Russia - OVB considered Europe for awards on NW

Few would care in the NW/DL Forums but those of us who lamented a few years ago when DL figured out Siberia was not part of Europe should be happy to know that Northwest considers all of Russia to all be in the same award zone. 60k miles will get you from North America to OVB (and all other cities in Siberia though not sure about the Far East of Russia) in Econ and 100k will get you to OVB and back in Business/First. This is of course subject to availability. There are higher redemption levels. I did have one Nw res agent tell me the minimum Business Class ticket is 120k but 2 others definitely had it priced out at 100k. Delta awards to OVB from North America are 220k for Business and Econ is 140k so it's still a bargain if NW charges you 120k.

With the recently announced ability of DL FFers to freely move miles from their SkyMiles account to their WorldPerks account, this is a great way to snag a seat to our fair Siberian city at much less than what DL charges. Those with MR points from AMEX could also benefit by moving miles into the WorldPerks account as well.

I'm going back and reassessing some award travel (even one paid Econ ticket) to see if I can do better with Northwest than I have done so far with Delta.

Now, unfortunately, the old 25k mile award from SVO to OVB and all points in Siberia is not an option. SU closed that option to all Sky Team partners apparently. I've tried it 4 different airlines and they all say 80k is the award now.

Feel free to correct me if anyone learns anything different. In times like these where two companies are merging and the rules are fuzzy at best there are some good deals to be found. We saw this when SU joined ST but it did not last for long unfortunately.

Get it while the getting is good!

60k/100k is a decent deal from N. America to OVB, but OVB-LPA at intra-Europe redemption rates is even better!

CO also sees OVB as part of Europe. While they are still in Skyteam (until October 24, 2009) you can redeem CO awards for travel to Russia on SU, KL, and DL and within Russia on SU.

CO also sees OVB as part of Europe. While they are still in Skyteam (until October 24, 2009) you can redeem CO awards for travel to Russia on SU, KL, and DL and within Russia on SU.

Really? I tried this 4 times last year, and each time was told by the CO system that OVB is not serviced by Continental or a codeshare partner using a Continental number. I called Onepass as well and they told me the same thing. Here is the exact message I get (just tried it again a few minutes ago to test it) when trying to search for award travel from LAX to OVB or even SVO to OVB:

! Neither Continental nor its codeshare partners serve Novosibirsk RU (OVB) using a Continental flight number. You may modify your search criteria, or call 1-800-300-1547 for assistance.

Maybe I'm not doing something right? :confused:

You cannot book Aeroflot flights via the CO website.

You cannot book Aeroflot flights via the CO website.

So you can't book CO reward flights on SU?

So you can't book CO reward flights on SU?The error message is correct. There are no CO flight numbers on any flights to OVB. That does not mean that you can't book CO award tickets to OVB. You can, but you can't do so on the CO web site. You have to call in and have CO book you award space on SU flights. I've done it. If you can look at SU inventory (via KVS or ExpertFlyer, etc.) you should know that SU awards come out of X for economy and O for business.

I've done it.

Though I've not done it, I know he has. Even met him in OVB while he was on that ticket. If it is CO related, xyzzy is your man!

Just a quick note to let all the concerned parties know there'll be one more SkyTeam flight to OVB in a month from now

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other-european-frequent-flyer-programs/935829-ok-fly-novosibirsk.html#post11467242