Questions about interview for Russian citizen in Warsaw Poland

[StevenInAtlanta 41]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60539303

 

This situation is probably going to kill my trip to Moscow to see my wife of 7 March.  I am flying Delta and KLM which is Royal Dutch Airlines. As of 27 February I can't tell if I can fly to Russia or will be able to fly out of Moscow on KLM (going through Amsterdam both ways) This is a 2 week trip, I have not seen her, we have not been together in 6 months. At the very least I can see long delays, flight cancelations, maybe more. I'm sad, PO'd, upset and frustrated all at the same time and I'm for all practical purposes helpless to prevent what will happen.....

 

Geeeeesh!

 

[millefleur 5,046]

2 hours ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60539303

 

This situation is probably going to kill my trip to Moscow to see my wife of 7 March.  I am flying Delta and KLM which is Royal Dutch Airlines. As of 27 February I can't tell if I can fly to Russia or will be able to fly out of Moscow on KLM (going through Amsterdam both ways) This is a 2 week trip, I have not seen her, we have not been together in 6 months. At the very least I can see long delays, flight cancelations, maybe more. I'm sad, PO'd, upset and frustrated all at the same time and I'm for all practical purposes helpless to prevent what will happen.....

Did the Netherlands ban Russian airlines yet (which results in Russia banning them from their airspace)? I haven't seen it yet. Here's a map from today:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/germany-and-italy-are-latest-to-ban-russian-aircraft-from-airspace

 

 

 

In the worst scenario go via Turkey. Major airport in Istanbul and they're more or less staying out of the European conflict. I'm sure Turkey will be thrilled to have monies pouring back into their flailing economy again as well. Istanbul is supposed to be one of the nicest airports in the world. In November, I flew through Germany-Frankfurt and I regret not going via Istanbul instead.

 

 

 

 

[StevenInAtlanta 41]

As of today, Delta and KLM are still reporting the flights as occurring and being on time. These are not Russian aircraft such as those flown by Aeroflot, which from what my wife has told me all flights seem to be canceled till 2 March.  9 days to go....anything could happen.

[slavaskii 886]

1 hour ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

As of today, Delta and KLM are still reporting the flights as occurring and being on time. These are not Russian aircraft such as those flown by Aeroflot, which from what my wife has told me all flights seem to be canceled till 2 March.  9 days to go....anything could happen.

KLM has cancelled all of its flights to/from Russia. The entire EU has banned Russian planes from using their skies or landing at their airports (er, Russia has "cancelled" their European routes, my bad). In return, Russia has banned their European counterparts from flying to them. Ironically I think the daily Moscow-Zurich flight on Swiss may be running solely through the loophole that Switzerland isn't EU, but yeah, that's the only way to get a direct flight from Moscow to Europe.

 

Otherwise, as @millefleur said above, your options are Istanbul or Dubai. As someone who dealt with the whole Belavia shenanigans, you should probably get used to liking Turkish

[millefleur 5,046]

1 hour ago, slavaskii said:

The entire EU has banned Russian planes from using their skies or landing at their airports (er, Russia has "cancelled" their European routes, my bad).

3 hours ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

As of today, Delta and KLM are still reporting the flights as occurring and being on time. These are not Russian aircraft such as those flown by Aeroflot, which from what my wife has told me all flights seem to be canceled till 2 March.  9 days to go....anything could happen.

 

OK this is interesting, so much conflicting info out there it makes my head spin. I agree with @slavaskii that Turkey/Turkish Airlines via Istanbul is the best bet no matter what. That's interesting @StevenInAtlanta that KLM said that because according to their official website, they are not flying to Russia as of Feb 26th.

 

https://www.klm.ru/en/information/travel-alerts#crisis-in-ukraine

 

In light of the situation in the region, KLM has decided to suspend flights to and from Russia as well as the overflight of Russian airspace until further notice as from 26 February 2022, with the following consequences:

 

- the suspension of flights to/from Moscow and Saint Petersburg effective since 26 February and until further notice,

- the temporary suspension of flights to/from China, Korea and Japan, while KLM studies flight plan options to avoid Russian airspace, in compliance with Dutch and international authorities' directives. We’ve individually informed all our passengers for whom this affects their travel plans. We continue to monitor the situation and will inform you here once there’s an update.

 

Everything is so super confusing right now and changing all the time, I would double check this info again. 🤯

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by millefleur

[slavaskii 886]

28 minutes ago, millefleur said:

 

OK this is interesting, so much conflicting info out there it makes my head spin. I agree with @slavaskii that Turkey/Turkish Airlines via Istanbul is the best bet no matter what. That's interesting @StevenInAtlanta that KLM said that because according to their official website, they are not flying to Russia as of Feb 26th.

 

https://www.klm.ru/en/information/travel-alerts#crisis-in-ukraine

 

In light of the situation in the region, KLM has decided to suspend flights to and from Russia as well as the overflight of Russian airspace until further notice as from 26 February 2022, with the following consequences:

 

- the suspension of flights to/from Moscow and Saint Petersburg effective since 26 February and until further notice,

- the temporary suspension of flights to/from China, Korea and Japan, while KLM studies flight plan options to avoid Russian airspace, in compliance with Dutch and international authorities' directives. We’ve individually informed all our passengers for whom this affects their travel plans. We continue to monitor the situation and will inform you here once there’s an update.

 

Everything is so super confusing right now and changing all the time, I would double check this info again. 🤯

 

Another good 'resource' is to actually just go to SVO or DME's website and check their arrival and departure schedule. Currently, all flights to/from EU in the immediate future are cancelled. I wouldn't bet on this changing anytime soon.

 

I think the initial confusion came from the fact that there was a period of like 12 hours where what @StevenInAtlanta said was actually true; that is, KLM was flying and not Aeroflot. That was because some EU states took the initiative to ban the Russian carriers before Russia had time to respond themselves. If I'm not mistaken, KLM actually decided not to fly before Russia retaliated, though that's still confusing to me; I can't find anything concrete about Russia's response, but I'm almost entirely sure they did ban European carriers as well.

 

Nonetheless, if you are still planning on going to Moscow, you will almost certainly need to go through Istanbul or Dubai. That's just the way things will be. Although I'm not even sure of the viability of the Turkish flights because, while they've been soaking in tons of business from Eastern Europeans lately, their flight maps to Minsk and Moscow are ridiculous. They're flying insane routes to get to Minsk - I just checked FlightRadar and they're forced to make the longest loop imaginable, the flight is now five hours long. My suggestion for you would be to book the flight with Turkish and make sure it's refundable. They're your only way in no matter what, so that extra money is sort-of non-negotiable now. 

Edited February 28, 2022 by slavaskii

[StevenInAtlanta 41]

I'm pretty much hosed on this trip to Moscow right now.....

[C@m 23]

5 hours ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

I'm pretty much hosed on this trip to Moscow right now.....

Hi, have you tried looking at flights that go through Istanbul, Dubai, or Doha? Looks like you're in Atlanta and I see some 1-stop flights that go through Doha and Istanbul. 

Edited March 2, 2022 by C@m

[Simplytex 387]

On 2/27/2022 at 9:58 AM, StevenInAtlanta said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60539303

 

This situation is probably going to kill my trip to Moscow to see my wife of 7 March.  I am flying Delta and KLM which is Royal Dutch Airlines. As of 27 February I can't tell if I can fly to Russia or will be able to fly out of Moscow on KLM (going through Amsterdam both ways) This is a 2 week trip, I have not seen her, we have not been together in 6 months. At the very least I can see long delays, flight cancelations, maybe more. I'm sad, PO'd, upset and frustrated all at the same time and I'm for all practical purposes helpless to prevent what will happen.....

 

Geeeeesh!

 

While I can totally sympathize with you Steven - I had a flight booked to leave on Saturday! - I personally have cancelled my trip. I'm a pretty risk-tolerant person, I spent a large portion of my young life in third world countries, I've already been to Russia several times, all that, but given the volatility of the situation right now, my internal alarm bell has been going off.

 

Seriously - you don't want to

1. Get stuck there without a route out, and right now a 'return ticket' doesn't really cut it since flights can always get cancelled;
2. No idea what is going to happen with the currency situation, various reports of MV/Visa cards working/not working, bank transfers working/not working;
3. Retaliation from the Russian govt - the US ambassador just got the boot out of Moscow, and there are some rumors circulating of Putin cracking down internally on Friday.

As long as you know your loved ones are safe and looked after for the short term, I'd suggest pulling the plug on a trip right now, and waiting at least a few more weeks if not a couple months, to at least see where the pieces have fallen. The worst thing you could do for your family at this point, is put yourself at risk with the various uncertainty.

[slavaskii 886]

48 minutes ago, Simplytex said:

While I can totally sympathize with you Steven - I had a flight booked to leave on Saturday! - I personally have cancelled my trip. I'm a pretty risk-tolerant person, I spent a large portion of my young life in third world countries, I've already been to Russia several times, all that, but given the volatility of the situation right now, my internal alarm bell has been going off.

 

Seriously - you don't want to

1. Get stuck there without a route out, and right now a 'return ticket' doesn't really cut it since flights can always get cancelled;
2. No idea what is going to happen with the currency situation, various reports of MV/Visa cards working/not working, bank transfers working/not working;
3. Retaliation from the Russian govt - the US ambassador just got the boot out of Moscow, and there are some rumors circulating of Putin cracking down internally on Friday.

As long as you know your loved ones are safe and looked after for the short term, I'd suggest pulling the plug on a trip right now, and waiting at least a few more weeks if not a couple months, to at least see where the pieces have fallen. The worst thing you could do for your family at this point, is put yourself at risk with the various uncertainty.

I most certainly agree with this. I think it's a very telling sign that literally every conceivable flight out of Russia to the west right now is booked solid. I myself had actually seen a flight from Moscow to Belgrade yesterday that seemed to be an interesting 'loophole' to the West, and then saw CNN (or someone) run an article about how that flight in particular was being bought-out by the wealthy elite. Lol.

 

The economy is in complete and total collapse. Credit cards have already stopped working, and there are many businesses that have signs up saying they're afraid to even try cards because of SWIFT uncertainties. While I completely recognize how badly you must want to see your wife (let's face it, it's been hell to get to Eastern Europe lately), there's a high, high probability of this going awry. I have never seen the routes out of Russia completely dry up like this. Unless you're planning on staying for months and have a lot of roubles on hand, I'd heed the warning of our State Department.  

Edited March 3, 2022 by slavaskii

[TBoneTX 45,288]

Sincere sympathies to everyone here who's adversely affected by all this.  Let's hope that things will be all right once it all settles down.

[StevenInAtlanta 41]

Update.....

 

My flight was canceled by Delta, I was issued a refund by Delta. Initially customer service said they were going to charge me 30% of the value of the ticket price for a refund...I said not going to happen since THEY canceled the flight. Anyway after some strong words I got my full refund. To fly to Moscow Turkish Airlines is pretty much the only option, and the cost is more than double my previous flight and yes it would go through Istanbul. But and it's a big butt...

 

A week after the war starts and all the sanctions are put in place we get an email from the Polish embassy that we are scheduled for the final interview April 12!  WOW! What great timing!

• Russian citizens can not fly directly to any Polish destination, we knew that. We knew she would need an Schengen visa and were looking at going through Greece, nope they require a document declaring you are not flying elsewhere except home when you leave apparently. So we considered Italy.
• Airline sanctions require her to pretty much fly only Turkish airlines currently
• Getting the EU visa through Greece was not really an option, you have to sign a document guaranteeing you will not fly to another country except your home country after your visit
• Italy was the next choice, there you can fly to another country BUT you have to also show proof you have the financial resources available to pay for trip expenses like food, taxi, lodging. The daily rate is approximately $75 per day. This requirement requires an additional $600 to put in her checking account that she can not access except in Russia.....
• Oddly enough, due to financial sanctions her Russian credit card will not work outside Russia
• Russian banks will not currently convert ruble to any other currency, but they will convert US dollars or Euros to rubles, this is no help
• USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, CanadaPost are no longer delivering to Russia, I can't send my family even a birthday card or package during the sanctions
• MoneyGram, Western Union, Xoom, Zele, Remitly, SmallWorld, PayPal are no longer options during sanctions, Western Union was the last to close, I can not send money electronically it seems at least in any conventional manner
• Because of the financial sanctions and wife's inability to use her card or exchange currency that requires me to meet her in the country of her first stop and then accompany her to the interview in Poland. She needs my US credit card to travel and will not travel through Turkey or into Poland without her bodyguard/husband.  I don't fault or blame her for this.
• For me to get to Italy I have to fly from Atlanta to Italy, not a big deal, then meet her there, we have to stay several days (also not so bad to HAVE to vacation in Rome a few days) then fly out together on same Turkish Airline to Istanbul, a brief layover, then fly together to Warsaw.  Then 3-5 days in Warsaw to complete the interview, then I fly back to USA (via Munich Germany) she returns to Moscow via Istanbul.  In other words, the single person going to Warsaw in times of peace cost was no more than $1500...now it's $4500+ and we both have to go because of the financial sanctions.  A 5 day trip is now a 10 day EU world tour.

Looking for ideas and advice on these items...

1. I am looking for innovative ways to get my wife money!  I saw what was coming and had the foresight to send her 3 months rent and food/utility allowance before the banks closed, but it's going to run out, how do I get her $$ in these bat sh^t crazy times?
2. I am looking for was to send her a care package, maybe airfreight via Turkish Airlines air freight? Any sage advice appreciated 
3. We had to request a reschedule for her interview.  We picked at random July with hopes the sanctions would be eased by then. Should we consider maybe trying to move her package to another country with a US embassy processing visa applications?  Which ones are Russian friendly and not backed up months or years?
4. Any sage, reasonable advice is welcomed....even if it sounds a bit crazy, I'll appreciate the effort to help us.

So as of right now, I am trying to put together a simple trip to Rome Italy for us both just to be together for about 5-7 days in mid April, then both return home to USA/Moscow. I plan to take a suitcase full of goods for her to return to Moscow with as well as a small fistful of Euro cash that she can use or convert in Moscow, that service is still available. Also get her an American credit card that will be worthless till the financial/bank sanctions are removed. Her rent is covered till July and we all have hopes that the dust will have settled by then and the government officials can smok'm peace-pipe.

 

 

[millefleur 5,046]

15 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

Airline sanctions require her to pretty much fly only Turkish airlines currently

Air Serbia is still offering flights between Serbia and Russia, just might be booked up/expensive.

 

19 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

I can not send money electronically it seems at least in any conventional manner

SWIFT still works with some banks. Please see this post:

 

19 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, CanadaPost are no longer delivering to Russia, I can't send my family even a birthday card or package during the sanctions

I don't have a verified answer but there are supposedly companies who will deliver to Russia:

https://en.polexp.com/

 

20 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

Oddly enough, due to financial sanctions her Russian credit card will not work outside Russia

Can she just carry cash and exchange it abroad or in an airport?

 

22 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

Also get her an American credit card that will be worthless till the financial/bank sanctions are removed.

Last I heard, American credit cards work in Russia. It's the Russian cards that don't work (unless it is Mir or UnionPay.)

 

24 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

we both have to go because of the financial sanctions.

26 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

She needs my US credit card to travel and will not travel through Turkey or into Poland without her bodyguard/husband.  I don't fault or blame her for this.

Why is she afraid to be in Poland or transit through Turkey alone? Istanbul airport is really safe, I don't think Poland is dangerous for single women travelers. I'm not sure I understood but if she travels with cash I think it should be fine? If she's not a seasoned traveler, I understand.

 

 

[StevenInAtlanta 41]

@millefleur  "Why is she afraid to be in Poland or transit through Turkey alone? Istanbul airport is really safe, I don't think Poland is dangerous for single women travelers. I'm not sure I understood but if she travels with cash I think it should be fine? If she's not a seasoned traveler, I understand."

When she tells me she will not do it....she's not going to do it. Trust me on this one.

 

Last I heard, American credit cards work in Russia.

I actually just checked with Wells Fargo on this and customer service says that you are correct.  I have no idea how long this will continue however. But I can get her a card on a joint account in case her bank, the largest in Russia defaults.  She has lived through a default twice in her life.

 

Can she just carry cash and exchange it abroad or in an airport?

Current exchange rates are not favorable, she will not exchange at the current rates. It's maybe a Russian thing, when you work so hard for so little, you pinch every ruble.

 

I don't have a verified answer but there are supposedly companies who will deliver to Russia

Trying to see if TurkishAir air-freight is an option, I have email in awaiting a reply.

[millefleur 5,046]

14 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

Current exchange rates are not favorable, she will not exchange at the current rates. It's maybe a Russian thing, when you work so hard for so little, you pinch every ruble.

Best plan is for you to send her an American bank card that connects to your account and she can use that to pay for stuff in airports (and in Russia perhaps) until she meets up with you.

 

15 minutes ago, StevenInAtlanta said:

Trying to see if TurkishAir air-freight is an option, I have email in awaiting a reply.

Please let us know what they say, it would be very helpful.