YUL to IKT advice/suggestions
Sep 19, 2018, 9:13 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: Aeroplan, AirMiles, BMO rewards
Posts: 1
YUL to IKT advice/suggestions
Hello,
Just starting to plan a trip YUL to IKT. What would be best advice regarding either cheapest flights, intersesting layover, and/or flight redemption ideas. Willing to sign up for a few new credit cards if that is helpful. Thank you so much for any input!
Just starting to plan a trip YUL to IKT. What would be best advice regarding either cheapest flights, intersesting layover, and/or flight redemption ideas. Willing to sign up for a few new credit cards if that is helpful. Thank you so much for any input!
Sep 19, 2018, 11:56 pm
#2
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,776
The more information given the better informed the responses can be.
Where do you reside?
What banking/credit card options are open to you?
What desired class of service do you desire?
One-way or return trip?
When are you planning on traveling?
when are you planning on booking?
Any existing miles balances? Any existing points balances?
Any existing banking/credit card relationships?
Where do you reside?
What banking/credit card options are open to you?
What desired class of service do you desire?
One-way or return trip?
When are you planning on traveling?
when are you planning on booking?
Any existing miles balances? Any existing points balances?
Any existing banking/credit card relationships?
Sep 20, 2018, 2:29 pm
#3
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: Qatar, Turkish, Aeroflot
Posts: 546
I promise you IKT is a miserable airport. Manual check in is basically a necessity (unless you have access to a printer there) as mobile boarding passes are compulsory on all Russian departing flights both international and domestic. The lounge for domestic flights is nothing to shout about either, but it is very close to downtown Irkutsk (which is very uninteresting anyway). At least Aeroflot fly there 4 times daily. I would avoid the Boeing flights at all costs.
An option could be to go to/from Ulan Use on the opposite side of Baikal. The issue then is only S7 has any sort of alliance flying there...and they aren't recommended for their seasonal 6 hour haul to Moscow!
If you only plan to see a small bit of Baikal, Listvyanka, the nearest village from Irkutsk on the shore, is a tourist trap dive. Highly recommended to go to other parts of the lake! I only had the time to go there due to being on a business trip and highly time constrained. Alas I can't recommend anywhere else but there are rail connections around most of the lake to different towns at least.
As for stopovers, no trip to Russia would be complete without visiting Moscow and/or St Petersburg. 3 years of living in Moscow later and I still love the place as much as I did when I first visited 8 years ago. Other cities of interest could be Kazan, Ekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk eastbound, or Sakhalin, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk westbound. Some done by train, some by flight. Flights in the far East are likely to be done by Aurora, subsidiary of Aeroflot, but as of late October, most transcontinental flights will be Rossiya only (another Aeroflot subsidiary, also not recommended)
An option could be to go to/from Ulan Use on the opposite side of Baikal. The issue then is only S7 has any sort of alliance flying there...and they aren't recommended for their seasonal 6 hour haul to Moscow!
If you only plan to see a small bit of Baikal, Listvyanka, the nearest village from Irkutsk on the shore, is a tourist trap dive. Highly recommended to go to other parts of the lake! I only had the time to go there due to being on a business trip and highly time constrained. Alas I can't recommend anywhere else but there are rail connections around most of the lake to different towns at least.
As for stopovers, no trip to Russia would be complete without visiting Moscow and/or St Petersburg. 3 years of living in Moscow later and I still love the place as much as I did when I first visited 8 years ago. Other cities of interest could be Kazan, Ekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk eastbound, or Sakhalin, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk westbound. Some done by train, some by flight. Flights in the far East are likely to be done by Aurora, subsidiary of Aeroflot, but as of late October, most transcontinental flights will be Rossiya only (another Aeroflot subsidiary, also not recommended)
Sep 21, 2018, 11:16 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
Programs: TK ELPL (*G), AS 100K (OWE), BA Gold (OWE), Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 7,763
The cheapest possible option, paying cash, is probably via China.
Depending on your dates, it's possible to fly YUL-PEK/HKG-YUL for less than $600 and PEK/HKG-IKT-PEK/HKG for less than $300.
With China's 144 hour TWOV, I'd recommend taking a day or two in China (mainly so that if your inbound is late, you don't lose your onward ticket).
Depending on your dates, it's possible to fly YUL-PEK/HKG-YUL for less than $600 and PEK/HKG-IKT-PEK/HKG for less than $300.
With China's 144 hour TWOV, I'd recommend taking a day or two in China (mainly so that if your inbound is late, you don't lose your onward ticket).