K1 Travel Requirements

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

15 hours ago, millefleur said:

Helsinki and Prague also have great airports but again they don't really make sense unless it's your destination.

Well, given that this is the RUB forum, Helsinki (in normal times) might make sense if you're going to St. Petersburg given a high-speed rail connection that's no longer than from Moscow and better connectivity to the US ...

 

Though when I was meeting Anastasia in Europe I ended up flying direct most of the time (and she direct once she got to Moscow), and the one time I changed planes it was between budget carriers and so not at a normal hub (was Stockholm).

 

16 hours ago, slavaskii said:

Frankfurt is downright awful, wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy. 

Okay, but there is a direct flight from San Diego, hence me looking into connecting there.

[millefleur 5,046]

2 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Well, given that this is the RUB forum, Helsinki (in normal times) might make sense if you're going to St. Petersburg given a high-speed rail connection that's no longer than from Moscow and better connectivity to the US ...

Yes, for Petersburgers this is ideal. We don't get too many Petersburgers here on VJ, or in general here in the US. My husband and I wanted to take a direct flight from ORD to Helsinki and then get on the train, but last month the Allegro train was still not running to SPB. It seems like it will be picking up again soon, and next time I can't wait to take a direct FinnAir flight! I've taken Allegro before when we flew to Helsinki from Amsterdam and it was awesome. A direct flight from the US to Finland is even better! We are lucky Chicago has that option, it's only Covid that prevented us from taking it.

 

2 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Okay, but there is a direct flight from San Diego, hence me looking into connecting there.

On my last flight I flew direct from ORD to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to SPB. I hated Frankfurt so much that I never want to repeat that again, haha. The endless flights of stairs (which you will need to haul your luggage up and down, multiple times) and shuttle buses is a kind of torture I hope to never repeat again. I also go pulled into a secondary security screening by police at Frankfurt for no apparent reason other than being "randomly selected" and that did not add to the experience either.

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by millefleur

[slavaskii 886]

8 hours ago, millefleur said:

On my last flight I flew direct from ORD to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to SPB. I hated Frankfurt so much that I never want to repeat that again, haha. The endless flights of stairs (which you will need to haul your luggage up and down, multiple times) and shuttle buses is a kind of torture I hope to never repeat again. I also go pulled into a secondary security screening by police at Frankfurt for no apparent reason other than being "randomly selected" and that did not add to the experience either.

 

I'm just under the impression that Frankfurt is a disaster for transiting during COVID. I wrote about this previously before, but in December they tried to force me to stay in the airport for 3 days and pay hundreds of euros for a COVID test. Even though this was still in 2020 and you can give some slack for it still being 'early' in the pandemic, the airport had listed on their website they had PCR testing available for all travelers in the airport. Only upon arriving did I learn from a security officer that it was past customs, and I was not allowed through there at all. I was actually going to agree to waiting a few days for the test (as I didn't see any other option) but when I asked about the airport hotel I was literally laughed at and told it was a scam. Point blank, was told it was a scam. 

 

*Also, when I asked them about flying to Kyiv instead of Minsk, they told me I wasn't allowed to do so and I had to argue with them to transfer my bags anyway. Unless something's significantly changed, they're too overburdened and you're almost going there at your own risk.

[millefleur 5,046]

1 minute ago, slavaskii said:

Unless something's significantly changed, they're too overburdened and you're almost going there at your own risk.

The general atmosphere of the airport is beyond chaotic. When we were waiting at the Lufthansa gate for the flight to SPB, people started gathering and taking seats as it was before the gate had officially opened. About 20 minutes later, the Lufthansa staff showed up and yelled at everyone to GET UP and form a line on the other side of the gate. They didn't even explain what was going on, just told everyone to move and get in line. Turns out they needed to check everyone's passport + Covid docs only to let us go back and sit back down to where we had all been sitting before they showed up. I've never experienced that level of sloppiness in a European airport before, and Lufthansa is Germany's flagship airline. Needless to say I don't want to fly Lufthansa again either. It seems like Frankfurt was bad before Covid, and now it's become even worse.