redbirdsj

I understand that US passport holders do not need a transit visa if staying less than 24 hours in a Russian airport and not exiting the international transit area. I planned to book two tickets on separate carriers to accomplish this (with about a 4 hour layover). However, this sentence from the US State Dept.'s web site was concerning:

"Additionally, please make sure you are ticketed straight through on one ticket and not on two tickets, which would require you to exit the transit zone."

Does anyone know if this is accurate at DME? Other reports I've read say that if you have your onward boarding pass, the procedure is to go to the transit desk, present your boarding pass, and proceed through security to your gate.

Temedar

I don't think the transit desk (or the authorities) really care about your ticketing arrangements, they only need the BP to be sure you're entitled to board an outbound flight.

MSPeconomist

I think the concern is that with separate tickets, you would need to exit to go to the counter to check in. I'm not sure about doing OLCI for flights originating in Russia. You could have the same problem if you're checking a bag and the first carrier won't check it through to your final destination.

redbirdsj

An update for future inquiries. I had separate SQ and HG tickets. I inquired with SQ and they actually did say that I could check through with HG to my final destination, but we were able to make the trip work with just carry-on luggage. I printed my boarding pass prior to leaving the US for the second flight and showed it to transit officials at security. No problems getting through. I did have to prove to SQ I had an onward flight (by showing printout of itinerary) as I didn't get the visa and had to have printed boarding pass in hand for security transit. So if you're going to do the same thing, make sure you print ahead of time.