How to book flights out of Russia for fiancee?

[Corp668 16]

My fiancee and daughter have their appointment in Warsaw on May 5th.  She already has a schengen visa for them both that is good through June 1st.  We are trying to immediately get them out of Russia, but the problem I am having is I can only search for flights on Russian flight booking sites but I cannot book those flights since Visa, MasterCard and Amex are blocked.  I also can't send her the money to book the flights because sending money is blocked too.

 

Does anyone know a website that will let me book these flights using my credit card?  There must be a bunch of us in this situation.

 

Or if that wont work what about ways to send money to Russia?  PayPal is blocked, what other sites are working?

[millefleur 5,046]

5 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

We are trying to immediately get them out of Russia, but the problem I am having is I can only search for flights on Russian flight booking sites but I cannot book those flights since Visa, MasterCard and Amex are blocked.

Can you not just buy them tickets via an American site like Kayak and pay with your American card? Just put the tickets in their name.

[slavaskii 886]

10 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

My fiancee and daughter have their appointment in Warsaw on May 5th.  She already has a schengen visa for them both that is good through June 1st.  We are trying to immediately get them out of Russia, but the problem I am having is I can only search for flights on Russian flight booking sites but I cannot book those flights since Visa, MasterCard and Amex are blocked.  I also can't send her the money to book the flights because sending money is blocked too.

 

Does anyone know a website that will let me book these flights using my credit card?  There must be a bunch of us in this situation.

 

Or if that wont work what about ways to send money to Russia?  PayPal is blocked, what other sites are working?

So my first question: which routes are you looking? Aeroflot still takes American cards, I'm almost entirely sure of it as I recently tried. If they're still not working for you, you'll have to book through Turkish/Air Serbia/Emirates. Any 'third country' airline will gladly take your card, and it will be easier for them to get out of Russia that way anyway. There is a wonderful Turkish flight VKO - IST - WAW on the 3rd for only $450. You will absolutely be able to book that flight with your card and put the tickets in their name. One can only question, however, if it will fly.

8 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Can you not just buy them tickets via an American site like Kayak and pay with your American card? Just put the tickets in their name.

Aeroflot was recently disconnected from the worldwide booking system, whatever that is. So they won't show up on sites like Expedia or Google Flights, making connections to Europe a bit of a pain in the rump. But that's why I exist!  

[millefleur 5,046]

10 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

Any 'third country' airline will gladly take your card, and it will be easier for them to get out of Russia that way anyway.

Best options right now are via Turkey and Serbia.

 

Turkey's economy has been in complete shambles for months now, I don't see them stopping flights between Russia and Turkey. They need the money too badly so unless a nuclear war happens I don't see them pulling the plug on Russian flights (which they're probably making more money off of than ever now.)

 

Also: Serbia has upped flights between Russia and Europe to meet demand. Also worth looking into.

https://balkaninsight.com/2022/03/02/air-serbia-increases-flights-to-moscow-as-eu-bars-russian-planes/

 

[Prizm123 1,086]

On 3/8/2022 at 4:00 PM, Corp668 said:

My fiancee and daughter have their appointment in Warsaw on May 5th.  She already has a schengen visa for them both that is good through June 1st.  We are trying to immediately get them out of Russia, but the problem I am having is I can only search for flights on Russian flight booking sites but I cannot book those flights since Visa, MasterCard and Amex are blocked.  I also can't send her the money to book the flights because sending money is blocked too.

 

Does anyone know a website that will let me book these flights using my credit card?  There must be a bunch of us in this situation.

 

Or if that wont work what about ways to send money to Russia?  PayPal is blocked, what other sites are working?

its a longshot, but are they able to take a train or something to anywhere else and then get a flight you can pay for from there?

[Boiler 45,519]

Serbia has doubled the number of flights to Moscow

[Corp668 16]

So we ended up getting a flight.  She is flying this coming week to Vietnam through Dubai.  I was not able to book a flight, I had the foresight to send her a few thousand $$ before the banks were blocked, and she ended up having to pay for the flight herself.  It cost over $5,000 for two one-way tickets and when we were looking on travel sites, if you didn't book immediately the price would be rising as you click refresh and then the flight would be unavailable in a matter of an hour or two.

 

I am trying to figure out a way to send money to Russia... anyone know?  She borrowed the balance of the $$ needed from her parents and they are most definitely not wealthy and need that money back sooner than later.

 

Our stress level is through the roof - I hope her mini-vacation in Vietnam will help relax her before we head to Poland for our interview, then on to the USA.

[millefleur 5,046]

31 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

 

I am trying to figure out a way to send money to Russia... anyone know?  She borrowed the balance of the $$ needed from her parents and they are most definitely not wealthy and need that money back sooner than later.

I actually just learned (thanks to my husband who found it) that Biden basically has made it illegal to send money in USD to anyone in Russia if you are a US citizen, via executive order. Here it is:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/11/executive-order-on-prohibiting-certain-imports-exports-and-new-investment-with-respect-to-continued-russian-federation-aggression/

 

(iv)   the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of U.S. dollar-denominated banknotes to the Government of the Russian Federation or any person located in the Russian Federation;

 

So, this is really lame. I don't think any bank in the US will send any USD denominated money to anyone in Russia. They won't want to risk breaking the law. Maybe sending in another currency? I'm not sure.

 

 

 

[millefleur 5,046]

**Thread now closed as OP has received answer and solved their problem.**

 

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