Off to somewhere cold this winter!
Oct. 7th, 2004 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fluffymarkYay shiny! ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alektoeumenides is fab. She has invited me to spend the New Year in Moscow with her. Because Russia is such an incredibly silly place to go at that time of year, I have to say yes. And you know, snow is pretty much guaranteed. It all sounds terribly exciting, because I’ve never been anywhere as cold as that before. Yay. *bounce*
BUT of course, theres the usual visa hassle of getting access to Russia. This I can now cope with, I thought. So I pootle along to the Russian Consulate Website and suddenly spot this - “Entry to Russia may be refused and airlines may not carry passengers holding passports with less than six months validity”. Which has never been a problem before, but my passport expires in February. So it now is a Problem. I’m guessing this means I have to apply for a new passport NOW. And I’m then confused about whether to apply for the visa using the old passport (with the less than 6 months validity left) or the new one (which won’t be valid until February). I’m guessing it should go in the old one, and then I carry both passports with me - is that right? Does anyone here know?
The visa invite itself may also be complicated. Usually this is arranged at the hotel/hostel I’d stay at, like it was when I visited St Petersburg in May, but I’d be staying at Val’s flat. So the only way to get an invite is to find a hotel which is willing to invite me without me having to actually stay there, or force someone in Moscow to go through the real pain or arranging a private invite.doseybat I know you said yesterday that you think your family could arrange something - don’t if it’s going to be a major hassle, but I’m going to need some help from somewhere for this one.
And while I’m asking questions, one for all of you people who regularly travel to/from Russia, who do you get your plane tickets from? I’ve never booked a flight that wasn’t a budget airline before, so I don’t know how “proper” airlines work. Um. *makesuselessnoises*
alektoeumenides is fab. She has invited me to spend the New Year in Moscow with her. Because Russia is such an incredibly silly place to go at that time of year, I have to say yes. And you know, snow is pretty much guaranteed. It all sounds terribly exciting, because I’ve never been anywhere as cold as that before. Yay. *bounce*BUT of course, theres the usual visa hassle of getting access to Russia. This I can now cope with, I thought. So I pootle along to the Russian Consulate Website and suddenly spot this - “Entry to Russia may be refused and airlines may not carry passengers holding passports with less than six months validity”. Which has never been a problem before, but my passport expires in February. So it now is a Problem. I’m guessing this means I have to apply for a new passport NOW. And I’m then confused about whether to apply for the visa using the old passport (with the less than 6 months validity left) or the new one (which won’t be valid until February). I’m guessing it should go in the old one, and then I carry both passports with me - is that right? Does anyone here know?
The visa invite itself may also be complicated. Usually this is arranged at the hotel/hostel I’d stay at, like it was when I visited St Petersburg in May, but I’d be staying at Val’s flat. So the only way to get an invite is to find a hotel which is willing to invite me without me having to actually stay there, or force someone in Moscow to go through the real pain or arranging a private invite.
doseybat I know you said yesterday that you think your family could arrange something - don’t if it’s going to be a major hassle, but I’m going to need some help from somewhere for this one.And while I’m asking questions, one for all of you people who regularly travel to/from Russia, who do you get your plane tickets from? I’ve never booked a flight that wasn’t a budget airline before, so I don’t know how “proper” airlines work. Um. *makesuselessnoises*
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Date: 2004-10-07 05:06 pm (UTC)Re the airlines, you can either go to a travel agent, or book online. Some travel agents haven't heard of Aeroflot, which is a *lot* cheaper than any of the other airlines that fly into Moscow, so beware if they only quote British Airways prices. As for Aeroflot, it is possible to book directly from it's web site -- there is an English version, so it's not that difficult.
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Date: 2004-10-08 02:09 am (UTC)Russian visa agencies sound fab - do they really do everything, saving the haddle of obtaining an invite? Yay. Would be willing to pay for that. I don't suppose you could remember which one you used when you visited bat?
Last time I flew to Moscow cheapest was Aeroflot, but that was 1999, and I was wondering if anything had changed since then.
Yay wonderful Sarah for having lots of answers to my pathetic questions. :)