Why so few Aeroflot posts?
 

Over the last few months (planning family summer vacation to Europe, possible business trip to India) I have noted that Aeroflot is MUCH less expensive for many flights. I saved about $500/person on flights to Eastern Europe this summer.

Of course, I am talking about flights in coach (which is where I mostly fly when I am paying for family vacations).

Anyway, I am surprised, given the huge cost savings, that I don't see more posts here in FT about Aeroflot. (I don't have a particular question - just an observation)

Russian visa costs and hassles often don't make it worthwhile, especially when longer transits are required.

That is a good point. There are often (coming from LA) very long connection times in SVO. However, with the flight being $500 cheaper, and the Visa costing about $160 (3 year multiple entry), it still looked like a good deal to me.

Originally we were, because of the Visa costs, just going to "tough it out" in the transit wing of the Novotel hotel. But then we decided to actually see Moscow in one direction, put in a one day stopover (cost is $75 US), and, having decided to purchase the 3 year multi visa (only $20 more than 1 entry transit), we will stay in one of the airport hotels in the other direction.

The total cost is STILL way less than flying any other airline.

Normally aeroflot is not the cheapest option to europe and it does add quite a few hours to travel time aside from svo connection concerns...
recent crisis certainly inpacted overeall loads on su so more deals there...

High Russia visa cost.
 

Two summers ago, paid $850 for return air ticket to Moscow plus a total of $400 Russia Visa charge ($200 for tourist visa, $200 for travel agent Visa "processing fee".)

$400? You were mugged.

I think that most connecting times in Sheremetyevo for Aeroflot are quite long. No need for a visa if you are in transit. There are 4 transit hotels at the airport which range from $64 to $100. They also have hourly rates with a minimum of 4 hours. When flying from the US to Bangkok, which is on the other side of the world, it's a good thing to be able to break up the trip and rest up at Sheremetyevo. Just my opinion.

Found good flights but can't book them
 

I found Aeroflot flights from IAD to BEG via SVO. Tried to book them online but my credit card was not accepted. I cleared cookies, used a different card, and used a different browser, but none of these helped. I called Customer Care at 866-879-7647 and gave the CSR my reservation code. He found the reservation and asked me to enter the credit card number over the phone. But that also did not work.

What else can I do?

Try to find and book the flights on any major OTA - Expedia, Orbitz, etc.

Have you tried calling your credit card provider? They should be able to tell you whether the transaction has not even reached their system (which implies a problem at Aeroflot's side) or has reached them but been blocked for security reasons (which seems the more likely explanation in this scenario). If the latter, your credit card provider should be able to unblock the transaction, once you have confirmed it is genuine. You may then need to call Aeroflot back again, either to give them a confirmation number from the credit card company, or to ask them to attempt the transaction again.