This Review of Garuda Business Class, 777-300ER is from my husband's recent flight from Bali, Indonesia to Tokyo, Narita, about a 7 hour flight. See all of our business class airlines reviews, by airline. Traveling to Bali? See our posts tagged Bali. I booked my husband's award flight with 40,000 Delta miles.
Garuda Business Class Cabin and Seat Selection
Garuda Business Class has 42 business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, with a small business class cabin of 10 seats (rows 6-8) right located right after the first class cabin, and a second larger business class cabin of 7 rows (rows 9-16; there isn't a 13th row, I supposed due to superstition over this being an unlucky number) located after the galley and lavatories and before the economy class cabin.
For a solo traveler, the most desirable seats are the A and K seats that are close to the window, with the table by the aisle, and as such are more private. The best of these seats are 6A and 6K, as they are in the mini business class cabin right behind first class, and not by the galleys or lavatories. 11A, 11K, 14A and 14K would also be good solo seats, if 6A and 6K are already taken.
For couples, the best seats are 6E and 6F, in the mini cabin; otherwise, if those are taken, 11E/11F and 14E/14F would also be good seats.
Garuda 777-300ER Business Class Seat Map, Image courtesy of SeatGuru
Garuda Business Class Service
I sat for about five minutes before a flight attendant offered me a choice of beverage. I was not
interested in juice, so I opted for a glass of water, and I was also brought a hand towel. Although every seat
was full in business class, the service was cheerful and helpful. Overall, the service was pretty good
considering the overnight flight and full business class cabin.
Garuda Business Class Seat
I am about six feet, four inches tall, and the bane of my travel existence is seats on airplanes that are
contoured to fit someone much smaller than I am. This seat was curved in all the wrong places for me.
There was barely enough legroom. My feet slipped into a small compartment in front of me. The seat
size was narrow, but otherwise ok. The seating compartment itself is rather nice, and gives a feeling of
some privacy, with a narrow entrance (about 12 inches wide) to the aisle.
Garuda Business Class Menus and Food
Because the departure time was 1am, I did not eat on the flight until after I woke up. The flight
attendants asked if we wished to be woken for breakfast, and I said yes. Here were the menus for my flight:
Unfortunately, upon being wakened, I was informed that due to turbulence near Japan I had been wakened three hours prior to
landing. In retrospect, this seemed odd since there was no turbulence at all for the last 1-2 hours prior to landing, but there was turbulence when breakfast was served.
I started with orange juice and some rolls, which were not very fresh.
I then had some breakfast cereal and fruit, which was much better.
The omelette, with sausage and potatoes, was rather good, although the omelette was a tad oily.
Garuda Business Class IFE
Garuda IFE had a reasonable selection, with about 50-60 Hollywood films, and a couple dozen Asian
films. While the film choices were pretty good, the headphones seemed rather cheap, but were
serviceable. I watched the Shape of Water, which did seem overrated.
Garuda Business Class Bed and Sleep Quality
My flight departed at 1am local time, so I was mostly interested in getting a good night’s sleep. The flatbed was indeed flat, but was not quite long enough for me to lie straight, although it was
otherwise relatively comfortable.
The Verdict
Garuda Business Class was a decent business class hard product, although I’m sure it feels a bit more luxurious for
someone who is not as tall as I. Despite that, the compartment afforded some privacy, and the flatbed
did allow me to get some good hours of sleep. I was glad I was in seat 6A, in the mini cabin, which was very quiet, with only 10 seats, and recommend selecting this seat if available.
I can't say I was impressed by the catering/food on board, and do wish I hadn't been woken up so early, since there seemed to have been ample time without turbulence prior to landing. I was also surprised that there was no amenity kit or sleep mask offered.
If you've flown Garuda Business Class recently, what was your experience?
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My wife and I flew Garuda Business Class Narita – Bali on this plane last year. It was a daytime flight and we enjoyed our experience. The quality of service and food for me personally was comparable to CX and JAL Business Class which I have flown multiple times.
Glad to see a Garuda business class review. The blogging world has been all over their first class, but everyones left this out. Thanks for the review.
As 747always mentions Garuda 1st is a widely acclaimed product. I certainly expect that the ground experience for business class was not nearly as coddled, but otherwise how did it compare to Garuda 1st?