Upcoming trip to Kyiv

[Falstaff1485]

The 8 month anniversary of my right below knee amputation approaches and we're preparing for our first trip away since then.

We're going to Kyiv, Ukraine. My wife comes from there originally and we're off to see family and friends. Because of my illness, we haven't been for 18 months and everyone's dying to see us. Thankfully the long term weather forecast predicts a temperature of plus 10 when we arrive. It's been ver icy recently and ice & snow are no good for peglegs.

We're flying with Austrian Airlines as we have done a few times before; it means changing at Vienna, but the fare is about £100 cheaper than Ukraine International and almost £200 cheeper than BA. The level of care and service has always been very good. As soon as we booked the flight, I phoned them and told them that I was an amputee; they've arranged a wheelchair at Heathrow, Vienna and Borispol airports. For those of you who know Heathrow Terminal 2, it can be a hell of a long way from Check-in to plane.

Irina tells me that the Ukrainian attitude to disabled people generally is "if you're disabled, you should stay indoors", but we shall see. If anything interesting, distressing or amusing occurs, then I'll let you know. We'll probably post our pics on photobucket when the time comes.

I'll post a report on my return.

Falstaff

[Mir]

Can I ask what are you paying for your fare (it looks you are flying from London).

Thanks

[Falstaff1485]

£215 each. Austrian Airlines (used to be Lauda Air) seems to be the leading no-frills European airline, like (RyanAir & easyjet in U.K.)

[viking]

What are the dates you expect to be there?

[Falstaff1485]

We're going next week

[viking]

I will be there on the 17th. Care to meet up and have a drink?

[Mir]

Well if you go my Ukrainian airlines on the 17th from Heathrow the flight leaves at 1920 and is non-stop to Kiev arriving 2240. You can book return for £201
http://www.planitas-onlined2.com/ukraine/servlet/ukraine_obe

[Mir]

For your dates use this link:

http://flyuia.com/eng/book/

[Mir]

And if you can find a better fare they promise to upgrade you to business class without any additional charge!

[Jack]

Care to meet up and have a drink?

Viking, with a name like Falstaff, what do you think?

[Kuna]

Cool... another TR coming... 

Kuna LOVES Trip Reports!

Have fun Flagstaff...

[Falstaff1485]

Congrats Mir on your fare. We've been Ukrainian International a few times before. They're pretty good, but we've found that their arrival & departure times don't suit us. Also, from where we live, Heathrow is much easier than Gatwick.

Viking, thanks for your kind offer; under normal circs, we'd be delighted to accept. Unfortunately on 17th, we're going to a birthday party and we're coming home on the 18th.

Thank you for your kind thoughts Kuna; we'll endeavour to follow your advice and have fun!

Cheers

Falstaff

[Mir]

F

The fare I quoted is from Heathrow

[wiz]

Well if you go my Ukrainian airlines on the 17th from Heathrow the flight leaves at 1920 and is non-stop to Kiev arriving 2240. You can book return for £201
http://www.planitas-onlined2.com/ukraine/servlet/ukraine_obe

Your links don't work

[Mir]

Wiz

I am sure you know that a link posted on 6th of March may not work on the 16th since the flight booking may not be available.
Just go to Ukrainian airlines site and check the dates you are interested in,that what I did.
This poor man was told by someone (probably a travel agent) that Ukrainian airline ticket will be £265 and he was happy to travel on a non-direct flight for £215.In actual fact he could have travelled direct with Ukrainian airlines for £201!

[wiz]

Wiz

I am sure you know that a link posted on 6th of March may not work on the 16th since the flight booking may not be available.
Just go to Ukrainian airlines site and check the dates you are interested in,that what I did.
This poor man was told by someone (probably a travel agent) that Ukrainian airline ticket will be £265 and he was happy to travel on a non-direct flight for £215.In actual fact he could have travelled direct with Ukrainian airlines for £201!

I checked the prices for the 24 March and they are £265.

The Heathrow price came out the same for me........UKI is tryiong to compete with BA and they are charging high prices.... and I know their load factor is very low. I don't think they make any money.

Sorry but is not cheap anymore to travel to Ukraine, because for the same price I flew Aeroflot to UFA via Moscow for a monthly return fare.

[Mir]

Well when I checked it was 201.
I am sure you know that the fare prices on the web sites keep changing.So if you see a high price one day it can become lower the next or vice versa.
I have seen this happen many times like to buy a ticket for 250 and next day it is 210 or the other way around.

[Mir]

Must be something wrong with your browser.
I have just checked.
Heathrow to London going on 24 and return on 31 is £201.40

Also Aerosvit was quoting Kiev to Lviv rtn for $42 (£23) a few days ago.

[Makkin]

Hello,

  Mir,

  Thanks again for the info on the airline tickets from Kiev to Odessa. We had already purchased two tickets for 205USD each and you mentioned the 42USD tickets. They were purchased and worked fine on the exact same flight we had originally booked. Your help saved us a large amount of money.

  Hope you have a great time on your trip this month and find new and interesting things to mention here. Your help is always remembered and possibly I will find a way to repay your kindness.

Makkin

[Mir]

Makin

It is good that you had a nice trip and I am glad I saved you some money.
I was planing to go for a few days to Kiev this month.Actually I am running a training workshop in Abu Dhabi and I was considering to stop on the way or on the way back. However no interesting reasons came up for Kiev and I have decided not to visit and visit Russia instead when the weather is a bit warmer.
Are you planing any more visits soon?

[Makkin]

Mir,

  Just between you and me..lol I plan to visit Russia on my next visit for a plethora of reasons. I'm thinking without thinking for many reasons and I think that there is a certain town there that may hold the winter olympics in the future.
  The book I'm writing is going very well and I've been published on occasion but not in book form. You could never guess that by the way I write here but that's what editers..lol are for.

  Seems to me ya just gotta figure what makes sense in this search and so I will pop around and take notes on what may be best for me. In the present my girlfriend of 25 is all I can handle at moment and the language barrier is still an issue with her even as native as it may be...lol

  I wish you good fun and adventure for all the right reasons and look for me to follow your thoughts.

Makkin
 

[Mir]

Makin

Who and where is your GF of 25?
Did you meet her on your recent trip to Ukraine? Just curious

[Makkin]

Hello,

  Mir,

  She is about a hours drive away from my home here in Texas.

  (1) We were casual before I went to Ukraine

  (2) We are not casual now

  (3) She knew I was going to Ukraine

  (4) She thought it was a good idea to go to Ukraine

  (5) We are really good friends

   Just wanted to clear that up...So it didn't appear I am a total azzhole towards her..lol

Makkin