Looking For A Cheap Ticket To Dneprpetrovsk!

[Preston]

We are planning to go to Ukraine this coming May and staying until July! Just kind of curios on what travel agents you guys use or web sites! I live in Idaho and will be flying out of Boise! I found one ticket for $1'600.00 roundtrip but they had us connecting in Munich and the time they give us was not very much especialy on the way back through costums! Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Turboguy]

My favorite is www.Kayak.com

[Turboguy]

I was here looking for posts about air travel and remembered one from the past.  I am strongly considering a trip to Kiev and Donetsk in about two weeks.   Getting to Kiev is not hard but the other part was giving me some problems.   The recommendation on the old post was www.aerosvit.com    They do New York city to most anyplace in the Ukriane.  You should be able to get a good fare to JFK. 

Just for general info, I punched in Kiev to Dontesk for Dec 10-14 and got a fare of $ 120.00 which I was quite happy with.   I will play around later and see what I can get for JFK to Donetsk. 

[groovlstk]

I've used Russia House http://www.russiahouse.net/ for my trips to Ukraine

[Turboguy]

I have also used Russia House and would recommend them.  They are really good if you need something special.  The time I used them was when I needed a round trip ticket of me from the USA to Russia and a Round Trip ticket for my fiancee from Russia with the seats together.  I did not think I could do that on a web site very easy and Barbara was great.   They did forget to have the car I arranged through them at the airport to pick me up but did make a prompt refund and I think that was an exception.   They are also good for other travel arrangements and visa registrtation if you are staying in an apartment.

I do think you might get a cheaper fare at kayak

[Michelangelo]

Hi Preston--I went to Dnepr last month and I had a $650 fare to Frankfurt and a separate ticket on a local Dnepr carrier for $350.  Still a lot, but somewhat cheaper, depending on what it costs you to get to Frrankfurt.  But mine was two flights, which was nice, and I had 3 hours in Frankfurt, which was comfortable.

[Michelangelo]

Here is by far the best travel site I have found:

http://www.mobissimo.com/search_airfare.php

It links to about 50 airlines and travel agencies and discounters.

I sometimes find flights at half the price I do other places.

[Turboguy]

Well since I am likely to be buying tickets to Kiev and Donetsk tomorrow as soon as I get a clarification on dates from Elena I did a little side by side comparison between my favorite site, Kayak and Michaelangelos favorite,  Mobissimo   This was my results.

Best fare on Kayak  $ 725.00 flying KLM  departing at 2:15 Dec 6th   Very long return.

Best fare on Mobissimo   $ 679.00  flying, multiple, they won't tell me.  Departing, they won't tell me.  Maybe there would be more info if I booked the ticket.  I sorta like to know before.   I will search there again tomorrow when I hope to book.

I have also noticed that there are always a lot of changes day to day.  When I searched Kayak yesterday I was coming up with completley different airlines.  I believe AirFrance was the cheap on yesterday.  Also the schedles change.   Yesterday I was able to fly over with about 15 hours each way or less.  Today the return they quoted was 32 hours. 

My suggestion to anyone going anywhere.  If you can plan ahead, search air travel sites for a couple of weeks.   Look at both the trip time and price.  After a few weeks you will know what is good and the next time one pops up grab it.   Check different sites.  One will be cheaper one day and another the next.   Also changing your trip by one day may make a major change in pricing.

 

[Preston]

Thanks you all for the info. I added all the web sites ti my favorite and going to start searching a little! Like I said the best I could so far was Austrian Airlines web sight and it was $1,523.76 Round trip! I'll try these other web sites and see what I come up with! Like I said I still have a couple of months before I could purchase a ticket! Thanks again guys for the help!

Preston

[Turboguy]

Take into account with Austrian Airlines you will likely have to spend a night in Vienna on your return and you may want to factor that in.  

I have flown them to Ukraine a number of times and I will just hope you have better luck then I did. 

 

[Admin]

Take into account with Austrian Airlines you will likely have to spend a night in Vienna on your return and you may want to factor that in.

I have flown them to Ukraine a number of times and I will just hope you have better luck then I did.

Austrian is my favorite airline into and out of Kyiv. Yes, it is true that their flights to Vienna (return) are normally too late to link up with any further flights coming to the US, but there are far worse places to overnight than Vienna.

Austrian used to be - along with Swiss Air - partners with Delta - but no longer. Now they are both a part of the United/Lufthansa alliance - but they seem to be pretty stingy about the seats they make available to UA, whereas they were very easy to get with Delta.

Anyway, you will find Austrian hard to beat for convenience and service.

- Dan

[groovlstk]

I'd also recommend Austrian, and if you have to do the 1-day layover in  Vienna, take advantage of it! Austrian will set you up in a 3-star  hotel near the aiport and provide ground transport to and from your  hotel.

However, I recommend taking the metro to the city center when you  arrive in the afternoon, do some sightseeing. Then make your way back  to the airport and grab a taxi to your hotel. On my first trip I made  the mistake of going directly to my hotel. After getting settled I  wanted to do some sightseeing, but at the front desk I was disappointed  to find that a taxi to the city center was 70 euros

My one complaint about Austrian is that for some reason my fare  classification entitles me to only 1/2 miles on my frequent flyer  program.

[Turboguy]

If you have that layover there are some hotels reservation services in the terminal that can get you a good rate and provide a car and driver.   On my trip a year ago I stayed right down town and it was worth the little extra cost.   On the first trip with a layover European Connections arraged the hotel and we had to walk over a mile to eat.

I have flown them 3 times.   The first time I was stranded in Washington DC for three days.  I can see a day but three days is a long time.    The second time my flight never went but I got back somehow.  I forget the details.   The third, time they lost my bags worse then they had ever been lost.  I had to wonder around downtown Vienna buying enough to get through the night.   They could not find the bags in the area or on their computer.   Finally three weeks later they got delivered to my house.

[bbernard]

I am flying Aerosvit from JFK to Kyiv to Donetsk on Dec.25th.-Jan.4th! Price for roundtrips tickets bought direct through Aerosvit.com 1 Adult w/taxes $978.00 1 Child w/taxes 879.00

JetBlue.com from Fort Myers, FL to JFK. Roundtrip 2 tickets with taxes $405.00!

Purchased November 4th o

Adult $1180.50

Child $1081.50

These represent the best price I could find for traveling to Donetsk over the holidays by at least $175.00 per ticket. I spent six days shopping and in addition to the sites listed above I tried http://www.orbitz.com and variuos airlines websites.

I always price booking each leg indivually, together or in this case one leg individual and two legs together.

bbernard

 

 

[jb]

bbernard,

I would never advise booking seperate legs of a trip.  If anything  were to happen to delay your flight to the next connection, you would  be on your own to find a way on to your next stop, or worse, to find  lodging for an unexpected layover.  If you book everything with  one ticket, and they screw up, they are responsible to figure it  out.  Because of a screwup by Aeroflot I once got a two day, 5  Star vacation, with meals.  Had I booked the trip as seperate  flights I'd have been camped out for two days at the airport trying to  sleep in those hard and uncomfortable chairs.  Likewise, if your  baggage goes adrift, you need one airline to complain to, if there are  more than one, they will always point the finger to the other carrier.

[bbernard]

JB

I hear ya! I am a quite seasoned traveller (although not to FSU) and know all about delays and unexpected layovers that is why my seperate leg is here in the states and not in Ukraine! The card I purchase all of my travel arrangements with is issued by my credit union. This card has a travel benefit that I have only seen offered by my credit union. Anyway it has travel protection insurance included which will pay 50% up to $200.00 for hotel stays and up to a maximum of $75.00 "change of flight  fee" due to flight cancellations or delays but it will only cover these expenses with in the 48 contiguous states. On my last trip I took to Ukraine I took the very same route with the same carriers and I ended up staying in New York City overnight due to late arrival of Aerosvit! JetBlue changed my flight free of charge for the next day and I dished $168.00 for a room at the hotel. When I returned home I had to open a claim with AIG! They required I fax a copy of the hotel bill and the Aerosvit boarding pass for flight number and proof of travel. The check for the price of the hotel was in my hands in 8 days.

As for lost baggage! When I booked a flight through Kayak.com in July they sold me an international flight with two carriers that didn't even have baggage agreements! I had to retriev my luggage and go through security three times each way!:( In any event I would have been in the same boat that you described I could avoid purchasing the tickets the way you suggested!!!

bbernard

[acrzybear]

The company I've used to fly to Europe and Odessa is http://www.atlanticfellowship.com

They were very helpful and even saved me about $100.00, I flew on Austrian and it was pleasant.

[Preston]

Thanks for all the info. guys! Yeah I've flown Austrian Airlines before and know all about the layover in Vienna! I also flown Turkish Airlines into Simferopol with a lay over in Istanbul Turkey! What a great layover there had a tour giude take me out into the city and had a great time!

[Admin]

Thanks for all the info. guys! Yeah I've flown Austrian Airlines before and know all about the layover in Vienna! I also flown Turkish Airlines into Simferopol with a lay over in Istanbul Turkey! What a great layover there had a tour giude take me out into the city and had a great time!

In fact, Delta has a flight into/from Istanbul, hence, it is possible to fly Turkish Airways from Kyiv to Istanbul and then connect to a Delta flight back to the US.

Having flown Turkish Airways on long international flights, I can vouch for them as being a very good airline, albeit not one that most Americans know anything about.

Just FYI

- Dan

[BC]

Flew quite often Turkish.. quite ok even on the internal flights.  Lots of good flights to various RU cities from Istanbul also.

Alitalia also has a DC to Milan flight, usually codeshared with Delta. From Milan you can get to many eastern cities.

[Preston]

My flight from JFK to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines was enjoyable! Accept for the flight back when I had to leave my wife in Simferopol after a great 2 weeks in Yalta that summer! That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do! That flight back home was long! But my 2nd time back over was fun as well with Austrian Airlines but my flight was late from JFK to Vienna so had to stay the night! That was in the middle of Dec.! I would much rather fly turkish as Turkey was very interesting and alot of history there! But I can't find any flights with them to Dnepropetrovsk!

[al-c]

I hace consistently found my best fares to Russia on www.priceline.com.

Just be careful to not get Siberia Air because it is awful.  The planes are small and cramped, the front of the planes are hotter than hell, the back of the planes are a frozen abyss, and the whole plane and especially the bathtroom are filthy.  Besides, I get an impresson that the planes are old and they skimp on maintenance, so safety is a concern.

You can usually upgrade to Aeroflot for a nominal amount of money, usually $25.00 or so.

 

[Preston]

Thanks for the info. al

Had no idea there was an Siberian Airlines! Safety is a big thing with as far as fling! It makes you wonder about the maintance that is done when you fly with an international airlines that is linked to a 3rd world country!