Get into town
To get to the city, the easiest option is to contact your hotel to pick you up in the airport, as many hotels in Jakarta provide free airport transfers. Getting a taxi is a little more complicated:
If you book from the counters right outside Customs, you'll get a nice car, jump to the head of the queue and pay around Rp 175,000 for a trip to the Golden Triangle. These counters can also sell you SIM cards and refills (pulsa).
If you head past the counters, you'll get to the ordinary taxi ranks — and encounter many touts and baggage carriers, these individuals should be ignored and will probably need waving off (just wave your hand and shake your head). Silver Bird is a very reliable operator with good drivers and plush Mercedes cabs, but pricier than the rest at around Rp 120,000 to the Golden Triangle. Ekspress Taxi has smaller but still nice air-conditioned Toyota Vios cars, and would cost you around Rp 90,000. Other operators will charge you in the vicinity of Rp 70,000-90,000. All taxis use meters (argo), passengers are responsible for paying roadway tolls, prices are posted at the toll booths and a receipt is given. The airport has a docket system for payment of an airport surcharge in addition to the normal taxi metered charge. It is detailed on the docket and is determined by destination distance. You are asked for your destination when arriving at the taxi rank and the docket is issued accordingly when you are assigned a taxi. If you do not make it clear that you require a taxi you may not be assigned one. Usually, taxi staff are uniformed. If someone offers you a taxi and they are not wearing the same uniform as the taxi company drivers then you are well advised to ignore them.
Xtrans, ☎+62 21 5296-2255, +62 21 5296-4477. Provides reliable airport shuttle service from Soekarno Hatta airport to major hotels in Sudirman and Thamrin Street in Jakarta and Bumi Xtrans in Cihampelas Street in Bandung. Cost: US$3.30/adult and US$2.20/child. Schedule: once every hour from 5AM-10PM. Xtrans booth are available at Terminal IA, IB, IC and IIE.
Jakarta Airport Transfer, Jl Jembatan Tiga Raya 5AH, Jakarta Utara, ☎ +62 21 9062 2754 (Jakarta) (Info@jakartaairporttransfer.com). Door to door transportion to Jakarta city and neighbouring cities. Whole day car hire is available in Jakarta and Bandung with driver if required. Airport transfers provide options of stopovers at Puncak, Bogor, Cirebon with a choice of economy (7 seater) or jumbo vehicle (15 seater). Online reservation and instant confirmation. A daily Bandung Express is a more private though more expensive option for travellers to Bandung with pricing from Rp 300,000/passenger. edit
An economical alternative is the frequent DAMRI shuttle buses (15 min to 40 min between buses, depending on route and time) which connect to numerous Jakarta destinations; Gambir (the most appropriate for those going to Jalan Jaksa area), Rawamangun, Blok M, Tanjung Priok, Kampung Rambutan (for Depok), Pasar Minggu, Lebak Bulus and Kemayoran (Rp 20,000) as well as directly to the neighboring cities of Bekasi, Serang (Rp 30,000), Bogor and Cikarang (Rp 35,000). The bus service from the airport operates until midnight (despite what taxi touts may say to you). It is reliable, comfortable and airconditioned. You can get the tickets in the many counters after the airport exit.
If arriving by an international flight at Terminal 2, head to the left after going out of the building until you see DAMRI ticket booths and bus stops. In terminal 3, the bus stop is in front of it just behind taxi ranks. Note that DAMRI service to the airport shuts down much earlier - for example, the bus from Gambir operates from 3.30am to 7.30pm. From Terminal 1 (domestic), just cross the taxi stop, the bus stop is on the other side of the road (signs read Shelter Bus).