't popular yet, but its always okay to tip

Yes as Sophie Fisher said its usually opens around 9am, and lunch break usually at 12 to 1.30pm. not really sure if they close but even if they dont usually the people is out for break til the lunch time is over

Thank you all for the very useful information.

Now,I', looking for good reasonable restaurants in the centre, and I accept that there centre is a big centre...

Can you recommend some?

Thank you

qim

qim wrote:

Thank you all for the very useful information.

Now,I', looking for good reasonable restaurants in the centre, and I accept that there centre is a big centre...

Can you recommend some?

Thank you

qim

Good restaurants

- Hacienda, Mexican : Arcadia building, Senayan
- Blue Elephant, Thai : Menteng
- Sate Senayan, Indonesian : Hanglekir,Kebayoran Baru
- Peppenero, Italian : Kuningan, Gedung Menara Karya
- Marche,Swiss-German : Plaza Senayan

I know a lot of other good restaurants, but they're a bit far from the center.

Thank you so much Sophie

One last question: could you give me an idea of price range of those restaurants (roughly), assuming they are all in the same category?



Thank you again

qim

qim wrote:

Could you tell me how much

a local would tip a taxi driver and a restaurant waiter?  Is it a percentage of the fare/bill?

Thank you

It depends on where you are... Tipping is not a habit, for most Indonesians, but they'd be happy to receive it

In Jakarta, I, as a local, would tip 10 % out of the charge. Like if I pay for a cab fare Rp.50.000, I'd add IDR 5.000.
In smaller cities, for example, in Malang... if I pay Rp.20.000 for a cab, I usually give Rp.2000 - Rp. 5000, depending on how nice the driver is.
But, overall, you dont have to do tipping...

Sate Senayan and Peppenero are slightly cheaper. Price range would be 30 - 150 K

Thank you Sophie

Those are big differences! Could you tell me roughly which is which in price? And is that the price for a full meal or for one dish?

Thank you very much

qim

Its the price for appetizer, maincourse and desserts. Hacienda is a bit pricey but worth the money. Sate Senayan would be the cheapest for dishes / maincourses around 40- 70 K, Marche would be around 50- 150 K . I think you can read some food blogs based in Jkt to get details. You'd be surprise how many food bloggers are there.

Thank you, Sophie

I'm nearly done.

Can I ask you one more question: I understand that you can PREPAY the Bluebird taxi fare at their desk at the airport but cannot find info regarding what that price would be for a trip to a centrally located hotel.

Any idea?

I leave you in peace after this one!

Many thanks

qim

Airport to the city depending on traffic and tolls and surcharge would be around 90 - 110k max as far as I remember.

Hi lukereg

Thanks, but do you know about the PREPAID system and how much it costs?

Personally, I've used it in Bangkok and it takes the aggro out of the trip as you don't have to pay the driver.

try going to the bluebird website and looking there, although I am fairly certain there are no fixed price taxi rides with them.

http://www.bluebirdgroup.com/

I tried their site and sent them an email, but no reply... There are mentions in various websites about the system but no prices..

see
http://www.toandfromtheairport.com/jakarta.html

By Taxi:
General: Some Taxis (such as Silverbird) can be booked at counters in the arrivals areas and in the main halls of the terminals. Warning! Some cab meters are grossly inaccurate, and you are likely to be approached on arrival by private taxi drivers. Best to stick to a pre-paid official taxi.

You may find you wont get an email straight away, wait awhile.

qim wrote:

Hi lukereg

Thanks, but do you know about the PREPAID system and how much it costs?

Personally, I've used it in Bangkok and it takes the aggro out of the trip as you don't have to pay the driver.

They do have vouchers but the fare is what it says on the meter. So its either prepaid or credit voucher that you will have to pay by the end of the month. Or something like that.
Prepaid system from the airport to the destination is only available in Bali airport, with Bali airport taxi but not Bluebird. Even then , some drivers still expect you to tip them.

Anything else you want to know? :-)

Thank you Sophie

That's all, before I get even more confused...

Many thanks

qim

Blue bird have a very nice Android app that makes it seriously easy to order a taxi.
Express have just introduced on but it's a pain to set up.
I'll give it one last try before I ditch it.

Yea, Bluebird app is pretty good to use in Jkt. It sends you the number of the car when its on the way to your home address. Though if you live in apartment, there's always a great chance someone else would take your taxi when you dont wait right outside the lobby and keep checking. Happened to me more than a couple of times.