SYD - MSQ (Minsk, Belarus)

[hedge]

Im looking at a short trip to belarus mid next year, and wondering the best way to get there? QF fly to Vienna, and then I can get a Tyrolean plane (Austrian airline offshoot apparently) to Minsk. Are there any other/better ways, as this way takes the best of 32 hours or so and costs about $2.7k.

 

[marki]

You can get direct flight with Qantas to London not Vienna! ie Melbourne Vienna is QF 9 or QF 29 to London then :arrow:BA to Vienna or OS462 or OS452 to Vienna. You can go QF direct to Frankfurt also. Enjoy hunting around.

Marki

 

[blankman]

Easiest way is to probably fly SYD-AUH-MSQ with Etihad. Fares are approx $1975 incl taxes for June 2011.

 

[odysseus]

Should be a few options. I haven't checked Minsk but expect you'd get similar 2 stop connections through at least Lufthansa, KLM, and possibly SAS/Finnair aside from those already mentioned.

With such destinations, the main thing is finding an airline that offers good connections both ways (you may find overnight's are required somewhere, so you'd probably want to avoid that), and then whichever has the good deal (now is a good time for that).

 

[Techie]

Many people get to Belarus via Moscow. It is likely to be a shorter trip than going via the Western Europe. Singapore have a good connection and the earlybirds are around $1,850.
Another advantage of flying via Moscow is avoiding dealing with Belarusian customs who are still living in the cold war era.
From Moscow, you can either fly or take a train to Minsk. Time vs money.

 

[hedge]

Thanks, i'd rather stay with Oneworld for FF.

Many people get to Belarus via Moscow. It is likely to be a shorter trip than going via the Western Europe. Singapore have a good connection and the earlybirds are around $1,850.
Another advantage of flying via Moscow is avoiding dealing with Belarusian customs who are still living in the cold war era.
From Moscow, you can either fly or take a train to Minsk. Time vs money.

My brother said getting a visa for russia is quite time consuming and you need a letter of invitation?

$1850 sounds alrite, and a short train journey doesn't bother me from Russia, although the expense of the visa will - but I guess it will save time.

Techie, do you speak from experience about Belarus? Ive never been, so im curious!

 

[samh004]

Thanks, i'd rather stay with Oneworld for FF.

Yet your membership is listed as KF?

Regarding travelling via Russia, I believe S7 is joining 1W by the end of the year, next month even, so that might open up some routes, although they don’t actually fly there at this stage.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Wed 11 May15:50Sydney21:55SingaporeQF005Operated by Qantas Airways
Wed 11 May23:05Singapore05:30+1FrankfurtLH77
Thu 12 May10:25Frankfurt13:40MinskLH1486

Thu 16 Jun14:35Minsk16:00FrankfurtLH1487
Thu 16 Jun17:25Frankfurt19:51San FranciscoLH9126Operated by United Airlines
Thu 16 Jun22:52San Francisco06:25+2SydneyLH9327Operated by United Airlines

Fare AUD2374.00 +772.26 x1 Adult=AUD3146.26 Total


I'd check out the LH website for options - I cut & pasted the above from same but also call LH reservations in Australia on
1 300 655 727 & ask about fares & where you can stop over eg SIN/FRA/SFO & how many stopovers you can have so you can
get the most out of your airfare.

Note that if flying ex Australia you can fly SQ or QF ex Aust to SIN or TG or QF to BKK then take LH from the Asian gateway city to
MSQ via FRA. You've even got the option of going via Japan on QF on some routes & returning via the US.

One thing websites don't seem to have perfected yet is how to book a through fare to an international destination with a one or two night stop en route.

 

[Techie]

My brother said getting a visa for russia is quite time consuming and you need a letter of invitation?

I quickly google it and they have a transit visa that doesn't require an invitation. Not sure about the time frames though.

$1850 sounds alrite, and a short train journey doesn't bother me from Russia, although the expense of the visa will - but I guess it will save time.

Techie, do you speak from experience about Belarus? Ive never been, so im curious!

I'm originally from there so may answer some of your questions. Generally, people are friendly but unlike elsewhere in Europe, they don't speak English, especially older ones.