Transiting via Moscow

[msmob]

Used Domodedovo Airport - south of Moscow

Found a GREAT Guest house - run by Andrei - on booking.com "Miya Domodedova"   For c. 40 USD / night you get a double room, en-suite, with free wifi, a fridge, sofa, good sized desk - plenty of plug sockets and best of all - free courtesy transport to and from the Guest house

Thoroughly recommended - will post photos tomorrow ..www.miya-hotel.ru

Andrey, speaks a little English, better French    It helps if you have a Russian speaking friend to describe where you are waiting at pedestrian exit 2 and he will try to find you !

He is building the place himself and it is work in progress - bit the rooms are perfect ..    If you need a rest - before going onwards - you can't go wrong


Now.. if only the Russians could sort out 2 hour waits at passport control

[LAman]

Andrey, speaks a little English, better French    It helps if you have a Russian speaking friend to describe where you are waiting at pedestrian exit 2 and he will try to find you !

Ahhhhh, the proverbial bottleneck, trying to find the 'taxi' outside Domodedovo amidst 100's of cars!!! Lot of luck with that!!!

[LAman]

Now.. if only the Russians could sort out 2 hour waits at passport control

Actually they did, its called Sheremetyevo (SVO)!!!! Last time in and out in 10 minutes.

[msmob]

Actually they did, its called Sheremetyevo (SVO)!!!! Last time in and out in 10 minutes.

I remember waiting the same time at SVO ... I had always preferred DME ...

[LAman]

I remember waiting the same time at SVO ... I had always preferred DME ...

If you would kindly speak to anyone who lives there...... knows the difference in passport control wait times.

[Anotherkiwi]

Although I will admit I didn't use SVO as an international airport, the nonsense I had to suffer at the domestic terminal (on more than one occasion) put me off the airport as a whole.  I'm sure it has changed for the better since I was last there, but it's the only airport I've ever been to where the one disabled toilet I saw was down a long flight of stairs - with no wheelchair access! 

I would go with DME in a heartbeat.  Although I had to wait half an hour for luggage to come through on my first trip, Customs and Immigration never took more than a few minutes, either arriving or departing.  For me, it's great that the domestic and international areas are in the same building - it makes life a lot easier if you have to change from one to the other.  The downside for SVO when I was there was the difficulty in transferring between the domestic terminal and the AeroExpress (both ways).  Finding the transfer bus took at least 10 minutes, and then there was a 20 minute ride all around the perimeter of the airport.  At DME it's less than a five minute walk from either set of luggage carousels.

Kyiv was another story entirely - if I hadn't followed the suggestion of the guy sitting next to me to use the Diplomatic lane (as a foreigner, he thought I would get away with it by acting all surprised and innocent if questioned - which I wasn't!), I feel like I would STILL be waiting to be processed.  And the outward trip was a nightmare which I've described in a previous post - watching a family with 10 children (aged 2 to 20-something) take what seemed like an hour to get through Passport control - and still having to wait another 30 minutes before my turn. 

[msmob]

AK, the days of a bus / taxi ride to the old Domestic terminal D across the perimeter are long gone ... THANK GOD.... SVO was a NIGHTMARE - transiting and passport control


LaMan, I seriously doubt most locals living here transit Moscow airports as often as I do and I have NEVER had such an issue at DME, before.

I, normally, prefer transiting via Moscow - as the passport control process has normally been preferable to the regional experience.

The issue on Wednesday evening was a bottle-neck of arrivals - I knew it would be a problem when we were in a holding pattern for 20 minutes before landing

[Yes]

DME is the worst and oldest (renovated) of the 3 major airports in Moscow all around (SVO, DME, VKO). DME is also the furthest from the city center. There was a time when it was the best, but not now.

I haven't had an issue with passport control at SVO in 10 years and it takes no more than 5-10 minutes to get through. VKO processing time is even faster, and this is whether one is coming or going.

What SVO has become though, is a hub for passengers transferring to other countries, e.g., Eastern Europe.

[msmob]

SVO is normally much more expensive for onward flights to  Sochi - and Vnukovo doesn't offer the choice of onward flights - but it is where Turkish go to ..

IF transiting DME seems to offer more choices of accommodation and is much easier to navigate - as the Intl and domestic terminals are close by.  SVO is massive.

On Wednesday night, the main issue was that the dedicated passport control zone for BL and RU citizens 'overloaded'  - so they joined the 'other nations' passport control points. 

[Anotherkiwi]

AK, the days of a bus / taxi ride to the old Domestic terminal D across the perimeter are long gone ... THANK GOD.... SVO was a NIGHTMARE - transiting and passport control

That's great to hear! 

LaMan, I seriously doubt most locals living here transit Moscow airports as often as I do and I have NEVER had such an issue at DME, before.

I, normally, prefer transiting via Moscow - as the passport control process has normally been preferable to the regional experience.

The issue on Wednesday evening was a bottle-neck of arrivals - I knew it would be a problem when we were in a holding pattern for 20 minutes before landing

DME is the worst and oldest (renovated) of the 3 major airports in Moscow all around (SVO, DME, VKO). DME is also the furthest from the city center. There was a time when it was the best, but not now.

I haven't had an issue with passport control at SVO in 10 years and it takes no more than 5-10 minutes to get through. VKO processing time is even faster, and this is whether one is coming or going.

What SVO has become though, is a hub for passengers transferring to other countries, e.g., Eastern Europe.

What you guys in Europe and North America don't realise is that there is no choice of airport from my corner of the world.  Any flight originating from Auckland, whether it's Thai, Cathay Pacific or Emirates, lands at DME.  As far as I know, the only services from East Asia to SVO are by Aeroflot from Hong Kong, Korean Air from Seoul and Air China from Beijing.

DME is also the Moscow hub for S7 (formerly Siberian) Airlines, the company which I consider to be by far the best Russian airline on which I travelled.

[msmob]

You can also fly to from SVO from Bangkok (BKK) with Aeroflot on a Dreamliner.

But no alcohol is served.(

[Anotherkiwi]

You can also fly to from SVO from Bangkok (BKK) with Aeroflot on a Dreamliner.

But no alcohol is served.

Perfect! 

[ML]

You can also fly to from SVO from Bangkok (BKK) with Aeroflot on a Dreamliner.

But no alcohol is served.(

Except to cockpit crew.