[redhead2319057]

Since my husband and I are in the beginning stages of research, we are still looking at costs and finances and trying to cut back where we can. Frequent flyer miles might help in the travel department.
Has anyone used frequent flyer miles on their trips to Russia? And, if so, what cards did you find were the best? I see that they are airline specific and I do not even know what airlines fly to Russia or even if any of them do, so that we could use miles.
We are just trying to save where we can. I had never imagined adoption would be so expensive!
Thanks for your help-
Erin

[TweetyMom04]

For years we had used a card that was affiliated and vv with a major carrier. Over the years, we earned LOTS of FFM that - could - have been used.

However, the carrier, whom we had LOTS of FFM's with, flat out refused to allow us to use the miles for our trip. It was a blackout nor holiday period, just refused. Our agency did our travel arrangements and there was no compromising w/the carrier on this. We ended up paying out of pocket (we adopted in 04, 1 trip region, but still have 4 flights w/them. ATL to JFK and JFK to Moscow. Then Moscow to JFK and JFK to ATL).

Upon our return, we cut up the card and fly other carriers. There has been only one instance in 5 yrs, we HAD to fly them, but fortunately it was only one-way.

I will PM you the carrier and card.

[waiter]

There are lots of airlines that can get you there- or at least part of the way. It really depends on where you are starting from. I'd go online to the travel sites and plug in your starting airport and Moscow and see who comes up. Some of them are not going to be American airlines so it maybe more difficult to get frequent flyer miles. You also usually have very little notice as to when you travel so I'd look at what the chances are that you could get a seat using FF miles with less than a couple weeks notice. You might want to look into Mariott credit card and earn points that you can use for hotels. There are many people that have done that and saved some money on hotels.

[Katie63011]

We adopted twice from Russia and used FF tickets for one of our first trips, one of our second trips and of us on the second trip, so a total of five tickets. You have to be creative and flexible on your dates which others will tell you won't work, but it definitely doable! We did it with two different airlines. We put most of our points on a credit card that allowed you to transfer to airline programs.

With regards to the dates, just be prepared to arrive early if possible in order use the points. We may have had to spend an extra night in a hotel , or do three connections vs. 2 but it was worth it.

Unfortunately, you cannot guarantee or count on it, but it certainly will help the budget if you can use them. Good luck