Flights on Aeroflot?

A friend of mine used it twice from Los Angeles (LAX) direct to Moscow and had no issues whatsoever. I think their fares are so low because, like Turkish Air, they are subsidized by the government. Read reviews on Skytrax although be prepared for bad reviews of just about any airline (I don't pay too much attention to them but you'll get more responses than this very narrow sample on the forum).

Just be aware of the connection times. You might have to spend the night in the Moscow airport, at least on the way home.

Flew roundtrip from DC to Moscow on AeroFLot with no problem. Hope you like pickled fish. We had it in some form for breakfast, lunch and dinner. During the flight many passengers congregated around the exit doors in the middle of the plane talking/laughing/drinking. I had no problem with it at all...and it was definitely CHEAP!

Aeroflot customer scores: http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/aeroflot-russian-airlines/
Aeroflot safety rating: http://www.airlineratings.com/safety_rating_per_airline.php

Of course I wont fly them on humanitarian grounds.

But it is good to know they have cleaned up their act:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/4448262/Aeroflot-says-drunk-pilot-no-big-deal.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7459700/Aeroflot-crashed-killing-dozens-because-pilot-was-drunk.html
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=8ab3b17b-b039-476c-9317-3f4cc00caa69

Aeroflot was the best airline I ever took on an overseas flight.

I flew Aeroflot from Chicago Midway to Shannon, Ireland, in the mid-1990s; from there the airplane went to Moscow. This wasn't long after communism fell. There was a brief spell of goodwill between Russians and Americans, and the airline was eager to make money.

The flight was on a new airplane. I had a comfortable seat for my 6 ft., 2 in. frame. I've never had a better meal on an airplane in my life. The service was superb.

Aeroflot probably put its best crews and newest airplanes on its American runs back then.

The best thing was the price: $505 for a mid-summer flight to Ireland. The primo airlines charged twice as much, and the B-level airlines 1.5x as much.

There is no guarantee that Aeroflot is the same now. The route I took, from Chicago to Shannon, was discontinued by the late-1990s. I wish it was still running. I'd take it again.

I once flew home from Europe on a United Boeing 777 when they broadcast the pilots' radio over the cabin's headphones. Scotland's air traffic control had about 5 other international flights going west in close proximity to each other--all at .85 mach. They kept pushing the Aeroflot flight to maintain speed, however their old plane wouldn't run but .80 mach. It was amusing to listen to the Russian pilots trying to keep up.

I think I'll stick to airplanes made elsewhere.

Aeroflot is now using new Airbus and Boeing equipment. Anyone looking for a used Ilyushin?

There are non-stop flights between Washington and Vienna using Austrian Airlines except on Tuesdays. That non-stop flight is 9hrs instead of 14hrs with a connection in Moscow.

If it's within your budget to do the Austrian Airlines direct flight, I'd take that route.

Thanks for the responses. We finally bit the bullet and decided to pay more for nonstop flights; Luftansa to Germany and Austrian (through Luftansa) for the return. :)