Transiting in SVO or take train?
 

I have a upcoming business trip that puts me in Moscow and I am taking a few days off after work finishes, going to LED for some sight seeing.

As business won't cover the personal part, I need to decide between buying LED - SVO ticket on my own versus going back to Moscow on train then going SVO

I read online and got mixed comment that

1. SU won't connect transiting bags, they don't care if you are elite or not, as long as it's not single ticket ? (will buying full flex Econ ticket on domestic leg helps?)
2. I have to exit security and enter security again when I transit in SVO?
3. How delay prone will be LED - SVO? My SVO - HKG flight won't fly until 7pm-ish so would I be safe to fly from LED around 2pm to build padding for delayed flight and baggage re-check?

Any other tips?

1. I've never tried to get SU to check bags through across multiple tickets, so I can't speak to that. I will say that I've regularly seen the same thing that you have seen written - that they won't do it.
2. As for the security situation, I'd take a look at this page on Aeroflot's website, which is actually pretty in-depth: https://www.aeroflot.ru/us-en/inform...irport/transit Most LED-SVO flights arrive at Terminal D (based on today's schedule), with a few arriving at B instead. For all Domestic D arrivals and international departures from D, E or F, Aeroflot indicates you'll have to clear security again each time, regardless of whether or not you have to claim and recheck bags.
3. LED-SVO is a very heavy business route, and SU has a flight pretty much every hour during the day. They're going to get those planes out on time for the most part. I would say you're most certainly in the clear with a 5-hour layover, even on two separate tickets and needing to recheck bags along the way. I would do this without too much concern, and I really like to pad my connections to plan for contingencies.

1. Russian legislation dictates that they won't even issue boarding passes from a different airport (on separate bookings) even if they are on the same day, as I've found out, so I wouldn't be surprised if they wouldn't do this (bureaucracy)

2. arriving domestically in SVO, you just walk out, that's it. I have no idea what domestic > international transfer is like but the transfer desk should be able to point you into the right direction, but please do be aware of which terminal you arrive into - the newly opened Terminal B is a little bit far from Terminals D-E-F (but connected by free transfer)

3. I've only ever had one delay flying within Russia, which was 5 hours late at night and due to a snowstorm that just started. If anything, I've landed everywhere early! Not to mention LED-SVO is extremely frequent.

If you go by train from St P to Moscow, you'll arrive in Leningradsky (Oktyabrskaya on train tickets) vokzal (rail terminal), the Aeroexpress to SVO departs from Belorussky which departs on the hour and half hour. They're connected by the brown circle line on the metro, 10 minutes travel time (but bear in mind the several minutes you need to get from surface to platform and vice versa! (Moscow metro stations are VERY deep)

Trains are pretty punctual, although bear in mind they also have airport-style security in every major train station, the Sapsan takes 3.5-4 hours depending on which one you take - https://pass.rzd.ru/tickets/public/e...0&checkSeats=1

Emphasis mine. Important point here, for anyone who hasn't done a metro transfer to one of the main railway stations to catch an Aeroexpress or long distance train. There are quite a few spots in the Moscow metro where there are short flights of stairs to transfer from one line to another... stairs - not escalators. (Some spots have escalators, but not all.) Do keep this in mind if you have a suitcase that you're lugging around, especially if it's during rush hour. A taxi might not be a much better option given traffic (and how expensive it'll end up being). Certainly does make a two-ticket transfer at the airport much more appealing.

1. SU doesn't interline. That's been covered here extensively. I hate them for it. THEY WON'T EVEN SAMELINE. If you booked on a SU-SU flight with separate tickets. However, if you booked a ticket all the way though to LED, on the same ticket number, this will be checked to LED, as LED is able to receive international baggage.

2. You'll need to do that anyway even if you checked the bags though. Actually if you are arriving in D this process is quite easy. Down the escalator, walk to the baggage recheck area, take the escalator back up.

3. LED-SVO is not delay prone. Even in bad weather .I'm surprised how well these run.

But almost every staircase has ramps for suitcases anyway since so many Russians carry so much. I know for a fact from my weekly commute that upon exiting Komsomolskaya ring/brown line (the station one would need it arriving by train from St P) has a SHORT staircase WITHOUT a luggage ramp on the platform which then takes one to the escalator. Rush hour really is a bit of an issue, but still, luggage is expected on the ring line and people do move (kind of)

Also, eastindywalrus, if the OP chose the train then metro, there is no transfer needed between Komsomolskaya and Belorusskaya, it's a 4 stop, 8 minute ride between the two.

Taxis are not *that* expensive in Moscow either, I use them regularly and find that they are cheaper than most European capitals, particularly if one uses a hail app similar to Uber. But traffic on the ring roads are an utter nightmare to the point that the metro is a better option!

Can't say I've ever seen anyone but a babushka using those. :D

Fair enough - it'll be a year soon since I've been in Moscow. Looking to fix that soon enough, though. :)

Every time I've checked, it's been upon arrival in Moscow during rush hour. So, yeah, prices and traffic were both insane. I guess I might be a bad judge of the taxi prices though - in general, I think taxis are stupid expensive almost anywhere, so I think to take the metro if I can.

Going ot hete but the main purpose is help those with baby strollers not because ppl "carry so much" ;)

I know, I've been living here for the last 3 years...

Oh, younger people use the ramps too, particularly mothers!

Even the hail app one uses can influence the price, some of my clients use one because its cheaper than the other and so on. Not to mention taking the metro in Moscow is one of those quintessential experiences everyone should try. What's more is that Komsomolskaya circle line is hands down the most beautiful station on the network!

Oh, no doubt. It's just that every time I've taken it with a loaded suitcase in tow, I've emerged at a railway station drenched in sweat... either because it was 30 degrees out during the summer, or because I'm running around like a mad man with a thick coat in the middle of winter. My bags always seem to take forever at SVO baggage claim too. I've caught two northbound Sapsans with < 1 minute to spare after landing at SVO a short while before and hauling a suitcase through the metro. Not really an experience I want to have for a third time :D

Welcome to my world on a daily basis ;)

Thanks for everyone's comment, well appreciated!
I guess in that case I will use my fiancee's ticket to have 2 bags check directly LED - SVO - HKG and I travel as-if hand luggage only. Probably a way to get around the issue.
For that I was thinking to grab a taxi from the train station directly to SVO. My company will be paying for that so I guess that's OK-ish ....

Frankly I wonder why the Op would even bother. Unless the op is a train geek. Its basically a slower version of ICE3, and doesn't even reach top speed. And the views are nothing to speak of. Flying is quick.