JFK to Moscow flight prices out of sight for summer!

[Bruce]

http://www.lowestfare.com

http://clarkhoward.com/travel/tips/todays_tip.html from Atlanta area

http://www.gotorussia.com

http://www.russiahouse.net

http://www.cheapticketlinks.com/

http://www.kayak.com

http://www.orbitz.com

http://www.delta.com

http://www.scopetravel.com/ for Ukraine travel

The above are some of the recommended sites guys have used to find flights or at least price them that have previously been recommended on other boards.  The best price I have so far been quoted is from Russian National Group with a whopping $850 plus taxes roundtrip on Aeroflot for a mid / later June trip with a first week of July return.  Delta is $1140 or so - and forget about using frequent flyer miles.   "These prices are so high they are insane!"  By the way, I am only looking for direct flights.  I am running out of options.  Any advice out there as I continue to search for a booking???

[ConnerVT]

Tell me about it!  I just dropped almost $2400 for my wife, son, and I from JFK to SVO.  That doesn't include the $300+ to get to JFK, plus another $100+ for my visa.

Almost all airlines use June 1 as the date that the summer fares begin.  Aeroflot is the exception, as their rates don't rise until June 15,  We decided to pull our son from school a week before it finishes for the summer, to save ourselves about $1000.

Here is an interesting air fare search engine I found:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/

[Bruce]

An excellent site also.  Still, fares remain sky high.

[Bruce]

 I just payed almost $2,471.0 for two to Moscow from New York and back on Delta, although the wife is flying business class on her way back since I bought her an upgradeable ticket and am using some miles (25,000) to upgrade her.  She is staying a couple of weeks longer than I.  This is the most I have ever payed for this flight - but since we want to celebrate her father's birthday and my wife's birthday in Russia, we had to fly peak season!  It may have been possible to get a cheaper ticket a month or so before the travel date, but I would run the risk of being shut out.  So, I did not want to take any chances this year and bit the bullet!  I hope you guys have better luck purchasing tickets this summer than what I just went through.  Incidentally, my ticket was $1100 with all taxes and fees on Delta direct and hers was $1371 since it was upgraded to business class on the way home.  The flights are between June 18 and July 18.

[Vaughn]

Bruce and ConnerVT,

  A buddy in New England recommended an agency in Lynn, MA for tickets, but it seems you've both already locked in, and I wish you all good luck on your respective journeys.

For future reference then,

http://www.freewindtravel.com/freewind/html/about.htm








 

[Turboguy]

When you are going if you have a little flexability on dates of travel you may find a big differnce.   After reading this post I thought that is about the time i will be going back so I went to Orbitz and picked a date for a Pittsburgh Moscow trip and came up 1287.00.   I looked at a calender and moved my departrue day ahead one day to Tuesday and it dropped to $ 1061.00 

[ConnerVT]

The link I posted above is great for finding things like that out.  Use the best fare for a one month period choice, and you can pick up a few things about pricing deals...

[Bruce]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I already purchased.  In any event I was locked in for dates due to birthdays.  Over the long term a few hundred here or there is insignificant in the great scheme of things. 

Oh, one other link that is helpful for internal Russian flights and for getting your girl a ticket within Russia:

http://avia.infinity.ru/partner/infinitynewen/common/search.asp?command=showSearchResult

The Russian link would have been cheaper for me to buy her a ticket out of Russia but I decided i wanted her to go business class alone, so I did unfortunately pay.  In any event, this link now has just about all the websites a guy in North America would probably search.  Bruno could probably add a few more North American and a bunch of European ones at a later date.

[Turboguy]

Wow, I just used that infiity link and plugged in a round trip flight on the same flight dates I searched before except I did Moscow to Pittsburgh instead of Pittsburgh to moscow and came up with a $ 597.00  round trip ticket.  

I am not sure If I am missing something but that is a heck of a price for peak season.

 

[Bruce]

They would have been slightly better for me - but I believe you have to pick up the tickets in Russia.  I use them as a general source for what Russians would pay for flights and as a point of reference / contact in the event I make an internal flight.  They are a good possibility for a guy who has a girl in Russia and want a ticket purchased to meet him in Sochi etc. when the guy is coming from Europe / USA etc.

[jb]

Wow, I just used that infiity link and plugged in a round trip flight on the same flight dates I searched before except I did Moscow to Pittsburgh instead of Pittsburgh to moscow and came up with a $ 597.00  round trip ticket.

Russian prices are always a lot lower than what we pay.  Airfares, especially local carriers like Aeroflot, are based on local economy.  They know that if they charged full fare those airplanes would leave empty, so they lower the price for R/T SVO-JFK and return, compared to JFK-SVO ,etc., they count on the return trip being full of foreigners paying full price to make up the difference.

This is the good news, usually, when you finally buy a ticket for your bride when she makes the trip.

[Turboguy]

Right after I made my post I went back to that site and entered the same travel dates but reversed the trip to a round trip from Pittsburgh to Moscow and the price went up to $ 880.00, which is still good but a lot higher so i think JB is right.   Even the airlines changed totally.   The cheapest on from Moscow to Pittsburgh was Czech air.  Going the other way they were using Aeroflot

While we are on this topic I have a lot of time before I reach this point but when my gal gets her visa I want to fly over about the time she does her interview and then fly back with her.   Anyone have any good suggestions on the best way to do a round trip flight from the USA to Russa and another ticket from Russia to the USA and ending up on the same flights and hopefully getting a half descent price?

 

[jb]

Turboguy,

About the only sure way to do what you are suggesting is to allow plenty of time for the visa to be delivered after the interview.  Moscow Embassy uses DHL and it *usually* takes 3-5 business days for the lady to have the visa in her hand after the interview.  Doing what you suggest will probably be possible, but don't cut the time factor too slim.  I'd allow for 8-10 days to be one the safe side before you advance purchase tickets for her.  Probably the best bet would be for you guys to pick a travel date, and let her deal with a local Travel Agency for a booking that is changable in case the visa doesn't show up on the date you anticipate.

As the old saying goes, "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip".  This is doubly true in Russia.

[Todd]

In answer to Turboguy's question about going over and returning with his fiance, one thing that I did notice is that it is much more economical to buy a round trip ticket than it is to just buy a one-way ticket for your fiance.  Another couple of benefits of a RT ticket is the fact that you won't have as many security checks AND it might make the parents feel better knowing that she has a return ticket...just in case.  (Recently, there have been a great deal of sensational "news" programs in Russia about the beautiful young Russian woman being held virtually captive by the evil Westerner.)