Finnair Plus - REALLY need help with organizing a trip

Hi Guys,

I racked my brain for the last month trying to figure out what to do, so finally decided to ask help from FT.

I have a conference to attend in Tallinn on September 7-11. I also try to organize my visit to Russia to see my grandma there, in St. Pete and some friends in Russia.

So far I came up with 3 different options on how to do it, but non seem 100% efficient to me

Option 1.

Finnair
Depart 09/05 JFK - HEL - TLL
Depart Tallinn via bus to St. Pete on 09/11
Depart St. P via fast train (5 hours) to Moscow on 09/15
Depart Moscow on 09/19 - SVO - HEL - JFK

Pros: - faster to Tallinn
Cons: - 4 takes off and landings, inconvenience of changing planes


Option 2.
Delta
Depart 09/04 JFK - SVO (non-stop)
Depart Moscow via train to Tallinn (14 hours, overnight)
Depart Tallinn via bus to St. P on 09/11
Depart St. P via fast train to Moscow
Depart Moscow on 09/19 - SVO - JFk (non-stop)

there is a flight by Estonian air Moscow - Tallinn, however it only operates Mon-Fri:confused:

Pros: - only 2 take offs and landings, I can sleep in the train to Tallinn.
Cons: - have to get from SVo to the train station with luggage, don't know who your neigbours in the train going to be...

Option 3.
SAS
Same as option 1, only via Copenhagen.

So - are there any other suggestions? What would you choose?

There's also TLL-LED flight by Estonian Air now, much faster than bus, which takes 7-8 hours.

All I'm saying is that HEL is probably one of the better airports of where to check planes. TLL leg is 20 minutes - so no REAL in conveniences there.
I would avoid Estonian Air personally, however - if the TLL-LED timing works it marginally beats the bus.
Option 1 probably works best

There's also TLL-LED flight by Estonian Air now, much faster than bus, which takes 7-8 hours.
It is not confirmed yet that they will have this route - not on their website.

PS - just checked again - it is confirmed now

Instead of bus from Tallinn to St Petersburg, could also consider a boat (fast one takes 2.5 hours) to Helsinki and from there a night train to Moscow. Or make it JFK-HEL-SVO return with stop over in HEL, and make a side trip to TLL either by air or sea.

Cons: - 4 takes off and landings, inconvenience of changing planes


Hey mate, this is Flyertalk, full of people who usually try to maximise their take offs, landings, connections and whatever. So in our books that's not a con, but a pro, albeit a minor one - with some creative thinking you could double the number of flights you're taking.

Coming back to the original question, your option #1 looks like the best under the circumstances. I think you could score a rather cheap o/w ticket LED-MOW to avoid the train if you want, but usually that needs booking through local travel agents - and if you have family there that shouldn't be a big problem.

Hey mate, this is Flyertalk, full of people who usually try to maximise their take offs, landings, connections and whatever. So in our books that's not a con, but a pro, albeit a minor one - with some creative thinking you could double the number of flights you're taking.

Coming back to the original question, your option #1 looks like the best under the circumstances. I think you could score a rather cheap o/w ticket LED-MOW to avoid the train if you want, but usually that needs booking through local travel agents - and if you have family there that shouldn't be a big problem.
Thanks - I have a terrible fear of flying and for me it is a Con..

It looks like I am booking Option 1 after all.

Which alliance Finnair belongs to? Should I sign up for their membership or just use existing alliance number? What will give me most miles?

Which alliance Finnair belongs to? Should I sign up for their membership or just use existing alliance number? What will give me most miles?

Finnair is in oneworld, like AA.