Kazakhstan

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Nurse

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Hello,

I was reading in the newsletter about holidaying in Kazakhstan.
Can anyone tell me how to fly from Adelaide and get to Kazakhstan?
The easiest and economical route. I am with One World.

Thanks Sue
 
I'm afraid Oneworld connections to Kazakhstan are pretty limited. Only two oneworld airlines fly to Kazakhstan, and neither are useful in terms of connections to/from Australia. (S7 Airlines has a daily Novosibirsk-Almaty flight and Finnair has a seasonal Helsinki-Astana service.)

You could fly Malaysia Airlines to KL, then Air Astana to Almaty. Cathay to HKG, then Air Astana to Almaty works too.

There are a few other non-oneworld methods:
*Etihad Airways flies to Astana via Abu Dhabi
*Asiana flies Sydney-Seoul-Almaty
*Air China flies via Beijing (this looks to be the cheapest method)
*You could also take Emirates to Dubai, then Flydubai to Kazakhstan.
 
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Be aware that Australians travelling via Russia now need a transit visa if connecting to an onward flight to Kazakhstan (or Belarus), even if you don't leave the airport.

All the more reason to travel to Kazakhstan via Asia or the Middle East, IMHO.
 
I have been looking at doing this out of Melbourne and the cheapest i have found is usually to split into two trips and go to Delhi on Malaysia Airlines and then book separate tickets on Air Astana for the short hop from there.
 
Vi
Wanderlust_tim said:
I have been looking at doing this out of Melbourne and the cheapest i have found is usually to split into two trips and go to Delhi on Malaysia Airlines and then book separate tickets on Air Astana for the short hop from there.
Click to expand...


You end up trading off price for convenience.

There are shortish transit via HKG, KUL, BKK connecting to Air Astana.

China Southern looks to have good fares with reasonable "overall trip time" loaded via CAN and URC. Air China also cheap via PEK (but long connection in PEK).

I think if you really want to stick to one world you'll either end up paying through the nose for a connected ticket, or otherwise purchase the cheapest OW fare you can get to BKK, KUL or HKG then connect (non-protected) to Air Astana.
 
I travelled to Almaty in '09 and loved it. Sparked an abiding interest in the Stans that continues today. We travelled Qantas to Shanghai and then took China Southern to Urumqi before flying on to Bishkek (it was the only Stan at the time to offer voa). In Bishkek we applied for our Kazakh visas which took 5 days (plenty to do there to fill the time) before doing a leisurely 2 hour drive to Almaty. Then did the same there to get Uzbek visas before repeating the same story to go Tajikistan (which incidentally now provides voa). Didn't end up getting to Ashgabat but from the sounds of it, I don't think we missed much. Finally from Tajikistan we overlanded it to Kashgar through the Pamirs which was the highlight of the trip. Got taken in by an Ismaili tribe that feted us like visiting dignitaries. Felt like a modern day Marco Polo. Will never forget the hospitality we received on that trip....

Couldn't do it all with OW but did some of it. Enjoy.
 
docjames said:
You end up trading off price for convenience.

There are shortish transit via HKG, KUL, BKK connecting to Air Astana.

China Southern looks to have good fares with reasonable "overall trip time" loaded via CAN and URC. Air China also cheap via PEK (but long connection in PEK).

I think if you really want to stick to one world you'll either end up paying through the nose for a connected ticket, or otherwise purchase the cheapest OW fare you can get to BKK, KUL or HKG then connect (non-protected) to Air Astana.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't you need a visa for China if transiting through two Chinese airports (CAN and URC)? Or is there a specific exception for Urumqi?

On a side note, how long until we see non-stop SYD-URC or MEL-URC flights? CZ has a bit of a hub in Urumqi and they could feed a lot of traffic from Australia through Urumqi to destinations across western China, central Asia and the Middle East with one-stop connections.
 
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Mattg said:
On a side note, how long until we see non-stop SYD-URC or MEL-URC flights? CZ has a bit of a hub in Urumqi and they could feed a lot of traffic from Australia through Urumqi to destinations across western China, central Asia and the Middle East with one-stop connections.
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Oh wow that would be amazing. I wonder how long that flight it would be?
 
Looks like Air Astana is currently having a sale on flights from Hong Kong to Kazakhstan. You can fly direct HKG-ALA for $622 return. Combine with one of the QF/VA sale fares to HKG and you have a round-trip to Kazakhstan for under $1,200 with a stopover in Hong Kong :)
 
RooFlyer said:
Sensational! Going to look hard at this.
Click to expand...

It also looks like it's only slightly more expensive to fly through Almaty on to another destination in the region. E.g. you can book HKG-ALA-TSE and pay only $10-20 more than HKG-ALA. Not sure if free stopovers are allowed.
 
RooFlyer said:
@Mattg not seeing those specials on the Air Astana site - or do you just mean looking up the regular flight and get the 'lowest fares' tag?
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Looks like they don't have a Hong Kong-specific website. But if you do a search on their website for HKG-ALA (or elsewhere ex-HKG) the sale fares should come up as HKD3802 return.

FWIW, I wasn't able to book anything on their website last year and ended up using Expedia.

Wanderlust_tim said:
Me too, convincing the missus might be a challenge though.
Click to expand...

Tell her I said you should do it! :p Seriously though, it's worth it.
 
Mattg said:
Looks like they don't have a Hong Kong-specific website. But if you do a search on their website for HKG-ALA (or elsewhere ex-HKG) the sale fares should come up as HKD3802 return.
Click to expand...

Yep got it. The prices seem to be available throughout the year, which is great. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Mattg said:
For anyone that's interested, I just got a SCF alert that China Southern has a sale on at the moment from Sydney to Almaty for $1,005 return. The routing is two-stop via CAN and URC. Available for various dates up to May 2020.
Click to expand...
That's a very decent price and May 2020 is exactly when I'm planning to go.
 
RoMambai said:
Didn't end up getting to Ashgabat but from the sounds of it, I don't think we missed much.
Click to expand...

You missed an astonishing and bizarre city! Check out my current '5 Stans of the Silk Road' Trip Report 😊.

The 5 Stans of the Silk Road

Finally! I've done a bit of travelling over the past 10 years, including to some pretty good destinations, including Iran, the Galapagos, Russia etc. But I don't think I've ever looked forward to trip like the one I leave on today - The 5 Stans of the silk road, a tour by Exodus Travels . To...
www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

I'll be in Almaty tomorrow, and will send a hello to the OP.
 
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