Airline tickets and trains

[davet]

Hi,
I'm heading to Moscow in March for my RL interview.  We would like to come back on the same plane obviously.  I get reservations for flights going and coming.  Since the embassy and everyone else recommends NOT buying her tickets until the interview is passed, we would then buy her tickets after the interview.  Her interview is the 4th, my return is the 15th, so we have about 10 days between buying and flying.  Now the questions:
1. Are flights full the first or middle of March for any reason?
2. Can you get better prices buying in Moscow than me buying on the net?
3. Are there special fares for immigrants -- one way tickets?  Right now the fares for one-way versus roundtrip are essentially the same.

Now on to train questions.  We are planning to take the train to her home in Ulyanovsk after the interview. When I was there in August, in order to get a train ticket, you had to show your passport.  Obviously this causes problems for me trying to get advance reservations for a train ticket with my passport here in the US.  Questions:
1. Is there an online place to buy or reserve train tickets for Russian travel?
2. Has anyone else used some other technique to get around the necessity of the ticket agent having the passport in hand?  Copies??

Thanks for any input!
Dave

[SteveM]

... in response to Airline tickets and trains, posted by davet on Dec 29, 2002

Hey now,

In our various trips over the past two years, we found two advantages to Aeroflot--price breaks on children's (12) tickets, and significant savings from purchasing one-way tickets for the U.S. entry flights.  The planes have usually run a couple of hours late, but have otherwise been fine.

If you do decide to go the Aeroflot route (as we have three times), I can recommend our agent.  She works for an Aeroflot-affiliated agency in NYC:

Neli Hadjiyska
Glavs Travel
Empire State Building
350 Fifth Ave., Ste. 5700
New York, NY10118
tel  (212) 290 -3300
fax (212) 290-2358
e-mail: info@glavs.com

Steve M.

[JohnG]

... in response to Airline tickets and trains, posted by davet on Dec 29, 2002

As one who recently went through the experience, I will tell you that I found the cheapest fares to be Aeroflot, and they are great to travel. You have allowed plenty of time between your interview date and your departure date, so don't worry. Call Aeroflot at their toll-free number in New York (go to www.aeroflot.com) and ask them about seat availability for the time period you are going to travel. They pretty much know when they have empty planes and when you might be in jeapordy of not getting a seat for her.

I had thought that it would be cheaper for her to buy her tickets in Moscow, but that was a myth. In fact, when she went to Aeroflot, the sales person told her she MUST buy round-trip tickets for her and her daughter because a "fiancee visa" is NOT an "immigrant visa". She was forced to pay about $60 more than she would have if she bought a one-way ticket, or if I had bought it for her in the States. I later called Aeroflot in New York to complain about it, and they apologized and told me it was bogus info, but of course there was nothing they could do about it after the tickets were bought.

I hope this helps, and good luck to you!

John

[mdante99]

... in response to Re: Airline tickets and trains, posted by JohnG on Dec 29, 2002

The best option in my opinion is to buy the tickets in USA, on a major airlines, and if the need arises to change the dates prior to coming back. The airlines allow changes to be made in the dates, subject to a small fee.

Mark

[mdante99]

... in response to Airline tickets and trains, posted by davet on Dec 29, 2002

Dave:

My Russian/Lithuanian wife runs a travel agency;
www.travelandtrips.com

I will try to answer your questions.

1. Airlines charge different prices for the same seats selling through different channels. The discounted rates are almost certainly sold out fairly quickly; the only seats you may be able to buy on a short notice may be at an exhorbitant price.

2. The answer is a definite NO; the tickets are much cheaper when bought and paid for in USA. This is the good thing about our country; you can buy things cheaper and easier here; that certainly holds true for airlines tickets.
Actually we do a fair amount of business selling tickets for travel to America for people living in FSU. We have affiliates in Moscow and Kiev who can deliver  tickets purchased in USA; it is cheaper here than they can sell it over there.
Buying on the internet is NOT the best way to buy tickets; the better airlines like Lufhansa and KLM usually have very high rates on the net; however the same airlines sell block of seats at a discount to wholesalers called "consolidators"; who sell them through travel agents to public; the best consolidators don't deal with public direclty. The discounted prices are often about half of the published prices.

3. There are no spcial immigrant fares that I am aware of; the price of a roundtrip ticket is often same or less than a one way ticket.

About internal travel in Russia and Ukraine, we can arrange for travel by air internally, through our affiliates there, but for the train tickets, I believe you have to buy on your own.

I hope I have been of help.

Mark

[DaveR]

... in response to Airline tickets and trains, posted by davet on Dec 29, 2002

Go to web site www.cogwell.com and use their service if you want.