TRAVEL TIPS: Surfing the web and direct flights to Ukraine
by Walter Prochorenko
You're an expert websurfer and an experienced traveler, but finding the best deal for a flight to Ukraine can still be a daunting experience. One of the reasons is that the only airline that flies directly to Ukraine - AeroSvit - still does not appear on many of the popular travel sites. The other reason is that even if you do find AeroSvit flights on your favorite travel pages, the prices can be quite different from each other.
AeroSvit is not usually the least expensive for such flights, but for a nine- to 10- hour flight, very few people are willing to extend this time by adding the time it takes to connect on top of this. The cheapest fare for this route was actually via Moscow with an Aeroflot/AeroSvit connection, which came to $647, including taxes.
A recent survey of the most popular websites showed a marked difference in pricing among them. The chart above shows these differences for an AeroSvit flight originating at New York's JFK International Airport to Boryspil for the dates March 19-26. Please note that taxes can be a large portion of your flight bill. The AeroSvit flight fare on its website showed a charge of $484, but the tax on top of this was $244.50.
| www.AeroSvit.com | $728.50 |
| www.AirGorilla.com | $707.93 |
| www.CheapSeats.com | Not shown |
| www.CheapTickets.com | Not shown |
| www.Expedia.com | $1,949.00 |
| www.Kayak.com | $849.00 |
| www.OneTravel.com | Not shown |
| www.Orbitz.com | $859.00 |
For those who are not familiar with AeroSvit or its flights, AeroSvit utilizes Boeing aircraft and is the airline that took over the Air Ukraine routes when Air Ukraine was no longer allowed to land its Soviet-era planes at international airports due to noise and air pollution regulations.
For business travelers AeroSvit airlines can be a substantial bargain since the flight costs can be 50 percent to 70 percent (and sometimes even more) less than connecting business-class flights on other airlines.
Service on AeroSvit is a marked improvement over the old Air Ukraine flights that were often marred by very poor quality of service, bland meals and noisy airplanes.
For those who don't want to purchase tickets online, you can still call your local travel agent and ask for a booking on AeroSvit.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 26, 2006, No. 13, Vol. LXXIV
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