So once the interview is passed, the visa is granted, and you're excited, but not too excited (Russian superstition), then finally the passport, with the visa, arrives.....

What are the best ways to shop for a ticket?

Did you guys call the airlines? Have your girl/guy call in Russia? Most of the sites that I've checked (Yahoo, expedia, orbitz, cheaptickets, etc.) won't let you do a search with a start from outside the US. I've done the reverse of a one-way (from here to there) and I get some decent prices, but I'm wondering if there's a way I can check on ticket prices from there to here. Any suggestions?

Just in case anyone does have the capability... I'm looking for VVO or KHV to CVG any time. I'm finding the CVG to VVO for about $1300 on a weekday, but I'd like to be able to confirm the reverse is the same price, or find something cheaper.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Or... if anyone's fiancee is leaving soon too.... maybe we could get a group discount!

Hey Slim!

Give Asiana a call... they service the far east of Russia as well. You will get a better price if you call them most of the time

http://us.flyasiana.com/

Cheers!
Dave

Slim,

Actually Yahoo will let you search for airfares for flights originating outside of the United States! This is what I used when I bought Katya's ticket a couple weeks ago. I searched for over an hour, checking all the possibilities for my date range for both round trip and one-way tickets from SVO to ATL on all airlines. I ended up buying a one-way ticket on Air France for July 12 for $963! Not bad at all considering July seems to be the peak month for traveling to and from Russia. Apparently e-tickets weren't an option for this flight, but they delivered the paper tickets directly to Katya in Russia about a week after I purchased them.

Personally I don't like using any travel agents because their prices are always higher then buying the ticket directly yourself online!

James

Travelocity books flights out of Moscow, and it looks like a one-way ticket costs from 600-2000 dollars to JFK.

Expedia has an option to book one way ticket out of SVO - there is one flight through Paris to Miami for $725 I think it is on Tuesdays , I am not sure. But there is an option.

Thanks guys, guess I just didn't plug in enough options.

Slim,

You may wish to try “airline consolidator.com” for others options. Also, most of the airlines that fly into the U.S. can be contacted via telephone.

As you are probably aware, it is going to be a lot cheaper flying out of Moscow, if it is possible.

Also, don’t allow her to have a very short stay any place, such as Paris, where she could actually miss her connecting flight simply because of their slow moving customs area.

By the way, congratulations!

Startravel has low rates, especially for students.

My Mom when she got a visa, bought a ticket at Sheremetievo Airport 3 days prior, and it was cheaper than anything online. I guess they lower their rates for last minute pick up, which is understandable. I lived in Albuquerque back than, so she had to change three flights Moscow - NY ( DL 30 or 31), NY-Cincinati, Cin- ABQ. She paid around $430- ve-ery cheap (compare to the lowest round trip price at that time was $918).
Just spend some time looking around, have her call some agencies too, she paid for one-way ticket here, and I apid for one ticket back to Moscow, at the end it was less than a $900.

Good luck in your search.

Well, here's what I did after considering all the options. I'd not particularly suggest you do it; I'm sharing what I did and I did it for specific reasons. Everyone's circumstances are different: when flying, who's flying, from whence to ... all that adds up.

I've used the Atlanta - San Francisco Russian run company with an internet presence called Go To Russia. I've used them for the fourth time: once to the Ukraine, and two previous times to Russia. They offer a wide range of services. I've established a rapport with them and they know me. I've booked flights, had them get my passport renewed, gotten visas, and rented accommodations. For the right price, they'll do it all tomorrow -- not that you want to pay through the nose unless it's unavoidable! Nothing's perfect; for me so far, knock on wood, it's be an "A" -- dayum the bathroom and john last January with no radiator was phreaquin' cold. Now I know Russian winters ... well, not Siberia!!

Ok, to your question, Slim. What GTR did this time, claiming it was the cheapest for what I wanted to do, was get Maria's ticket quasi-RT meaning three out of four legs. Don't ask me 'cause I didn't understand; they just told me it was the cheapest to do SVO-JFK-TPA and then a return JFK-SVO. I know it's strange, strange, strange. The price was like $ 959.90 incl. tax, tip, gratuities. I did a bit of searching and for the small difference and trusting they'll take care of me like in the past, a few bucks (not even 100 for both of us combined) was not worth using my time searchin' ... gonna find her, searchin' every wayaya ... who sang that song?

That's my story and Ima stickin' to it!
I'm sure you'll do what makes sense for ya'll!

Anyone cosider buying a round trip ticket and not using the return portion?

That's what we're planning to do...

Jen

That's what we did. Cost me around $800 for the round trip from Moscow to Florida for her which for some reason was about $100 more than my ticket. This was opposed to almost $2000 for the one way..(did they think I was that stupid???) I called delta and got the ticket over the phone. Was a lot easier than trying to figure it out online as we were traveling back to the US together.

Any way, there were a few days during that "adjustment period" that I thought we might be using that return ticket....LOL!!

Really, everything is great now and we are very happy together.

My favorite site for one way tickets is www.kayak.com They have one way tickets and multi city tickets so if you want to visit more than one place you can. You can also originate anywhere, it does not need to be in the usa. The prices are usually the best I can find.

I did a few trips where I thought it was cheaper to buy a round trip and throw away the return. I wasted a fair amount of money that way. On Kayak the one way is usually close to half the price of a round trip.

Another site I have been using a bit lately is www.bookingbuddy.com They let you enter the data one time and check 7 major travel sites (including Kayak) The top three buttons there will let you originate outside the us. The bottom 4 will not.

Guess it really depends on what cities you are flying in and out of. I just checked kayak.com and a one way flight from my city to Moscow was going to be $600 more than a round trip booked on Delta.

That just shows that you have to look and compare a lot of options.

Nice that lots of people chimed in with SVo, but I believe VVO (Vladivostok Airport) is quite some distance.

VVO, Nice airport, had to fly there to meet Olga in person! That was the best week of my life...also the most expensive and worth every USD!

From VVO either Vladivostok Air or Korean Air and that would depend on when she left... Vlad Air departs on different days then Korean air.

I flew Korean Air.

LOL Neon....

I've done a little checking, and I'm going to get a little deeper into it this weekend. I talked to Elena today, and she said she checked there and found one for about $1400 from Vladivostok to Seoul, to New York, to Chicago. That's not exactly Cincinnati, but that is close enough, and that does get her through JFK which means she could get the work permit. (And, I've got a buddy in Chicago to stay with, and we could make a nice little weekend out of it.) So, that's looking like the winner so far. However, I did find some cheaper ones on some of the sites you guys listed. Thanks a lot!!!

And yes, Vladivostok is a long way from Moscow. (Farther than NY to LA!) However, almost all reasonable flights to JFK and the East Coast do go through SVO, so we may go with that.

I'll update when I get more cash!!!

I had to buy a round trip ticket since I had a non-immigrant visa, and they did not sell one-way tickets in such situations. Return ticket could have been used anytime within one year after the first flight (change date fee of $25 applies). Still, I did not use the return ticket, but sent it back to Russia, were my parents returned it for a refund. They did not get 50% of what I paid, however (the refund totaled around 30% of original price). I bought the ticket at Startravel

You had some really nice terms on your tickets. What company did you fly through? When I tried changing the date on my Siberia Airlines ticket, the change fee which was 10% was not allowed because the ticket was restricted to three months and I needed to change to a date that was a few weeks beyond that. As a result the airline bumped me up to the next class which was like $300 extra. So in reality I just bought another 1 one way ticket for $150, while the original round trip was only $200! And they also refused to take back the unused half for any amount.
So the things you talk about are true, but it all depends on the airline you go with and restrictions and conditions of the ticket itself. The fine print as we call it here

I came here with Luftghansa. But I also traveled to Germany with Aeroflot, and had the same terms (round-trip ticket with return date valid for 1 year and $25 fee for changing the return date). I believe it's Startravel that offers these services, not Luftghansa or Aeroflot. But you should mention that you need this service when you buy ticket at Startravel.



Looks like you did not travel from USA to Russia! I know that Startravel is good for international travel, but never used it for domestic flights. I don't know if they have anything good to offer for domestic passengers.

Roundtrip for $200???

When did Jet Blue start connecting to SVO? Or, maybe it was Southwest?

Sorry for the confusion. I was talking about my 2004 flight from DME to TOF roundtrip on Siberia Airlines. Two cities inside of Russia.
I also ran into the exact same problem with Aeroflot that year on the return change date from SVO-LAX-SFO. Again three month restriction with a forced purchase of the next "class" which made it a 6 month ticket allowing the extra 3 weeks that I needed beyond my three month stay. I had to shell out something like $350 for that correction, but in that case it was cheaper than a new one way.
As I understand it, you can get great terms on changing tickets but only if you pay for it up front or as you say "ask for it." Because I had bought a restricted yet cheaper ticket I got dinged for that when I decided to change dates.
The reason for my change of dates that year was because I was hoping that we'd get an interview date before my departure date, but the embassy screwed us over by 2 weeks. It was a total gamble on my part that we'd get an interview date before August 30 considering our NOA2 was June 4. But they put us down for September 13.

i just have to share this. i searched bookingbuddy and kayak for a flight from svo to jfk in may. for Ilyana and her daughter, the cheapest was 5,401.00. the next, (klm) was 7,100.00 . is this about right, or did i log in the dumb ### section?

A quick look on expedia (probably not the best prices, but a starting point) you can book a round trip SVO-JFK in mid May with one stop for $712 or a nonstop for about $1100 each person. Keep looking.....

I've used this site for about a year, it consistently offers the best prices:

http://www.mobissimo.com/search_airfare.php

FWIW, in early November I reserved two one-way tix from SVO-JFK departing 12/20. My fiancee's interview was scheduled for 12/12, I knew I was taking a chance buying tix before she was issued her visa, but I figured if I waited until 12/12 and wanted to be with her before the new year, I'd end up paying out the wazoo.

Anyway, I flew to Moscow on the 15th, she got her visa on the 16th, and we flew to JFK on the 20th. Aside from the fact that they lost our luggage, everything was fine (and she got her EAD stamp).

Normally, I find the prices through Expedia and travleocity to be pretty "on-the-mark" comared to direct booking with the airline. HOWEVER, A round-trip from St. Petersburg to Jacksonville, FL in February on Travelocity was $2,044. Booking on-line direct through Lufthansa got me the same connections and flights for $1155, all taxes and charges included.

A one-way ticket direct through Lufthansa with the same departure date starts at $3,600.00. Go figure.

Per recommendation from my travel agent, I had my fiancee find the best deal in her country and it ended up being about $175 less than what my travel agent could find.

It seems that airline tickets are hit-or-miss when it comes to pricing. I guess the best thing to do is check a lot of different places (including your fiance(e) in their home country) and check them often.

Shop around... and remember, that visa is good for six months. If it's worth it to you to save $2000, have them wait until the off-peak season.