Transaero launches direct service to Moscow

by Grant Martin on

Competition for direct flights to Russia is growing this month with the addition of non-stop service from New York JFK and Miami International Airport on Transaero Airlines.

“Transaero,” you ask? “Isn’t that the second largest Russian carrier serving over a hundred destinations worldwide and sporting a wide assortment of fancy Boeing widebodies?” Why yes, dear reader, it is. Авиакомпания Трансаэро has been growing sinusoidally over the last ten years, launching and folding routes from Los Angeles to Sydney to Hong Kong.

Their newest expansion plan includes launching direct service to the east coast of these United States in additional to Beijing in the far east.

Will it be better than Aeroflot? Well, Aeroflot does have the strong advantages of Skyteam partnership and backing from the Russian state — but perhaps the competition in the market will drive prices down. Now, if only we could do something about the visa fees….

Passengers on fully loaded Russian flight told “standing room only”

by Scott Carmichael on

Looks like the Russians managed to beat Ryanair to claiming the dubious honor of being the first airline with standing room only.

On a Tatarstan airlines flight from Antalya (Turkey) to Ekaterinburg (Russia), passengers were told that the flight was full, and that they’d need to stand if they wanted to get to their destination.

In total, six adults did not get a seat – which means they were also without a life jacket and oxygen mask, not to mention the possibility that the plane would not have enough bags of pretzel snack mix for them.

Apparently, the original plane with 148 seats had been switched out at the last minute for a plane with 142 seats. In any normal situation, the airline would “bump” the six passengers and leave them behind, but I guess telling people to just shut up and find somewhere to stand is much cheaper.

Of course, the passengers are now demanding compensation from the airline, expecting just under $5,000 for the experience of having to stand. Look at the bright side – if told to stand, you won’t have to worry about a middle seat, and there won’t be any arguments over the armrests.

Not a nomad: Unusual traveler looks for way into politics

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Warning: this won’t work for everybody. It helps to be female, smokin’ hot and be able to lie comfortably through your teeth.

When you travel, I suspect you don’t roll like Anna Chapman. Rather than book a flight, get a room at an upscale hotel (or pay-by-the-hour joint) and see the usual sights, she truly blended in like a local … and kept here eyes on the sorts of attraction that people back in Moscow want to hear about it.

In case you’re a bit behind, Anna Chapman’s not one of these nomads who scrapes for a living here and there between or during random excursions for self-fulfillment. Rather, she took a four-year extended business trip that ultimately landed her in handcuffs before sending her back to the motherland in a spook-swap.

Anna Chapman was a Russian spy.

And, in case you’re extremely dim, the only reason you know her name and nobody else’s is because “drop-dead” is more than just her job. Now that she can’t lurk in our dark alleys any more, Chapman’s looking for a job, and if life cuts her way, it will be in politics.

The hottie agent has already drummed up some name recognition and celebrity status – to the point where she has to “wear sunglasses and a hat on the street,” she tells Der Spiegel. It’s a good problem to have when you’re running for office. Der Spiegel continues:

Russia has been consumed by a Chapman cult since her return. The tabloids print page after page of love confessions by her previous boyfriends. In her hometown of Volgograd, known as the “City of Heroes” for its role in World War II, members of the city council have proposed making the 28-year-old an honorable citizen.

Her next step is to get her website “up and running,” according to Chapman, which will have the contact details for her publicist … utterly predictable for the recently (in)famous.

Maybe she’ll get a call from Steven Slater for advice. Like Chapman, he probably can’t go back to his old line of work, and starting from scratch when you’ve been plastered all over the media can be so difficult.

[Via Business Insider, photo via Facebook]

Lindblad Expeditions announces upcoming Global Luminaries

by Kraig Becker on

Lindblad Expeditions has earned itself a reputation as one of the top adventure travel companies on the planet, offering a wide variety of options for travelers to visit the far flung corners of the globe. The company is well known for having some of the best trained and most knowledgeable staff in the entire industry, offering clients great insights into the places that they visit. But their “Global Luminaries” program takes that reputation to a whole new level, with a line-up of very impressive specials guest that will enhance an already great trip even further.

These dignitaries come from a wide variety of fields, but are generally broken down into four categories; World Affairs, Broadcast Journalism, Exploration, and Research. Each of the Global Luminaries will be joining guests aboard the National Geographic Explorer, one of Lindblad’s luxury cruise ships, for a specifically selected journey through a region of the world that they know well and can offer unique perspectives on. For example, when the ship visits the historic waterways of the Baltic at the end of August and Early September of this year, and again in 2011, passengers will share that journey with former Soviet Premiere Mikhail Gorbachev as well as the former President of Poland, and Nobel Prize winner, Lech Walesa.

Other famous names on the list of luminaries include well-known naturalist and television personality Jim Fowler, former astronaut Rick Hauck, mountaineer and explorer Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund Hillary, Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland, and ocean rower Roz Savage. But those are just the beginning, as there are a number of other scientists, explorers, and writers scheduled to take part in the fun as well.

For the complete list of Global Luminaries, and the trips they’ll be taking part in for the rest of 2010 and 2011, click here.

[Photo credit: Lindblad Expeditions]

Moscow by cruise ship? Yes, it’s possible, but worth it?

by Ralph Grizzle on

Increasingly, cruise lines are developing shore excursions that serve up ultra-exclusive experiences, but are these “private access” experiences worth what they cost?

On Crystal Cruises, for example, cruise passengers can experience the same training that cosmonauts undergo at the world’s largest hydrolab, situated at Star City in Moscow.

Prepare to pay to play, however. The excursion, which goes by the name “Hydro-Space: The Final Challenge” goes for a stratospheric $32,995 per person, which would no doubt be the “final challenge” for flimsier wallets.

Still pricey, but certainly within the grasp of mere mortals, are day excursions to Moscow, which Silversea Cruises offers for $999 per person, from St. Petersburg.

The excursion, lasting 16.5 hours, includes flights to and from Moscow as well as private van transfers, guides, a visit to Red Square and The Kremlin, coffee at Puskin Cafe and dinner at the Writer’s Club, the watering hole of Russian (and Soviet) writers for more than 70 years now.

Cruise ships typically dock two or three days in St. Petersburg on Baltic cruise itineraries, and on three-day calls, you’ll certainly have enough time to visit Moscow. You could even go on your own for much less than $999 per person.

Flights between St. Petersburg and Moscow can be had for as little as $30 each way. Prefer rail? The fast train will take you from city center to city center in about four hours. But with either mode of transport, there is that pesky visa problem, meaning that most nationalities can’t just walk off the ship and into St. Petersburg, much less travel all the way to Moscow. Sauntering ashore requires a tourist visa, which takes time, paperwork and patience.Cruise line passengers skip the hassles of having to obtain visas. Transit visas do the job for those who purchase excursions sold on the ship. There are ways around paying the often-inflated fees that cruise lines charge for excursions in St. Petersburg (such as booking your shore excursion through Red October), but if you can afford to do so, booking your shore excursion on board is a convenient and easy option.

At $999 per person, it’s questionable whether diverting to Moscow is worth it. After all, there is quite a lot to see in St. Petersburg. But as one cruise passenger said during our excursion to Moscow last week, “When will I ever have the chance to do this again?” Perhaps never. So pony up and join the tour.