Some Russian airlines have announced that they will provide free tickets to and from Moscow for the next few days to relatives of those injured and killed during the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall.
S7 Airlines was the first to announce the campaign, then Aeroflot (including Rossiya), Ural Airlines, Utair, Red Wings, Smartavia and NordStar and Nordwind joined it. Earlier, Russian carriers announced the free cancellation or reissue of tickets for other dates or the forced refund of the full cost of transportation for flights to / from Moscow from March 22 to 25. Statements were made by Pobeda, Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, Smartavia (until March 24), Izhavia and Utair.
Of the foreign airlines, China’s Sichuan Airlines was the first to respond, which reported that starting from March 24, passengers who applied to the airline with a request to cancel or change tickets for flights with dates up to April 23 to Moscow and St. Petersburg will be able to use the registration services for free.
Airports operated by Airports of Regions Management Company (9 Russian cities) announced that they provide free service in business halls to relatives and friends of those injured and killed during the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall. Security measures have been strengthened at all Moscow airports and some regional ones, while air companies are operating normally. AN AN-Tourism correspondent had to take off his belt and watch for the first time in his life at Domodedovo airport at the security control at the entrance to the terminal on March 23 – the frame did not pass through. At Vnukovo, Sochi (Adler), Koltsovo (Yekaterinburg) airports, a funeral candle has been broadcast on advertising screens and monitors since the evening of March 22 instead of advertising.
Russian Railways, Aeroexpress and Grand Service Express offered passengers until March 26 inclusive to issue ticket refunds or reissue travel documents without deduction of additional fees.
In the first hours after the terrorist attack, the price of taxi rides in Moscow increased by 1, 5-2, 5 times. Closer to midnight, the company “Yandex.Taxi has made all trips from the Crocus City Hall area free for passengers. The drivers were promised to compensate their full cost at the expense of the company. For previously paid trips (on Friday evening) from this area, the service promises to fully refund the money.
Aggregators – travel services Ostrovok, Tutu, Yandex.Travel”, “Tinkoff.Travel and MTS Travel have made the cancellation of hotel reservations in Moscow and the Moscow region for the dates from March 22 to March 31 free of charge. The travel agents were joined by the Radisson Hotel Group hotel chain, which promised to cancel individual bookings made at non-refundable rates for March 22-25 at Moscow hotels for free.
The sanatoriums of Sochi and Abkhazia offered the victims of the terrorist attack to use the methods of resort medicine for health restoration free of charge.
The museums of Moscow and St. Petersburg worked with restrictions on weekends, canceling planned additional events – lectures, clubs, excursions, concerts. The opening of new exhibitions has been postponed. Visitors who bought tickets for these cancelled events are given the opportunity to exchange or refund them. The museums of the Moscow Kremlin did not work at all on March 23, and the Red Square was closed to the public.
All cultural and entertainment events were canceled at VDNKh, Zaryadye Park and other parks in Moscow. The only way to enter VDNKh was through the main entrance. The State Hermitage Museum has introduced a special security regime as an alternative to the complete closure of the museum – visitors with backpacks and other bulky items are not allowed into the museum. You can’t leave these things in the storage chambers either – they are temporarily unavailable.
There were reports from other regions of the European part of Russia about the cancellation of mass events and the adoption of additional security measures.
The cost of living is rising
On March 19-21, Moscow hosted the International Exhibition of Tourism and the Hospitality Industry MITT 2024. From the many presentations of experts, we will highlight the statistical data provided by Oksana Bulakh, commercial director of one large domestic tour operator (TO). According to the data, the cost of accommodation in Russian hotels increased by 18.7% in the spring and by 15% in the period from May to September. The price of accommodation in the Republic of Adygea increased the most – more than 40% – in the summer. Accommodation in Kamchatka has risen in price by 38%, also in summer. It became 35% more expensive to stay in Moscow in the spring. The lowest growth – in the region of 2-3% – was shown by hotels in the Murmansk region and Crimea, respectively, in the spring. Only spring Kamchatka (-3%) and summer Kola Peninsula (-6%) fell in price.
The average cost of a night’s accommodation in Russian hotels in 2024 was slightly more than 8 thousand rubles per room in the spring (in 2023 it was 6800 rubles) and 10,500 rubles in the summer (in 2023 it was 9,000 rubles). The most expensive average night in a hotel in the spring costs in the Leningrad and Moscow regions: 11,800 rubles and 11,300 rubles, and in the summer – in the Leningrad Region and in the Krasnodar Territory: 12,100 rubles and 11,900 rubles, respectively. Dagestan turned out to be the most budget-friendly in the spring: 5800 rubles per night at the hotel.
“Victory” has broken through another bottom
Criticizing an airline claiming to be a Russian low-cost carrier has already become a commonplace, but it is impossible to keep silent about the next “Victory” competition in the official Telegram channel. The raffle is presented as a “space one”, the winners will receive 12 tickets for flights “Victory”: “The subscription gives the opportunity to travel as many times as you want, within a month.” And there is practically nothing to do to win the competition, you just need to sign up 5 friends to the low-cost carrier channel.
The number of subscribers of the Pobedy channel will undoubtedly increase, but whether potential winners will be able to take advantage of the “space” prize is highly questionable. The conditions for obtaining one-to-one season tickets have been stripped off the traditional New Year’s promotion of a low-cost airline with passengers in Snow Maiden and Santa Claus costumes: “The winner of the Promotion receives a 100% discount from the base fare with a total cost of no more than 3,999 rubles, the discount is provided only if there are available seats on the flight. The flight is provided only for direct flights of Pobeda Airlines LLC within Russia. Check-in for all segments is only possible if there are actual seats available at the departure airport after check-in. All hand luggage is transported in the cabin of the aircraft in accordance with the rules of Pobeda Airlines LLC. Additional services are not provided to the participants of the action for a fee.”
All this is immensely surprising. Tell someone to the management of Pobeda that a free month of flights is a month of free flights at the request of the winner (“travel as many times as you want”), and not these dances with tambourines. And if the Snow Maiden and Santa Claus hoped for luck, then there should be a guaranteed promised prize? According to AN‑Tourism, this “Victory” contest should attract not new subscribers, but at least the attention of the FAS.
Two “worlds”
Since March 30, most Armenian banks – participants of the Armenian Card payment system (ArCa) – have stopped servicing MIR cards.
At the same time, VTB Armenia Bank states that its customers, as well as holders of MIR cards of any other Russian banks, still have access to key services: cash withdrawal from VTB ATMs in Armenia, payment for services in online banking, online purchases.
At the same time, the Cuban authorities promise to oblige all establishments on the island to accept MIR cards. According to Juan Carlos Garcia Grande, Minister of Tourism of the Island of Freedom, the Cuban authorities will make it so that it is impossible to have a card-accepting point of sale and not accept the MIR card. He clarified that to do this, each POS terminal must be reprogrammed separately in all retail outlets.
Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area
Romania and Bulgaria will join the Schengen area on April 1. We have already written about how and where Bulgarians will issue visas – only at the visa application center (VC) IN_SNBS Moscow. By the way, the acceptance of documents for short-term national visas in Bulgaria was suspended from March 22 to April 1. Apparently, they took a break for reorganization. That is, everything seems to be clear with Bulgaria. But there is practically no information about the Romanian Schengen. Romania does not have a VC in the Russian Federation. There is an embassy in Moscow and a consulate in St. Petersburg, which, in theory, should begin issuing Schengen visas on April 1, but official information has not yet been received from them.
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Источник: argumenti.ru
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