We are flying Air France to St. Petersburg and doing a river cruise to Moscow. The Air France flight departs at 7:15, but Aeroflot leaves later in the morning going to Paris. From Paris, we fly Air France home. If we want Air France to Paris, we must stay overnight. What should we do? I don't know anything about Aeroflot--safety record, quality of service, whether they allow smoking, etc. Can any of you tell me about your experience?

ttt

All I can tell you is that I have heard that the service is much better than in the past. I would doubt if any commercial airplane flying today allows smoking. There are web sites on which travelers review various airlines; do a google search and you will come up with more info. For fun, you can also check www.airlinemeals.com.

Sorry, it is: www.airlinemeals.net. There are lots of photos and descriptions of airline food; it is quite funny.

You might see if there is anything relevant on www.flyertalk.com

Aeroflot v. Air France? Are you kidding? Air France, hands down. I haven't flown Aeroflot since it was the only way to fly in/out of the USSR, but Aeroflot has always had a reputation for maintenance/safety problems.

Lets see...broken seatbelts;flight attendants that look like prison matrons;curtains across emergency exits and you want to know if Aeroflot is better than Air France? As the previous person wrote-hands down Air France!Why not fly Delta to or from Moscow nonstop from JFK or Atlanta instead?

I have flown both and I think dutyfree has it just right.

Aeroflot has changed, but I confess that I have not flown it in recent years. One thing of interest to note is that it is planned that Aeroflot will join the Skyteam alliance soon -- which will put AF and SU flights in codeshare.

Moscow to Paris flight? either one is fine. AF service/food will be more polished, but Aeroflot is fine. Their safety record is fine.

They use Airbuses and Boeings on their international flights.

If the Aeroflot fare and/or schedule works better for you on this route, don't hesitate and pick Aeroflot.

Aeroflot has moved on since the USSR days. The broken seatbelt and scary flight attendant stories are from the past not the present Aeroflot. Have flown few times in recent years on international routes with SU and they are fine. Don't assume longhaul on AF is always great, meals and service can be a hit and miss affair as on any carrier.

We flew Lufthansa to Frankfurt with an Aeroflot flight (June 2003) to Moscow for a river cruise, and an Aeroflot flight from St. Petersburg to Frankfurt. (No smoking was allowed.)

The planes (seemed brand new) were fantastic. Huge (by comparison) and comfortable seats. Fabulous service. Excellent (huge assortment offered) snacks and beverages. The cleanest restrooms I've ever observed on any flight. To this day, those seats were the most comfortable we've ever enjoyed on any flight anywhere.

Though we arrive at the airport in St. Petersburg way ahead of time, check-in and passport control lines were horrendous. We would have missed our flight had the plane not been held for departure...

And, those two flights were the smoothest we've ever experienced as well, even though there was a significant wind factor when landing in Moscow.