Booked on points, this flight was a good value, at only 20,000 Avios and negligible taxes.
P had long been extolling the many virtues of S7’s excellent business class, so much so that I thought there may be some ulterior motive. As it turned out, I was correct. P has a weakness towards sour cherry juice. So, P, what’s so great about S7? “They have proper business, oh and THEY HAVE SOUR CHERRY JUICE, and they board business by a separate bus, oh and THEY HAVE SOUR CHERRY JUICE”. I was mighty curious if S7 would live up to the enormous hype, and whether the sour cherry juice would indeed be such a highlight.
Check-in was quick, there was a little cordoned-off area and a separate desk, nothing unusual here.
Security has no priority treatment, but in my limited experience, there are no line-ups here anyways. P demonstrated something really remarkable - a mobile boarding pass printer. See, because bureaucracy persists from the Soviet era, Russians love documents and paper. They will stamp your boarding pass, much like the TSA making squiggles but a bit more formal, though the TSA has evolved enough that a mobile boarding pass is fine too. In Russia, one must have paper for them to process - but airlines still offer online check-in. To solve this problem, right next to the checkpoint there’s a printer that instantaneously spits out a boarding pass for you upon scanning of your phone. I’m in love with this feature, as not only do I enjoy the traditional paper boarding pass, but I love one on proper stock - in this case, it’s not a Delta-style receipt, but a proper, thick pass.
Security was once again puzzling - I was waved through (though I was showing “yellow” areas in the scanner), while P was stripped of many clothing effects, still set off an alarm, but then sent on his way without further checks.
Since it was daylight, I could take a closer look at the graveyard in Domodedovo. Ilyushin 62, Il-86, Tu-154, some old TransAero 747’s…
The S7 lounge was not remarkable, and somehow they were confused about our entry. P has OneWorld Emerald, I have no status, but this should be of no importance since we were both in business. Still, they were debating how to let us in.
Food offerings were meagre, there was a bar which we availed ourselves of for beer. Decor was fine, but I was definitely not impressed.
Boarding was called, P told me to stay seated a while, because S7 fetches business class passengers to board. Well, after ten minutes he wasn’t so confident anymore, and went to check with the desk. In fact, there certainly is no escort in Moscow and the flight was in final boarding stages. This likely meant we would also have to go on the normal bus, but I would hold P accountable for that.
As it turned out, they had held the little bus for business behind until we arrived, and then immediately departed. My apologies to the other passengers.
S7’s livery is green extreme, puke green would be the colour type I believe, but at least it makes for effective branding.
On board, only two rows of “proper” business class, and a lukewarm welcome by the crew. Seats were very comfortable, thick, with plenty of legroom and proper padding, bonus points on that. P noted that there was a bulkhead behind business on this 737-800, unlike the A321, where there’s only a curtain, so a plus for this aircraft type. But then - a big minus. P had assured me there would be USB & power plugs on this flight, so we happily navigated, talked, and carelessly left our phones with the screens on all day. Apparently the Globus-operated 737-800’s have no power plugs (nor any inflight entertainment, for that matter). As we would soon find out, they also use these aircraft on 7-hour flights, so this is a serious problem and drawback. I was not helped by my power bank, which had given up the ghost after getting slightly damp (definitely not drenched) in the Moscow rain a day earlier.
All Russian airlines (that I flew on this trip) immediately close the business class curtain after boarding, even while still on the ground. They also boarded most of economy through the rear stairs - in an ideal environment, I believe S7 tries to board business from the front door and economy from the rear door - alas I think there were some late passengers and only the front stairs were attached at that point.
After take-off, menus were distributed, and the sour cherry juice drinking began. I wish I had taken pictures. Before I could start sipping my glass, P had downed his and was asking for the next. Yes, it’s sour cherry juice - from a package - and it’s quite good, also unusual onboard a plane, but it’s just juice. After the third glass, P told the flight attendant, who by this point had understood the gravity of the matter, to forego bringing fresh glasses after each refill, lest we drain the supply of crystal. Never mind, we never arrived at that point, and P was devastated when, after only the fifth glass, and before dinner had been served, he was told there was no more сок вишнёвый left. He had counted drinking 14 glasses on his Dusseldorf-Moscow flight, so he was shocked the supply had run out so quickly. Mind you, I had joined him, at a somewhat reduced ratio, but that was that. We were left drinking water.
Looking through the menu, note there is no mention of sour cherry juice, only the broad category of “juice”. It’s a secret, off-the-menu only-upon-request item.
The meal was totally fine but unremarkable, more kasha and a very good raspberry mousse dessert.
We then used the remaining hours of the flight to catch some much-needed sleep, with P in his Qatar Airways pyjamas and me in my Singapore Airlines apparel…