Moscow Flights

[phantom]

Planning my second trip, found a flight on aeroflot, for $645 non-stop from New York.  Is Aeroflot a good airline?  How is the service, etc.?  I'll be flying in may or june.

[LAman]

Had no problems on 2 flights on aeroflot...flew from LA- MOW in about 12 hours( love the flights that don't stop in east coast). One flight was half empty and I slept across 3 seats. Another I was helping a pretty young girl  ( and her family) with her immigration and customs forms and ended up helping many others.........
I would be more leery on the russian built planes.

[dbneeley]

Aeroflot is said to vary hugely between the international service and the strictly domestic Russian one. For international flights, they use modern and well serviced equipment--Boeings, I believe. Some domestic routes may have far more indifferent aircraft with many differences in how and when they receive maintenance.

Based on the experiences of many others, I would not worry about transatlantic service on Aeroflot.

You aren't likely to find a flight in May or June that is not pretty full, no matter which airline you choose.

David

[chivo]

Phantom,

Aeroflot has improved greatly over the years both in their service and planes. The reason is, internationally they have to adhere to the same rules as all airlines which is much different (and stricter) than what they do domestically.

They have also had much training to improve their customer service from western companies such as Delta who they partner with in Moscow. I would also check with Delta flying out of New York as they have some good deals and they're not bad either as I have taken that flight many a time. Either way, not to worry, you'll enjoy the flight. 

[Chicagoguy]

Delta also has a non stop flight out of Atlanta if this is more convenient for you.

[phantom]

Thanks for the input, I'll check Delta as well.  I wasn't aware of Aeroflot having different planes for international and domestic, thanks for letting me know on that one.  Heard on the news of the Aeroflots crashing in Russia.  I'll enjoy the flight and relax.

[Gator]

Phantom,

Aeroflot and Delta fly out of SVO.  As an alternative, try DME in Moscow (Domodedovo) and the airlines United and Transaero.  United flies into Dulles.  Transaero flies into New York and Miami, but not every day of the week.  The BEST woman in the world has told me that she prefers Transaero over Delta and Aeroflot.   

http://transaero.ru/en

If you are catching another flight from Moscow to the provinces of Russia, Transaero has several as does S7 airlines (now loosely affiliated with American Airlines's frequent flyer program)

http://www.s7.ru/en/

[Faux Pas]

phantom,

I don't know where you live but another option is Singapore Airlines out of Houston non-stop to Moscow DME FWIW

[Jumper]

Phantom,

Aeroflot and Delta fly out of SVO.  As an alternative, try DME in Moscow (Domodedovo) and the airlines United and Transaero.  United flies into Dulles.  Transaero flies into New York and Miami, but not every day of the week.  The BEST woman in the world has told me that she prefers Transaero over Delta and Aeroflot.   

http://transaero.ru/en

If you are catching another flight from Moscow to the provinces of Russia, Transaero has several as does S7 airlines (now loosely affiliated with American Airlines's frequent flyer program)

http://www.s7.ru/en/

That sounds rather umm....*committed* Gator..
 

[Aloe]

Thanks for the input, I'll check Delta as well.  I wasn't aware of Aeroflot having different planes for international and domestic, thanks for letting me know on that one.  Heard on the news of the Aeroflots crashing in Russia.  I'll enjoy the flight and relax.

Aeroflot uses same planes as all other airlines (boeing, airbus) for international flights and crappy soviet planes for domestic flights. Even flight attendats are less pretty and a lot more pimply on domestic flights Also the crashes were in their daughter company that uses aeroflot logo, not aeroflot itself

[chivo]

Aeroflot and Delta fly out of SVO.  As an alternative, try DME in Moscow (Domodedovo) and the airlines United and Transaero.  United flies into Dulles.  Transaero flies into New York and Miami, but not every day of the week.  The BEST woman in the world has told me that she prefers Transaero over Delta and Aeroflot. 

Transaero uses older planes and the service is OK. I've used them from Moscow (DME). The best thing about them is that for a $100 or so, if there's room in business class you can upgrade by bribing the flight attendant . Maybe that's what your lady did. IMO average airline because of the planes.

If you are catching another flight from Moscow to the provinces of Russia, Transaero has several as does S7 airlines (now loosely affiliated with American Airlines's frequent flyer program)

I would go Transaero between these two.

S7 or Siberia Airlines has maybe the worst accident record inside Russia (probably why they're loosely affiliated ). Like we all say, it's an adventure to come to the FSU. Good luck with that . But hey, no accidents so far this year .

Flying inside Russia is always an adventure, but it's better now.

I don't know where you live but another option is Singapore Airlines out of Houston non-stop to Moscow DME FWIW

Very good airline and option.

[camachinist]

OP, I've only flown SU (Aeroflot) a couple of times but had no issues. Only real negative for me was the tight seat pitch in economy on the A330, at 31". Best deal I can find on SU for May-June is a 5/29-6/12 at 556.90 all-in. SU operates Airbus and Boeing aircraft JFK-SVO, with some being the new A330-300. The particular itinerary I quoted operates on an A330 outbound and a B763 inbound, so a mix of aircraft.

Oh, also, on SU out of IAD (Washington/Dulles) I'm seeing the following:

$576    Aeroflot    IAD to SVO SVO to IAD
                        nonstop                   nonstop
   Thur-Fri, May 5-6                        Thur, May 19
   7:40p-1:35p                            3:05p-5:40p
   9h 55m                                   10h 35m
   Coach                                     Coach

IMO, Transaero is worth a look. Pricing is about par for your time period and they operate 744's JFK-DME-JFK Mon/Wed/Fri.

From my quick read, fares spike up after April 30. I saw fares in the high 300's for March.

I've flown SQ (Singapore) to Asia and found the service and hard product to be excellent, save for my similar note on seat pitch in economy. Their fares are running a bit over 900.00 HOU-DME-HOU for May.

[Gator]

Transaero uses older planes and the service is OK. I've used them from Moscow (DME). The best thing about them is that for a $100 or so, if there's room in business class you can upgrade by bribing the flight attendant . Maybe that's what your lady did. IMO average airline because of the planes.

She has flown them four times now, and each time has managed to get three empty seats together for a good sleep.

Regarding domestic airlines, S7 is far better than those planes with all toilets at the rear with a weak venting system.  What is the deal about not being able to vent a toilet?

[mendeleyev]

My wife and I are divided on this one--I love Aeroflot because it's like entering Russia the moment you board in some respects. They sharecode with Delta so miles earned are good either airline. Mrs M likes Delta because the 13.5 hour non stop flight on Aeroflot is a bit long for her, and she thinks that Delta is somewhat more "modern" in her opinion.

[Anotherkiwi]

...S7 or Siberia Airlines has maybe the worst accident record inside Russia (probably why they're loosely affiliated ). Like we all say, it's an adventure to come to the FSU. Good luck with that . But hey, no accidents so far this year .
...

Where did this come from?  In their entire history they've had three crashes -
4 Oct 2001 - accidentally shot down by a Ukrainian surface to air missile near Sochi;
24 Aug 2004 - blown up by a terrorist bomb near Rostov;
9 July 2006 - brakes failed (?) landing at Irkutsk, overran the runway and crashed through a concrete wall into a building, killing 124 out of the 203 on board.

I've flown S7 internally on both my trips to Russia, and from Moscow to Kyiv and back.  Their website is terrific, customer service is amazing (I had to ask for a refund for one sector - was told it would take three weeks, which was acceptable, and the money was back on my credit card in three days!) and their ground staff speak fluent English.  Modern Boeing and Airbus aircraft, and the flight attendants also speak English (most of them extremely well).  It's my favourite airline.

I'll also give a plug for a new low-cost carrier - Avianova (started about October 2009).  I heard about this one on another forum, and their prices are so low I thought I'd give them a try.  They use one-class Irish-registered A320s (ex Aer Lingus perhaps?), with beautifully comfortable seats and the biggest legroom I've ever had on a plane.  There's always an English-speaking person available to help at check-in, and at least one flight attendant on each plane speaks fluent English (I suspect that most, if not all, speak English, but I only spoke to a couple).  They have a very useful network, based at SVO.  Planes weren't always on time, but that's something you factor in for any airline these days.  On domestic flights it's perhaps not quite so vital, unless it's the last day of your trip.

[phantom]

Thanks for the additional info.  Faux Pas, I live 80 south of Detroit.  Found one flight on BA, from Chicago to Moscow, first stop is London, then on to Moscow.  7-8 flight to London, then a 20 hour or so layover, then on to Moscow.  over a grand on that flight.

[chivo]

Phantom,

Im sure you'll get more responses, but I'm not sure why it's so diificult for you to book a flight. Delta has a flight from DTW to JFK that will connect to SVOII non-stop for under $1000 in May with a 3-4 hour layover in JFK. You might be able to find another airline to get to JFK for less. 

Try booking buddy for the best fare from Detroit to JFK and maybe you can lower your price a little more. Decent, comfortable airline for the trip.

[BC]

try travelpapa.com

Never booked with them but the prices look quite allright.

[Chicagoguy]

Do you really want a 20 hour layover ?

I usually try Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. Then just to be sure I go directly to several airlines own web pages. I am going on April 29 with less than a 2 hour layover. My wife had same flight on 2/16 with no problems.

[Faux Pas]

Thanks for the additional info.  Faux Pas, I live 80 south of Detroit.  Found one flight on BA, from Chicago to Moscow, first stop is London, then on to Moscow.  7-8 flight to London, then a 20 hour or so layover, then on to Moscow.  over a grand on that flight.

I'm with Chiguy, I think you could do a lot better than that. I wouldn't personally schedule a 20 hour layover unless it was a city I wanted to explore.

Personally, going to Russia I make a point to fly into DME unless the price is just too prohibitive. You can take the train or bus into the city to look around or hang out at the airport. Arrivals from the US are in the mid-morning to early afternoon and the departures to Siberia at later that night. Usually 10-12 hours layover at the most. SVO's doesn't generally work on that premise with domestic flights most all day.

Singapore Air is normally just a but more expensive but the flight is head and shoulders above the rest. To Moscow I've flown AA, KLM (Northwestern), Delta and Singapore. No question that currently I'd pay 1-200 more for Singapore. It's usually not that the Singapore flight from Houston is more expensive. I'm relatively close to but it's (for me) flying out of the way to get there. It's difficult flying into IAH from one state over.

[LAman]

I would go with bookingbuddy also while in site I always check tripadvisor first, since it checks many of the well known sites to get yoy lowest fare. For mid May from Detroit to MOW is ~$836.
I am lucky, I get fares on aeroflot from LA-MOW at ~$736 with a non-stop service.

[Chicagoguy]

Also, be careful on the return trip because many airlines leave at ungodly early times in the morning. Do you really want to get up at 3:00 am to catch a flight ?

[phantom]

Getting up at 3:00 am to catch a flight is not good.  Booked the flight for June 20, instead of May, as I couldn't do it then.  Leaving from DTW to JFK, then non-stop to SVO.  Returning on the 28th.

[Rutherford]

Getting up at 3:00 am to catch a flight is not good.  Booked the flight for June 20, instead of May, as I couldn't do it then.  Leaving from DTW to JFK, then non-stop to SVO.  Returning on the 28th.

SVO is the worst airport I have been in , would avoid it at all cost , especially  since  Domodedovo  is there and it's nice and clean

[chivo]

SVO is alright and the new terminal is quite nice. Not sure when the last time you were there, but it's not bad at all with some of the changes they've made. Maybe you haven't heard of some of the problems that have happened at DME lately and I'm not just talking about the terrorist attack. And it's no cleaner than SVO, just newer.

He's got a good valued flight and there shouldn't be any problems as SVO is clean, very easy to navigate, change money, and get to any point in and around Moscow and go from there. I use SVO for the majority of my trips and have absolutely no problems doing so. Neither will he.