The Fifa World Cup in Russia has begun! We thought we’d take this opportunity to explore the different ways you can fly from Australia to Russia with frequent flyer points. If watching all that football has inspired you to book a trip to this fascinating country, here are the best ways to get from Australia to Russia on points…
Firstly, let’s look at flights to Moscow. Keep in mind that Moscow has two main international airports. Domodedovo Airport (DME) is used by S7 Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, and Lufthansa. Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO) is used by Aeroflot, Finnair, Korean Air and most of the Chinese airlines. A third airport in Moscow, Vnukovo (VKO) is served by Turkish Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines.
If you’re redeeming Qantas points to Moscow, the easiest route is with Emirates via Dubai. Connections through Dubai are well-timed, and you’ll pay just 55,000 Qantas points + $294.18 one-way for Economy from Melbourne or Adelaide to Moscow. Business class costs 112,000 Qantas points + $654.18. Flights from Sydney or Brisbane to Moscow are slightly more expensive.
Other options using Qantas points include Qatar Airways via Doha or Japan Airlines via Tokyo Narita. Both options would cost 75,000 Qantas points one-way in Economy from the Australian east coast to Moscow.
If you have Virgin Velocity points or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, you can fly to Moscow with Singapore Airlines via Singapore. One-way flights from Sydney to Moscow cost 53,000 KrisFlyer miles and $111.83 taxes. If you book a round-trip award for 106,000 KrisFlyer miles, you can also add a free stopover in Singapore in one direction.
The same flights (albeit without the free stopover) can be booked through Virgin Australia for 65,000 Velocity points and the same amount of taxes. You may need to call Velocity to book these flights.
Using Velocity points, you could also fly Etihad Airways from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth to Moscow via Abu Dhabi. But the points and taxes required are both higher.
If you happen to live in Cairns, consider booking Hong Kong Airlines via Hong Kong. It should cost 56,000 Velocity points to fly from Cairns to Moscow. However, Hong Kong Airlines is discontinuing its flights to Australia from October.
Russia is a large country, so what about other destinations?
Emirates and Qatar Airways both also fly to St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. This city is also just a short flight away from Helsinki, a hub for Oneworld’s Finnair.
If you’re travelling to Siberia or eastern Russia, Oneworld’s S7 Airlines could come in handy. S7 Airlines has hubs in Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Vladivostok. As an example, you can fly with Qantas to Beijing and then pick up an S7 flight to Vladivostok for 49,000 Qantas points and $216.24 taxes.
If you happen to have miles with a SkyTeam airline, the SkyTeam alliance covers Russia extremely well. Russian-based Aeroflot is a member, and several other SkyTeam alliance members offer convenient one-stop connections from Australia to Russia.
Would you like help with redeeming your frequent flyer points?
Our Frequent Flyer Concierge service can help you to find a great itinerary using your own points, taking away the hard work. Just let the team know how many points you have and where you would like to go.
