Send Flowers to Russia, Ukraine and Worldwide with Cyber-Florist.com Fiance.com: Beautiful Russian brides
Home  |  About  |  Forum  |  User Blogs  |  Login  |  Register

	Create New Topic   My Posts   My forum buddies   Invite friends   Private messages Russian brides > Main Forum > air-o-flat (aeroflot) Author Post Harvey Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 8:33:11 AM   As was mentioned previously aeroflot customer service is = isn't. Took off from JFK and arrived in Moscow on time 12:35 local time. Arrived at terminal 2 -international terminal. While waiting the hour it seemed for luggage to finally make it to the belt I started to look for information for my next flight. Good luck pilgram! SVO is not a user friendly airport. After almost having to start yelling at the taxi drivers to leave me the f--- alone. I wait outside for bus to terminal 1 - domestic connections terminal. Fortunately I met this nice young lady who speaks English who also happens to be married to an American and lives pretty close to me by-the-way. We become a team of trying to find out any information we can. She is Russian and going home for holiday. She speaks the language etc. And she was having trouble trying to figure out information on how to transfer to terminal 1. The information desk is a joke. Finally we determine we just have to stand outside with the masses and hope to recognize the bus to terminal 1. It is freezing cold with snow falling - I'm surprised the plane actually landed in this snowstorm. In america they probably would have closed the airport -- they are better prepared for snow than in US. And not as much pussies when it comes to foul weather. Anyway, after almost forty-five minutes 'the' bus shows up. Then it's every man for himself! Even as the bus shows up I am still pushing cab drivers out of my face. Now it is push and shove to get bags into bus and fight for room on bus. Twenty minutes later bus arrives at terminal 1 and again it is push and shove to get your luggage from the bus. Bus almost lost it around a curve and came pretty close to rolling off the road and hitting the bridge support. Terminal 1 -- A little more information is available but it is not clear where the next flight gate is. Determine it to be gate 8. Downstairs and still have three hours until flight so it is not yet posted. And there are no agents to get any informatiion from. And the ones at the gates don't know diddly. Announcement over intercom -- flight is delayed 1 hour. Go up to have a snack - wait in line for forty-five minutes for something to eat- I ordered what most people seemed to order but didn't have a clue what it was. I go to gate. Ask a lady next to me if she is on same flight. 'No hablo Engles,' she tells me in Russian. But we are on the same flight. We discover by another announcement that flight is again delayed. I worry that my honey is on her way to airport to meet me and doesn't know. Russian lady lets me use her phone. I call honey and let her know. Then russian gal talks to her to make sure. Russian gal and I go for some tea and a piece of cheese cake. Go back to gate -- flight is announced to have another delay. Call honey. Me and Russian lady go for more food and a beer. She reads fine print on ticket about delay and tells me we get a free or discounted meal because of delay. All the time we are communicating without common language. Anyway she pays for dinner and a couple beers. My girl calls her phone and she gives it to me. In the end, I was supposed to arrive in Krasnodar at 8:05 PM but don't get there until 3:00 AM. Get cab home and she has to go to work in a couple hours. Harvey Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 8:54:36 AM   Jan 9, 2010 -- Krasnodar intergallactic airport. Luggage is much heavier on trip home than when coming. Girl at check in hands me a 'ticket' and says I have to pay for overweight. I offer visa card and she looks at me like I'm from Antartica. Honey figures out we must go to booth down the way for over weight payment. 1995 rubles! I offer visa - no thanks. I only carried about 1300 rubles because I figured it would get me a snack. Honey peels off 2000 rubles to pay for my lugaage overwieght - her reference books etc... Make it through security and wait. Go through gates to catch bus to plane. I decide to take a photo of Krasnodar sign at airport as I was getting ready to walk up the ladder to board plane. A "police man" stops me and seems wanting to confiscate my camera for taking a picture. 'Ne se! No se!" Plane lands without a hitch in Moscow. Except that in the eleven days I was there they changed domestic to the the new terminal 'D' The new ultra modern terminal. Not a fucking sign or posting board to be found except baggage claim arrows. I go to baggage claim. Not a sign or posting to be found except the belt my bags would be on. I finally find someone sitting at what appears to be an information desk. A lady just tells me go through doors and look for white bus with air-o-shit- sign on it for terminal 2. Make it to terminal two. Because I am way early for connecting flight it is not posted. I go to air-o-shit booth and lady tells me they have no information, the information booth is that-a-way. I see no information booth but do see an air-o-shit ticketing booth. I meet a nice young lady in a unifrom and she indicates that it may be gate 8 - to the left. I check it out. 50/50 choice. I go to TGI Friday's and have a guiness. Then go back to air-0-flat booth. The lady tells me, and I'm sure she is absolutely positive, that it is either to the left or the right! Coffee snack bar guys tell me information booth is over there. You can see the signs because the "Christmas" ddecorations hide all of the signs above the window. General information lady -- she asks flight number and punches it in. She tells me exactly where to go! Go through security and after waiting in line can't chack in for 35 minuts. Flight was smooth and on time. Harvey Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 9:11:13 AM   conclusions: I can't spell when I am still pissed off about SVO airport and air-o-shit service. SVO airport -- unless you are very familiar with the place it is difficult to get any help. The transfer from terminals is sketchy. Air-o-flat people do not have a clue about what is going on and seem reluctant to try to look up information. The young lady I met when I arrived told me that air-o-flat customer service is terrible. Delta is much better. But when you are in the air aeroflot service is better. And I will give them ++ for the food they serve. Customs and security were smooth and fast at all places. Did not have to open bags or have any delays with checked or carry on bags. Honey seemed worried because of delays that I must register at post office asap. She took my passport to work with her while I slept. Came home with registration paperwork filled out and stmaped. Had no dealings with any type of security/cops and was not asked for passport or papers any where I went. Went through "green line" everywhere and was not aksed any questions except the usual at JFK. Best part of travel >> Arrive a little early at JFK, my luggage was the first to come onto the belt - a miracle! - and driver was waiting and parked right next to exit door. Rag'n'Bull Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 9:54:15 AM   So you've joined the Aeroflop frequent flyers (frequent survivors) programme then? durak Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 10:47:04 AM   Aeroflot gives prospective customers two clues: Their logo proudly displays the hammer-and-sickle Their flight numbers start with code 'SU', standing for Soviet Union My experiences agree with Ralph's: their service on the ground is Soviet-style (even at JFK), but their service in the air is superior. The food in business class is outstanding. Advice for Aeroflot travelers: 1. Better to arrive early to the airport. 2. You must always claim your bags in Moscow (they are no longer allowed to transfer baggage for you, between international and domestic flights). 3. You must go through passport control in Moscow, which sometimes can take more than one hour: allow plenty of time. 4. If you need to get between terminals, just go out the ground transportation doors and look for any bus with a sign on the side that says it goes to your terminal. You can wait for the free shuttle if you want, but you may have to wait: they run something like hourly. There are lots of paid shuttle buses, but they are cheap (a couple of bucks). They may want you to pay the fare twice (once for your baggage). If you are in a hurry, taxis are quickest, but of course expensive; the cabbies know enough English. Terminal 1: Шереметьево 1, Шереметьево I, Терминал 1 Terminal 2: Шереметьево 2, Шереметьево II, Терминал 2 Terminal D: Шереметьево Д, Шереметьево Д, Терминал Д Rag'n'Bull Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 12:03:59 PM   Durak, Their service in the air might be superior but they've had something like 700+ crashes whereas they didn't stay in the air but, I guess, the passengers crashed well fed! durak Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 1:52:34 PM   Martin, Russian airline operations have a terrible safety reputation, that is only partly deserved. There are very many small operations in Russia, and they tend to terrify. The majors, however, are aware of this bad reputation, and seem to take safety very seriously: their businesses are at stake. Before the end of the Soviet Union, all Soviet non-military air transport operations flew under the name Aeroflot, hence the vast number of Aeroflot accidents. Aeroflot's regional subsidiary (a separate operation), Aeroflot-Nord, had a terrible fatal crash in 2008. Aeroflot has since sold it off, and it is now called Nordavia. The Aeroflot international airline that I (and some of you guys) sometimes fly, has had (according to my research) no fatal accident since 1996 -- not a bad record. Similarly, S7 (an airline that flies to many Russian destinations and several European cities as well) was formed very soon after the Soviet Union dissolved (its name was Sibir, changed recently to S7). In more than 17 years, the airline has had 2 fatal crashes -- but one of them was due to a terrorist bomb, and another was shot down by a surface-to-air missile from a Ukrainian Air Defense Forces exercise (Oops!). No S7 passenger has died due to any deficiency in the safety of their operations. So I fly the Russian major airlines with confidence. On the other hand, if I eventually fly on one of the dozens of regional airlines (for example, the 1-plane airline that 'Northern Steel' operates between its town and Moscow -- or the airline that can fly you from Moscow to Vladivostok, but must make 2 'technical stops' along the way), I shall first make sure that I have paid up my life insurance, set my personal affairs in order, and told all my of dearest ones how much I love them. Rag'n'Bull Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2010 5:18:43 PM   Durak, A vast majority of the referred to Aeroflop incidents were, admittedly, rotary wing operations flying in the crappiest terrains, the crappiest westher conditions, etc. however 700+ is probably a record that shall never be beaten. I'm guessing that the referred to 1996 incident was the time when a child was at the controls of an A300 aircraft, things like that happen occasionally, I myself have taken the controls of airliner(s), just for fun, fortunately I didn't crash the phucker(s)! I, happily, fly with FSU airlines, never done Aeroflop yet though, and I've just recalled a statement a friend of mine once said to me, he was sh1t scared of flying but told me he was happy to fly with KLM because KLM had never had a crash. I immediately recalled that KLM had lost a Saab340 en-route AMS-CWL but then I recalled that KLM were involved in the world's worst air incident when 2 B747's collided with each other in Tenerife! But 700+ remains 700+ but give Aeroflop their due, a western airline would have changed their name to escape such a chequered past, Aeroflop have stuck with it! Your Reply: Your name:   New Registration Password:   Forgot password?   refresh Code:   Russian brides > Main Forum > air-o-flat (aeroflot)
	Pages: 1