Hello to all,
As many of you already know, if you are travelling to Ukraine, finding a very nice and cheap (I pay $40 a night for a nice Americanized 1st floor apartment that has heat, air, kitchen, comfy bed, and great location it city center of Kharkov) apartment in the major Ukraine cities is easy IF YOU DO EXTENSIVE RESEARCH. As for Airfare, well that is another story. In the airfare category, there is no one right answer. I have been to Ukraine several times, and have used a different booking agency for air each time. Booking air also involves a bit of luck as fares and added flights change every day and even every hour, especially if it is a holiday period. I have seen fares from $500 to $5000 on almost EVERY site out there, so if you do not do the research, you can get screwed.
Anyway, the other variables depend on what city you are travelling from and to. For me, I come from Chicago, which has many more flights than most cities, however many flights with better fares go thru JFK (yes this airport sucks). The more ideal flights go direct from USA (Chicago, DC or NY) to Germany and then Kiev. Unfortunately, when you have Kharkov as the final destination, this can add quote a bit to the final price of your ticket. With all that said, I have listed the VERY BEST sites that I have used, but keep in mind that anyone of these sites can have awefull prices at any given moment, however the ones that I have included at the top of the list have been most consistent at good pricing. The final key point is the day and time that you are leaving and returning. Keep in mind that changing your flight time by just one day can change the price of your air ticket by hundreds of dollars, literally.
So here's the links.....Best of luck.....
Note: Do not be fooled by the agency name or web address, because most of these agencies book to both Ukraine and Russia and all FSU countries. Also, you can always try airlines like Lufthansa directly, however I have found that booking with the wholesale agencies gives you MANY MORE options and overall better pricing, even on the same airlines that you try to book the same flights directly with the airline. I know it doesn't make sense, but the airlines often lag behind the wholesalers in pricing, and remember the wholesalers buy bulk cheap fares in high volume directly from the airlines, thus can offer better pricing than an airline trying to sell you one ticket themselves. I will post in another thread, as many new board readers do not dive deep into all the messages...
As mentioned, for the BEST airfares, search ALL of the links below.
Link #1 usually beats ALL the rest in most cases, but not always.
And, also for Link #1, call them directly for the VERY LATEST pricing.
1)
www.gotorussia.net/airline_tickets.htm2)
www.airfare.com/3)
www.bookingwiz.com/default.asp4) airfare.ultimatefares.com/air/ui/search.aspx
5)
www.globe-travels.com/6)
www.smartfares.com/7)
www.bookingbuddy.com www.travelgrove.com/
