oranjemakker

Flew Aeroflot a few weeks ago from Paris to Guangzhou, via Moscow, in Y. Am an Elite Plus member of Skyteam

I was curious as to what this airline would be like.

Overall, pretty good, the seats were fine for Y and as a Elite member they let me book exit row on the long haul part (Moscow to Guangzhou). i had no one next to me in the 2-4-2 config so got the two exit row seats to myself. That was all good.

The transfer at Moscow was horrible. A very subpar security situation, pushing about four rows of transiting passengers through 2 very understaffed checkpoints. The person in front of me (a Chinese female traveler) even beeped walking through the screening but they didn't notice (or didn't care). This is a major oversight and very sloppy. it took a LONG time to get through the transit.

The lounges were also terrible, they had funky names but checked out two and they both sucked. Disgusting food and a very poor booze selection and uncomfortable seating. In their home airport one would expect better.

I also had a rather bizarre situation on the flight. Just before takeoff, I moved from the exit window to the exit aisle seat (which was literally right next to me) and as an exit i was sitting opposite the FA in the jump seat for takeoff and she was looking at me. After takeoff, she came to ma and said we were not allowed to change seats. it was so weird, since literally this was the seat right next to me. I asked politely if it might be Ok as a Skyteam premium member, and she said she needed to check with the FSM. She duly came back and said it was OK. I just found that really weird as it wasnt moving a row or anything, just the empty seat right next to me!

The other disappointing thing was the food and booze. I wasn't too worried about having to pay for alcohol (surprised maybe as it was a mainline long haul) but the choice was beer (which turned out to be warm) and no liquor. Not even vodka which i expected on Aeroflot! When I asked if they had vodka the FA looked at me like i was mad and said only in business class. And the food available to purchase was disgusting.

I flew it because it was a cheap one way, and as I said it was fine, but the connection experience at Moscow would put me off flying this airline again unless I had to.

fifty_two

sad for you , but it looks like you had very high expectations about aeroflot and SVO



next time read reviews online to be ready

bankops

The transit in SVO is usually fairly light. This is why it is not staffed with more than two machines. I personally have never had more than 5 passengers from any one flight. There are multiple lounges in SVO. You did not mention which terminal you were in, but I would assume you arrived in D and left out of F. There are Jazz and Blues in D and Classic in F. Food and drink are not the greatest in any, but you never saw what is was like in the mid 2000's or before. Huge improvement from back then I can assure you.

oranjemakker

Thanks for the reply. yes I think i was transiting to F. Those names "Jazz"; "Blues" and "Classic" conjured up images of something special!!! Certainly couldn't see any obvious theming there

oranjemakker

hahahah! Actually I had no real expectations. The only review I had read was one from OMAAT which was for business class. And I'm not complaining, just sharing my observations. The flight was on time and cheap and got there safely, all you can ask for in Y perhaps!

However, if I was travelling as a paid J I might feel more disappointed in the lounge and poor transfer experience (no priority security etc)

Concerto

Guys, this should probably be sitting in the Russian Airlines forum!

The problem with Aeroflot is that it is quite Soviet in its mentality and attitude of the staff. But I have found them nothing but excellent, with nice service and passable food and ok wines, nothing special. I found ground services at SVO extremely Soviet, but I found the transfer process ok and no more onerous than I would expect in a country like Russia. But my airline of choice there is S7 Airlines, where there is none of this Soviet attitude but a fresh, young approach with what I have found to be excellent customer service. Every phone call and interaction with S7 has been a pleasure. So when I need to book flights to Russia, or within Russia, I immediately think of S7. Shame their European network is so limited. Despite having SkyTeam Platinum status, I chose S7 for an upcoming internal Russian trip. (SU has the convenient SkyTeam rule of not allowing elites any lounge access on domestic flights).

RabbitIYH

The "Moscow" lounge in Terminal D is very decent, usually the one I end up using when traveling on SU. It can get pretty crowded at times however.

fifty_two

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ , these are just fancy names related to decoration , i tried gallery lounge twice and it was a decent lounge

miklcct

S7 is an airline based in Asia, unlike Aeroflot which is based in Europe.

Concerto

S7 is based in Novosibirsk, I think (unless it is Moscow DME, which could be also). Does Novisibirsk count as Asia? I guess for mileage redemptions that could well be the case. I have never checked for that city. But whichever, it's a good airline. I am sure most folks would not be disappointed with it.

Greenpen

I flew SU for the first time in August. I had never flown with them. and actually paid a little more than the equivalent flights with TK. My flights were fairly short, LHR - SVO and TAS - SVO - LHR and alas a change of scheduled aeroplane meant I did not experience a flat bed. However, it was a comfortable series of flights with efficient if rather Soviet service and I was pleased. The Ł100 or so it cost extra was worth it. The food was not up to TK standards. The only SU run lounge I used was in SVO and although crowded and a bit dirty (glasses, half eaten stuff not cleared from tables) it was fine, although a long way from the standard of TK in IST or BA Club in LHR. Certainly better than some airline lounges I have experienced.

Would I fly them again? Yes, but the price and type of aircraft would have to be right.

OpenSky

The SU lounges at SVO are kind of sad, almost an afterthought. No windows - make it look like a elevator shaft. I HATE GOING THERE, sometimes I don't bother.

the only advantage is the boarding announcements made by the ladies in the front, allow me to head to the gate at the right time, not too early not too late..

The domestic one being slightly better, with tarmac views.

Personally I think the best SU lounge in Russia is in LED ( domestic and international )

miklcct

Novisibirsk is in Asia

eastindywalrus

I'll echo what a few others have said - it sounds like you may have had your hopes up to Aeroflot. Would have been better to temper those expectations slightly.

A few things worth commenting on, though:

• In my various trips to Russia, I've noticed that certain metal detectors behave differently in the country. At large metro stations, all passengers walk through them as they enter, and literally every passenger would appear to set it off; however, if you look at the reverse side, there's a series of lights. The attendants at the entrance are watching the display of the lights to determine who they need to examine further, and are paying no attention to any of the tones. While I don't know for sure, I wonder if you may have run into something similar with the passenger ahead of you setting off the tone but continuing on uncontested. Just a guess, since I've actually found Russian airport security to be rather diligent, to put it nicely.
• It's been years since liquor has been served in economy on Aeroflot. A few too many individuals lived up to the age-old stereotype a few too many times, so Y is no longer the place to get sloshed on Aeroflot.

miklcct

Although SVO airport is terrible, I will still fly with Aeroflot in my future trips to Europe. No way I will switch to Finnair because it is too expensive (more than double Aeroflot price for a weekend trip).

On the SVO-CAN route, I personally feel that China Southern is better than Aeroflot in flight, however when I took that flight the miles didn't credit automatically, and I chased Aeroflot multiple times after a month of creating the request in the web form, and finally phone it using the elite member hotline. Only after that I saw my miles credited (and earned 25% extra miles due to recalculation on the point of silver entry)