Travel Question

[XMan]

In the past I booked through Cincinnati to go both to Russia and Ukraine.  It was reasonable (around $900-$1,100).  Always used bookingbuddy.com or something similar.

Looking at travel in October.  Kharkov or Dnep. The prices are astronomical ($2,800-$3,200) from where I live now (MN).  Getting to Kiev, however, can be done for under a grand from MN.  So is it feasible to book round trip from here to Kiev, then book a round trip flight separately through Aerosvit from Kiev to Kharkov, or Kiev to Dnep?  That drops the cost dramatically, it seems. 

Don't think I want to do the train or bus thing.
Thanks.

[Kuna]

Xman,

What you describe is absolutely possible.

If you book your international flights into Kiev and then book with aerosvit online for the Dnepr or Kharkov end point just make sure you leave yourself enough time to go through passport control,  collect luggage and go through customs.

When you come out f the Intl terminal at Borispol you turn right and walk to the next building (I guess it's 200 metres at most)d.  You'll be walking towards a cafe (attached to the domestic terminal). Once there it's up the ramp and you're there...  Check in and relax.

The connections are the biggest problem really. If your Intl leg gets in after the last flight to your destination city you could be "stuck" in Kiev for a night - but for me that'd be no hardship.  Enjoy the journey huh!!!

Do the same thing in reverse and you should be saving a motza!

Best of luck with the trip!

[I/O]

Xman: By booking a range of individual tickets rather than a single end to end ticket very often reduces the cost dramatically. For example, we travelled from Brisbane Australia to Omsk in Siberia recently and we did it recently by connecting 3 individual international tickets (some I bought through booking sites and some direct from the airlines). The trick is to search the airlines out and find if they are connected to the same group. IE: "One World" or "Star Alliance" or whatever (There are many groups). If they are, you will be able to check your baggage right through to final desto. Some will do it anyway but some won't.

As for domestic flights, I tend to do those separately. Much as Kuna has advised.

An example for us is, I can book a flight from Brisbane to Omsk via Moscow with Emirates and S-7. One ticket right through. If I book Brisbane Moscow on one ticket and then buy a separate S-7 ticket from Moscow to Omsk, it is about $300 Au cheaper for the 3 of us and it is exactly the same flight numbers.

I suggest you use the on line agents but check out the flight numbers and then go direct to the airline sites and check it out buying direct or buy one section through and agent, one through another agent and another direct etc. There is a hundred different ways to do it and the bottom line is the bottom line. If you are travelling cattle class (Economy), the seats are basically all the same. My only comment is try to get a forward seat because you are the first to be fed .   

[Faux Pas]

Xman

More often than not, booking a flight too early with many airlines can make a difference too. There can be a significant difference in price booking more than 28-30 days in advance as opposed to booking it inside the 28 day window. Usually the search engines are cheaper before 30 days than the airline but, not the cheapest. The advice so far here is correct. Book your own arrangements in Russia or the FSU. I generally book directly on the airline websites in both the US and then again on the Russian airline. It has always been cheaper. Different airlines play different games but this is true with American and Delta. I would expect right now, you can get where you want in Ukraine for $1100 or less.

[XMan]

Thanks gentlemen.
I appreciate all of your assistance.

[I/O]

XMan: Just ran it through expedia.com.au (Aus version) and the screen shot below came up for October without trying . The outbound connections are OK, inbound are a bit crappy but doable. $1580Au, Conversion, roughly $1300 USD. My guess is you'll pull that down by 10-20% if you play around a bit. This mob charge the princely sum of $9.95 Au per ticket booking fee, $8 whole USD. It may be included in that price but I didn't flick to the next page to check. Play around with different companies/dates/sites etc and see what you can put together. I've often got about 10 screens open at once when I am on this hunt.  Our recent trip (3 of us return) started out at 12K Au on the first few weeks searching. I eventually got it down to 6.5K Au with a few weeks playing around. Pity is, now it is done and finished and we are back home, I can do it for about 5.8K Au. BTW, IIRC farecompare.com (I think it is) and onetravel.com (again I think this is the name) were worth a look.

[kievstar]

I fly a lot the following way to Kharkov:

Milwaukee to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Kiev (KLM / Northwest / Delta).  Than Kiev take a taxi - 250 usd each way or take one of the three flights a day from Kiev to Kharkov.  I always pay less than 1,100 usd the past four years including both airlines (KLM plus either Ukraine airlines / aerosvit flight to Kharkov).  The Amsterdam airport IMHO is the best airport in the World and reason why I like going through it.  Minneapolis as you know is a hub for KLM / Northwest and many flights a day to Amsterdam.

I think what is happening is your trying to go Minneapolis to Kharkov.  It is going to take you through Vienna to Kharkov.  The ticket for Vienna to Kharkov is usually more than 1,000 usd alone.

I fly a lot from Brussels and Zurich to Kharkov to and it kills me it is over 1,300 usd through Vienna to Kharkov when a round trip to Vienna and most Europe cities is less than 200 usd.  I always wondered who is on the Kharkov to Vienna flight and it most be mafia clans, politicians, and or high level hookers. 

[ConnerVT]

I have the same problem here in Vermont, where it sometimes cost as much to get to the 'jump off' city as it does to get across the Atlantic Ocean.   

Found a few different routes from Minneapolis (MSP) to both of your desired destinations, all costing just under $1200 USD in October.

Try this web site, and do a one month search: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/