SU 55 minutes connection at SVO F-F
 

I'm looking for a flights for a possible itinerary in July, and a possible combination shows a 55 minutes connection at SVO F-F. The MCT is 50 minutes.

If I travel with checked baggage, how much chance can the baggage make the connection? I'm going for sports competitions for 1.5 weeks, and need multiple pairs of shoes (including hiking shoes and running shoes) for different competitions, and also swim wear as well. If I am going to this, should I be better off try to squeeze all these things without checked baggage?

Another alternative is 3 hours and 20 minutes connection.

In my experience, this year, Aeroflot have gotten better at delivering luggage on time.

Still I'd highly recommend:

• Delayed baggage insurance
• Take all necessary stuff in your carry on
• longer or shorter connection doesn't matter (in my experience)

I would select 3 hr 20 min connection without thinking twice. What if your flight is late? What if the cruising time after landing will be longer (sometimes planes land and had to wait for either spare gate or move away and use buses to transfer passengers to the terminal - it might take 20 minutes easily)? Keep in mind boarding also closes 20 minutes sharp before scheduled flight time. I doubt the luggage will make it on time with 50 min. connection. I wouldn't risk it and get longer connection just in case.

Clearly, go with the 3hr20min connection.

IF the difference would be much larger (say, instead of 55min it being 8hrs) OR you'd travel with hand luggage only (or the checked in luggage doesn't matter that much) OR it wouldn't really be such a biggy for you if you missed your connection, you might choose the shorter connection (had a 1hr connection before, which was ample time, and luggage made it) since it wouldn't matter. But in your case, book the 3hr20min, enjoy the lounge, and just have much less worries about the whole thing.

totally agree with previous comments ,

it depends if you are connecting between long or middle/short haul flights and also during which season ,

but lets assume you arrive from asia and then continue to europe , so 3hours is the minimum i recommend

also as you really need these equipments , put as much as you can and you are allowed to take into your hand luggage (be aware of safety restrictions)

I'm a little worried now. I have a 55 minute connection later this month too. It was originally a 80 minute connection, but both flights have been made longer with the first having a later arrival and the second having a earlier departure.

I'll ensure I check a spare change of clothes in my hand luggage. I wouldn't have booked Aeroflot, but their Asia-Europe fares are incredibly low.

55 minutes is very very very low ! Call aeroflot and ask them if your booking can be modified without fees (its not your fault)

if they dont want to do it , then i ll suggest you to do like roadrunner in moscow and forget about politeness .

Because in 20 minutes you will have to unboard the plane by bus , then you need to pass through passport + security checks , and reach your gate

High probability that your checked luggages won't follow you and you will need to make your plans according to this risk

Is SVO really that bad? My flights are not changeable as they were the cheapest saver fares available.
I've never been to SVO before. I did once connect international - domestic with S7 at DME. I think my connection time was about 2 hours, and there was more than enough time to pass immigration, collect my luggage and check-in again.

Also, is luggage safe in SVO if it's left for 24 hours?

What happens if I miss my flight? There's only one a day to my destination from Moscow. Presumably, Aeroflot will have to provide a hotel - though it seems from reading some reviews that they aren't always forthcoming with them.

SVO is all updated (minus additional new terminal still under construction) and HUGE!
There are couple things that are not too logical, so instance, no clean zone transfer from D to B (but there is that option from B to D). The entrance to B security check could be better in my opinion. Coming from US on the plane with over 400 people we had to wait for buses to take us to terminal D - took about 40 minutes between we landed and entered terminal D for passport control. Ridiculous experience.

The most important thing is the time of the day you are traveling. During peak hours 2 hours might be just enough to transfer and 55 minutes are not doable at all. In off-peak hours 1 hour is plenty of time.

Aeroflot sucks big time in costumer service. Most passengers who missed their flights were treated poorly - they were asked to pay rebooking fee or buy new tickets and submit it for reimbursement (some people claimed its been over 3 months with no reimbursement still). Hotel was provided after hours in line to people with transit visa. But if you are on time it's a good experience really.
As for the luggage, I am not sure you can check it in 24 hrs in advance. I always checked my luggage in the original airport with transfer in Moscow so I didn't see my luggage until I landed in the US. At some point I had almost 12 hrs in Moscow and luggage was just fine.

SVO itself is not bad , however we are speakung about connection time of 55 minutes , if all flights are on time and onboarding process go normal , you will have a very small windows for delays

The problem is that probabilities that something goes wrong is unpredictable , so its better to try to anticipate the risks


DME is another story , and two hours is not 55 minutes

Once checked in you wont touch your luggage anymore , then it depends on how lucky you are or not

as kwise said , its really a lottery , however it also depends on your passports (if you can enter russian without visa or not , and if you can or cant stay more than 24hours in SVO) and also your final destination (3 flights per day is much better than one per day)

So, my flight was delayed landing by twenty minutes. That meant that my 55 minute connection was reduced to 35 minutes. I still made it. However, my bags didn't.

Any idea how easy it is to get compensation out of Aeroflot for a clean set of clothes and toiletries? The airport staff said I would have to contact Aeroflot as they were not authorized to discuss this.

Good thing you made it!
As for delayed luggage, call Aeroflot call center. I am almost positive they should compensate only if luggage is delayed more than so many hours (24 hrs?)

I actually made it quite easily. I got from one plane to the other in ten minutes without any rushing or running. I wasn't the last to board either. This was, of course, still within the same terminal.

I bought some underwear, a t-shirt and toiletries and will try my luck with Aeroflot. TBH, I've got no inhibition to suing them as I have done it successfully before (though that was EU delay compensation - It does, however, tell me my local court judge is sympathetic to these types of claims).