Originally Posted by
anat0l
I might've been tempting ill fate by doing this, but I have the following booking which was an attempt to break an otherwise boring sector to something a bit longer:
- LH1450 FRA-DME dep 1745 arr 2255
- BD 896 DME-LHR dep 0715 arr 0825
The second flight leaves the next day after the first, giving me a layover time of approximately 8 hours or so.
I'm a citizen of Australia with Australian passport. I will have a checked bag.
Questions (some a little off this topic):
- Will it be possible for me to stay airside and thus avoid any visa trouble? Or will I be forced out (e.g. due to the airport closing)? Both of these flights are booked on the same ticket (BD award)
- If I decide to go landside, I will necessarily need a visa - right? Probably going to be a challenge to get one, unless I stay at a hotel close to the airport and ask them to give me an invitation. From the looks of things, airport hotels are far from cheap in Moscow, and the visa process will be a worthy challenge.
- Anyone know any lounges that'll be open overnight? Or a good place to get some winks whilst airside? I assume it'll be alright to check bags as through-check in FRA going to LHR (or they won't do it since flights are not on the same calendar day)?
Thanks for all your help!
Others chime in please as DME is not my terminal of choice...
The glaring problem I see here is that you'll have a checked bag but no visa. Russian customs law demands that you clear customs with your checked bag upon arrival. I just had two groups in Novosibirsk not do this in Moscow as they transited through and what an expensive headache it was to fix. I do believe that you'll need to pass through immigration before getting to baggage claim at DME so...sounds like you need a visa based simply on the fact that you'll have a checked bag.
All the MRs people were doing last year on UA from IAD to DME were done without checked bags so the turns, while sometimes challenging, were possible. This is a true layover (long one) more than a turn so I'm concerned about the checked bag issue most of all.
Air side comfy places for winks? I think not.
The airport never closes. Flights come and go all night.
Not sure why DME was the point of interest on your Germany to England flight but KBP might have been a better choice due to the visa issue.
Sorry to be so unhopeful. Report back what you decide and experience though. We all stand to learn something.