Aeroflot Russian Airlines Washington Dulles to Moscow
I was coming from Jacksonville Florida on a Delta flight which connected into Atlanta then headed to Washington Dulles. The Delta flights were all on time, and the service in First class was ok.
Once at Washington Dulles, I had to find the Aeroflot ticketing counter to get my boarding pass. United Airlines handles everything for Aeroflot at Washington Dulles, and the checking in at the ticket counter was a complete mess with massive lines. Once at the United Airines International ticketing counter I couldn't figure out how to get in the que for the Business class check in, but lucky one of the security guards came up to me, and asked me if I was flying Aeroflot in Business class. After telling the security guard that I was flying Aeroflot in Business class, the security guard escorted me around the massive line for economy class, and took me straight to the Business class check in for Aeroflot. The security is very tight for Aeroflot which makes you feel good.
Once I got a United ticketing agent, to do my Aeroflot ticketing from Dulles to Moscow, and Moscow to Delhi. I was given a pass for the United Red Carpet club. The United Red Carpet Club did not offer any free alcohol like the Delta lounges do, but one can have there fill of Pepsi, and various juices along with tea, coffee, and water. The United lounge also offers a few lite snacks which are the same in the Delta Lounge, but there is no food offered.
The Aeroflot flight was delayed for one hour so the eight passengers who were all flying in Business class were told by the gate agent to go back to the United Red Carpet Club and to remain at the United Lounge till an annoucement is made. Once the annoucement was made for the eight of us business class passengers to head back to the gate, we had to then stand in a long que for boarding the tram, which was to take us to the Aeroflot aircraft. Security at the gate for Aeroflot was very tight with the gate agents checking everyone's passports, and visa's before one could board the tram.
Once on board the Aeroflot Boeing 767-300ER I began to get figure out how to operate the new Aeroflot Business class seats. The business class seats on Aeroflot are very nice, and recline to a nice 170 degree's. The seats are very comfortable for sleeping for on this 10hr flight to Moscow I slept for about 8.5hrs after dinner was served.
One interesting thing about flying on Aeroflot is that there is no English reading material on the plane, and the Aeroflot crew speaks limited English.
Dinner service on Aeroflot is mind blowing with outstanding food, and service. The business class service on Aeroflot
out does Delta, and Northwest's business class. The food portions are massive in size, as are the dessert portations.
For dessert I took the ice cream which came with three massive scoops of ice cream which I couldn't even finish.
As for the drink service on Aeroflot, one can choose a variety of drinks from Pepsi, to a big selection of alcohol drinks. I took apple juice when I first got onboard, and the with the meal service I had a Russian Beer, which was massive in size, but wasn't much to my taste.
Upon arrival to Moscow there is no meal service provided on Aeroflot, but passengers do have the choice of choosing a variety of juices, coffee, tea or water.
Moscow Terminal Two
Upon departing the aircraft all transit passengers with connecting flights in Moscow must go to the transit area in customs, and present your ticket with passport. Everyone who is in transit will get there passport stamped, and then you have to wait for five to ten minutes for a security guard to open the gate which will allow all passengers in transit to enter the terminal.
Once inside in the terminal area one can quickly notice how over crowded the terminal is, and one will see many people sitting on the floor on newspapers, and well as many people sleeping on newspapers.
Business Class Lounge
The Aeroflot Business Class lounge is shared with the Skyteam members, and a few other airlines. However if your a Business class traveler on Aeroflot, Aeroflot has some stupid rule of how buiness class passengers are not allowed in the lounge two hours before there flight departs. Luckly I had my Delta Elite card with me, so I showed my Delta card to the girl at the desk who then matched my Delta card up with a photo of all the airline cards from various airlines that the lounge has a book on. About five minutes later I'm allowed to enter the lounge, and was given mean looks because I shouldn't be entering 2 hours till my Aeroflot flight was to be departing.
The Business class lounge contains bread rolls, which are stuffed with various fruit spreads, and a few bread rolls contain spicy cabbage. (The spicy cabbage bread rolls were really tasty). The lounge also has a variety of flavored chips. (The bacon flavored chips are really good). The lounge also offers alcohol drinks with coffee, tea, various juices, and pepsi products. There are also free computers in the lounge with free internet access for ones use. However the broadband connection is extremely slow on these computers, plus using a Russian keyboard does not make it any easier.
Moscow to Delhi on IL96-300
The Aeroflot aircraft used on the Moscow to Delhi part is a IL96-300, which was interesting experience to fly on. The First class section on the IL96-300 has now become the Business class section with Aeroflot offering no more First class in the IL96-300. The seats were the old First Class seats which had a massive recline, but nearly all the seats were worn out and required great strength to push the seat back to make it recline while you keep one finger on the release button. (the seats are not powered). Also most seats do not lock back into position after being reclined. It takes the help of the Aeroflot First class crew to help you lock the seat back into position. The bathrooms in First class on the IL96-300 seems to be all new, and recently all gotten a make over.
Taking off on the IL96-300 is very interesting because the entire aircraft vibrates so much one thinks the aircraft is going to fall part before it even takes off, but once in the air the IL96-300 is very quiet overing a very smooth ride.
Once again the meal service on Aeroflot was the same meal service from Dulles to Moscow with the only difference being that an Indian dish was the main course, along with an Indian snack. Also once again the food portions were massive in size, and again Alcohol drinks were served with a variety of juices, coffee, tea, and pepsi products.
Once again the Aeroflot crew is entirely Russian even though the flight was code shared with Air India. Also once again all the reading material was in Russian with no English material offered.