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-   -   Do I need a Visa if I am not leaving the airport? Separate PNR (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/russia/1927795-do-i-need-visa-if-i-am-not-leaving-airport-separate-pnr.html)

cfo314 Aug 28, 2018 7:13 pm
Do I need a Visa if I am not leaving the airport? Separate PNR
 
I booked a flight on Finnair to St. Petersburg (LED). I plan to connect to a BA flight and not leave the airport. I have separate PNRs. Do I need a visa? Thanks

luitje Aug 29, 2018 3:39 pm
Originally Posted by cfo314 (Post 30141538)
I booked a flight on Finnair to St. Petersburg (LED). I plan to connect to a BA flight and not leave the airport. I have separate PNRs. Do I need a visa? Thanks
No, as long as you travel with a carry-on only or convince AY agents to check your luggage through to London. You shouldn't have problems issueing your BP in LED, but just in case have a carbon copy of BA BP on you.


Transit Russian Fed. (RU)
Destination United Kingdom (GB)

[Visa Information - Transit] Russian Fed. (RU)
[Information For Normal Passports]
TWOV (Transit Without Visa):
Visa required, except for Passengers with a confirmed onward
ticket for a flight to a third country within 24 hours. They
must stay in the international transit area of the airport and
have documents required for the next destination.
- TWOV does not apply to passengers departing to Belarus.
- TWOV does not apply to passengers departing to Sevastopol
(UKS) or Simferopol (SIP).
- TWOV does not apply at Irkutsk (IKT), Kaliningrad (KGD),
Khabarovsk (KHV), Krasnodar (KRR), Mineralnye Vody (MRV),
Rostov-on-Don (ROV), Sochi (AER) and Yuzhno Sakhalinsk
(UUS).
Warning:
- There are no transit facilities at Irkutsk (IKT),
Kaliningrad (KGD), Khabarovsk (KHV), Krasnodar (KRR),
Mineralnye Vody (MRV), Rostov-on-Don (ROV), Sochi (AER) and
Yuzhno Sakhalinsk (UUS), passengers must comply with all
entry regulations for Russian Fed.

cfo314 Aug 29, 2018 4:08 pm
Carry-on only.

luitje Aug 29, 2018 6:44 pm
Originally Posted by cfo314 (Post 30145415)
Carry-on only.
You are all good then. Gate agents in HEL shall not be giving you any grief as they are quite familiar with LED and Russian visa policies. Once at the airport simply follow signs to "International Transfer".
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...701cdb7223.jpg

cfo314 Aug 30, 2018 7:47 am
Originally Posted by luitje (Post 30145890)
You are all good then. Gate agents in HEL shall not be giving you any grief as they are quite familiar with LED and Russian visa policies. Once at the airport simply follow signs to "International Transfer".
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...701cdb7223.jpg
Thanks @luitje. Should I take any precautions on the return? For that flight I'll be coming from LHR on BA.

Thanks again for your help.

luitje Aug 30, 2018 8:23 am
Originally Posted by cfo314 (Post 30147839)
Thanks @luitje. Should I take any precautions on the return? For that flight I'll be coming from LHR on BA.

Thanks again for your help.
This is a bit trickier. BA systems will see you ending your trip in Russia hence will require you go through a visa check prior to clearing security. This could be a hit or miss - there were cases when passengers were denied "ready to board" in these situations. Give a call to BA and ask them to link these PNRs (i.e. append BA booking with a remark of AY PNR). Since both legs are *O this shouldn't be an issue and will save you quite some time in LHR.

cfo314 Aug 31, 2018 8:40 am
Originally Posted by luitje (Post 30147975)
This is a bit trickier. BA systems will see you ending your trip in Russia hence will require you go through a visa check prior to clearing security. This could be a hit or miss - there were cases when passengers were denied "ready to board" in these situations. Give a call to BA and ask them to link these PNRs (i.e. append BA booking with a remark of AY PNR). Since both legs are *O this shouldn't be an issue and will save you quite some time in LHR.
Thanks again for the advice @luitje. I called BA and they said they were unable to link the PNRs (AY said this too). The BA agent told me she would put a note on both records but couldn't guarantee anything. I hope that's what you meant? My plan is to arrive at LHR early in case there are issues. I'm not sure what options I will have if I'm denied boarding though.

luitje Sep 4, 2018 2:35 pm
Originally Posted by cfo314 (Post 30152011)
Thanks again for the advice @luitje. I called BA and they said they were unable to link the PNRs (AY said this too). The BA agent told me she would put a note on both records but couldn't guarantee anything. I hope that's what you meant? My plan is to arrive at LHR early in case there are issues. I'm not sure what options I will have if I'm denied boarding though.
Yes, that's max any airline can do to link their record to a booking made with other airline. If you have Emerald status with *O I would strongly recommend going straight to the First Wing. With fewer customers checking in in that area, agents there have a luxury of spending a bit more time to understand and resolve a situation.
If not, head straight to Passport & Visa Desk (one at the very end of the check-in desks - I think in zone C and G). And, yes, arriving early is a sensible thing to do; you may also want to have a printout of your AY booking and visa rules from this site: http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/pass...quirements.htm or ask an agent to check Timatic for your situation.

cfo314 Oct 24, 2018 11:33 am
Quick follow-up: I had no issues on both legs.

The most important piece was having my boarding pass (outbound from LED) to present at the airport before boarding to LED. At LED I followed the signs @luitje posted above. There is a transfer desk and you show them your boarding pass and itinerary. Then, you sit down and wait for them to call the border control and security staff. They lead you into another room to have your passport and boarding pass checked. Then, it's the usual security routine. It's funny that they opened this up just for me - I was the only one to be screened. Once you exit the screening room you go up to the escalator and you are in the main terminal. Lounges on the 2nd floor.

I would say you need to allot at least 30-45 mins for this process since they have to call employees over. And definitely don't check bags because you will not be able to retrieve them.

Thanks again for your help @luitje.

luitje Oct 24, 2018 4:18 pm
Originally Posted by cfo314 (Post 30351218)
Quick follow-up: I had no issues on both legs.
Glad to hear it went well.
Curious whether you went through the first wing or used regular passport/visa check stations? Did they proactively ask for a connecting flight BP or did you offer one before them asking? How long did this check take?

cfo314 Oct 25, 2018 7:42 pm
Originally Posted by luitje (Post 30352309)
Glad to hear it went well.
Curious whether you went through the first wing or used regular passport/visa check stations? Did they proactively ask for a connecting flight BP or did you offer one before them asking? How long did this check take?
I stopped at the International Transfer Desk and presented my passport and boarding card. The attendant looked for a visa each time (mine expired). She asked me to sit and wait, this was the longest part 15 mins and 30 mins approximately.

They led me to a separate passport and security section behind the International Transfer Desk. This part only took a couple minutes to do the passport check and security. There was no one else being served.

luitje Oct 25, 2018 9:46 pm
Originally Posted by cfo314 (Post 30357008)
I stopped at the International Transfer Desk and presented my passport and boarding card.
Sorry, meant what was your experience at Heathrow?

cfo314 Nov 2, 2018 7:47 am
Originally Posted by luitje (Post 30357305)

Sorry, meant what was your experience at Heathrow?
Ah - I showed them my boarding card and there were no issues. They had a separate line for Russian flights so I assume they get this all the time.

Thanks again for your help.


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