Not long ago, I found out how hard it is to find a reasonable airfare when your origination point is Russia instead of USA.

I searched every one of my typical search engines and the best I could come up with was $900 and that was one-way... off season. Thats almost double what I can usually find to fly to russia.

I had heard you can get a good price from the delta office in Moscow but only at the window, not via internet.

BAck in the summer time someone posted a contact number to a RW agent out of Atlanta who had gotten him good fares. I called and not only did she get a good price ( almost half what I could find) she could book the flight very quickly, usually in the USA the closer the flight is to the date of purchase the more it costs.

I would absolutely call her if you need to fly someone here and if you are flying there, you might want to give her a shot at it too.
Danny

Natasha
(813) 228-6156

Interesting. I've been searching for airfares from SVO to JFK, one way on March 3rd. On expedia.com I found tickets for 473 dollars. Not sure we can do better than this, but I'll definitely consider calling this Natasha. Thanks for the info.

You can also find good deals if you buy the tickets in Russia rather than the States. Prices tend to be much lower when purchased by a Russian citizen.

Is this the person, Natasha? I will definitely call

I don't remember it being any more expensive to come from Russia. I do remember it being extremely more difficult to find the cheap fares though.

Having someone else to do that for me is a great thing. Thanks, Danno.

The websites don't give accurate pricing for 1 way tickets, I called a travel agent and he was able to get 1 way delta from russia to us for beginning of march for $590

I generally found that buying international air fair tickets in Russia to be more expensive because of (1) their stupid system of buying tickets in dollars using rubles and using an arbitrary exchange rate way above the current one, (2) commission. However, they will sell you reasonably priced one way fares which US travel sites cannot seem to process well (i.e. the price of a one way will come out more than round trip) unless it is a domestic flight.

Travel agents with access to unpublished fares or who sell bulk tickets can get you better rates than the published rates you'll find on Expedia, etc., even for flights originating in Russia (which can be sold as e-Tickets now too). Since we're giving out agent referrals, I recommend Complete Travel & Visa Center (CTVC) (212)233-3332 for all Russia/USA travel tickets (or even otherwise!), as they often have unpublished fares on both Aeroflot and Delta. In fact, I bet this is how all the online travel companies are making such big money!

A warning, however, child fares must be issued on paper tickets. Do not assume you can buy the child fare in Russia later for a % of the adult ticket that it is attached to; the child fare (even infant under 2 with no seat) is based on the best adult fare available at the time and place of issue, not the ticket or e-ticket it is attached to.

In my recent experience, ticket agents in Russia are all marking up the published fares you see here to make extra money for themselves (this should not surprise you), so don't get your expectations too high if trying that advice.

Update....Sasha spoke with someone at StarTravel in Moscow. Evidently, Russians under the age of 25 can really save money with this company. Its a work/travel company for university students. She spent two summers here in the past thanks to this organization. Their fare for a one way ticket to JFK is about 385 US dollars, including all taxes. and she's even eligible for an additional discount of 15-30%. So, it is possible to find very reasonable airfare. that is, if you qualify. And Aeroflot seems to be the cheapest by far right now. If your lady is 25 or younger, this may help.

Interesting. When I bought the tickets for Natasha and Vika, Vika's fare (to my surprise) was some percentage of an adult fare. For the record, I did purchase them on Expedia.

Russ posted something like this a few years ago. I believe it works both ways (Russians and Americans SVO-JFK or JFK-SVO) as long as the fare goes to young people. I wanna say you had to prove you were in school too. Not sure as I was already too old to take advantage of it so I didn't read too into it.

For more info or maybe another program that's similar try to contact Russ.

Yes, but you purchased them at the same time from the same agent.

The trouble comes in when you buy the child fare later elsewhere because it must be on a paper ticket. The fare for the child is not actually a % based on the accompanying adult's ticket it is attached to (particularly relevant to infant under 2 without seat tickets), but rather on the adult fares available at the time & place of issue.

If you purchased the tickets on Expedia, you purchased them both from the same agent at the same time, and the conditions of my warning do not apply.

The tickets we bought via Natasha on Delta were E-tickets and the daughter at ten did get a discount and an e-ticket as well.

I was certain this was the case but the problem I had was.... I was reluctant to have my Fiance buy two tickets on-line or even at a travel agency and accidently make a huge costly error, it is not hard to do, especially if you have never done it. On my first trip to see Natalia, I called Lufthanza and intended to combine a "to europe" special they were running ... with a connector to St Pet.

The price she gave me was a little cheaper than what I had found on line so I bought it, later I realized she never included the connector flight and evidently I did not pay closeneough attention when she read back the flight details. I guess what threw me off was she sold me a flight to Europe at 2x what the special was... what was about the cost to fly to St Pet.
Not to worry, I got my money back but it was not easy.

So anyway, I was reluctant to push that new experience on her so soon.

In fact, considering this morning she did not shut the gate all the way when she went to run and now my deaf Beagle has wondered off..... maybe playing it safe buyin the tix myself was a good Idea
(Shhh don't tell anyone about the Dog incident, she feels bad enough)

Then it is only the infant under 2 with no seat that has the paper ticket problem, and at least in this case the fare is only 10% of the full adult fare.

My wife and I and other family members fly to from Russia at several different times during the year, and one thing I've learned is that you can fly one-way on Air France (paying a true one-way rate) and fly on something more comfortable than a 767. If any of you want to increase the comfort level for your spouse/fiance or mom-in-law, consider going up a notch with Air France for about the same price that it costs to fly Delta. And they are both SkyMiles eligible.
Well, maybe not for your mom-in-law.

Thank you for the travel advice as I will be flying to Kazan in March. Have had a hard time finding a reasonable rate. Flew to Prague 2 weeks ago with a good rate but really bombing this time so thanks! I will call both of the referrals suggested Monday.

Do you order direct from the airfrance website? I flew airfrance myself recently, and it was ok, but i ordered my tickets from expedia and they were the cheapest, but sometimes other airlines are cheaper. I saw they had some good sales on their site though. Also, my flight was a cooperation of delta and airfrance.

I usually call the office in the city I am flying out of. You can, in fact, find cheaper airfare, but a little more money goes a long way regarding comfort in an 11-hour flight.
I'm probably just a sucker, sticking to Delta and AirFrance, but I was bumped up to business class in two of my last three flights.

Sasha just booked her flight to JFK from Moscow. and the fare is like 380 dollars. She got a really great deal through StarTravel. Its usually a great way to buy tickets if you're a student or even a graduate below the age of 25. I recommend anyone who qualifies to check them out. If you need more info please send us a message and I'm sure Sasha can give more details.

You're not going to go the extra mile for your MIL's comfort?