Cheap airfare to Moscow!
 

AA is having a spring special to Moscow. I was just quoted $440 RT all in from Boston in April.

If you've ever wanted to see Moscow, this seems like a great opportunity.

Yes! I bought RT Minneapolis - Moscow for $370 all included on Monday. Dates are limited, but gee whiz. Other airlines, too. Check on travelocity.

As appealing as those air fares may be, you need a VISA and hotel reservations. Hotel rates in Moscow are very high. And, if you aren't familiar with the language or alphabet, it's best to select a hotel in the city center AND arrange for a private tour guide for at least some of your visit. A licensed private guide is almost essential for learning to get around, get into venues, and enjoy tours in English.

Highly recommend doing a bit of research and planning before jumping on appealing air fares...

Well, if it isn't Buzz Killington!

Just kidding djk. Those are very good and important points. The airfare is great, but don't just hop on a plane. Still, for anyone who has been planning to go to Russia at some point, this is a great opportunity, with proper research and planning. Thanks for making that point, djk.

Good points - I go to Russia frequently so the visa isn't a problem. I'm constantly doing hotel research, and can recommend some decent bargains for those who can navigate the metro, etc. (read cyrillic). But if you're new to Moscow, I highly recommend staying in a homestay. www.hofa.ru. They will arrange your stay with English speakers, visa support, airport transfer (highly recommended) etc.

May I suggest looking into an apartment to save on Moscow hotel rates?

We had to go to Moscow twice this past fall and winter, for one week and almost one month respectively. Hotel would have been a huge expense, but we got a nice apt in Arbat on the first trip, and Tverskaya on the second. Both a pretty easy walk to the Kremlin, and the Tverskaya location was next to 3 different subway lanes.

The cheapest hotel rates we'd found for a decent hotel were 300+ per night and "decent" seemed debatable. We got the apartments for under $180 usd per night and we had the added advantage of a separate kitchen with dishes, fridge, silverware, microwave, etc; free satellite tv; free wireless internet in the apartment; and free international calls home. Some of them are studios and a little cheaper I think, but we liked the separate bedroom and living areas.

Seems a number of the apartments are shown on multiple websites, but they all tie back to one property management company that was pretty good when you needed something. We went through http://go-russia.com/apartments.php

By the way, the flights from Chicago on AA are a pretty good deal too from time to time and were never full when we went, so room to stretch out.