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Wizz Air to launch flights from Luton to St Petersburg and Moscow

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Wizz Air has announced that it is launching flights from Luton Airport to St Petersburg and Moscow.

Most people were taken by surprise when British Airways announced in May that it was dropping flights to St Petersburg.  Kiev was also closed at the same time.

As I wrote at the time, I assume that the continued economic sanctions against Russia have finally taken their toll.

Russia doesn’t help itself, however, by imposing its tough visa restrictions on St Petersburg.  This should be one of the most popular UK weekend break destinations, but in reality few people are willing to go to the trouble of arranging the necessary paperwork for the sake of a 2-3 night trip.

The good news is that Wizz Air has announced new routes to Moscow and St Petersburg from London Luton.

The services start on 1st October, just in time for the suspension of the British Airways St Petersburg flight on 4th October.  The only other direct option from the UK is the Aeroflot service from London Gatwick.

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Comments (152)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • BJ says:
    18 Jul18 July 13:54

    OT: Are amex still providing a bonus for adding a supp to PRG?

    • Albert says:
      18 Jul18 July 14:19

      yes, got 3,000 a couple of days ago. Offer was on account page after logging in.

      • BJ says:
        18 Jul18 July 14:36

        Thanks Albert, I don’t have the offer but that doesn’t usually matter if I recall correctly.

  • nick says:
    18 Jul18 July 13:57

    If you’ve booked one of the £1 RFS flights using more avios – could you ring BA later and tell them to change it for the more traditional £17.50 and less Avios flight?

    ie a change over the phone

    • Polly says:
      19 Jul19 July 00:22

      Cheaper to book new flt, then cancel other one. Lose a quid. They would charge you change fee over the phone or on line.

  • Chas says:
    18 Jul18 July 14:25

    OT: looking to buy Fast Track security for LHR T3 on Saturday morning. Is it best to just go through the Heathrow Rewards site, or are there other routes which give cheaper prices (current quote is £12.50 pp), or other benefits which I should consider?

    • SimonW says:
      18 Jul18 July 14:28

      Put a tenner in your passport. Always works for me

      • The Original David says:
        18 Jul18 July 15:24

        T3 fast-track must be one of the worst out there – it seems to disproportionately attract the clueless morons who have somehow made it through the last decade of travel without realising you’re not allowed liquids in your carry on.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          18 Jul18 July 15:50

          In general I try to keep liquids out of my bag but theres always that time when you forget.

          Also LHR should have scanners which don’t need you to remove liquids, especially in fast track and first lanes.

          • BJ says:
            18 Jul18 July 16:14

            Do they have the new scanners anyplace at LHR already or can we expect them soon? I suppose transit security will be last to receive them.

          • BJ says:
            18 Jul18 July 18:41

            Better late than never 🙂

        • Chas says:
          18 Jul18 July 19:20

          Thinking it’s not worth the £50 which it will cost for a family of 4 then….

        • Nick Burch says:
          22 Jul22 July 22:13

          T3 fasttrack has lots of Americans with TSA-Pre printed on their boarding pass, who assume it works to TSA Pre rules. To be fair to them, I don’t think the T3 fasttrack does enough to explain “we are not TSA Pre no matter what is on your boarding pass”

  • nick says:
    18 Jul18 July 15:56

    OUCH!

    Have you been redeeming for people in other countries?
    ie pay to play operation?

    If this is a once-off, you can get out the whole. but If its 10 redemptions to 10 different people …..

  • Rob says:
    18 Jul18 July 16:01

    The only way out of this is to provide BA with details of how you know all these people, and why you would redeem Avios for them without accepting payment.

    • Robert says:
      18 Jul18 July 16:07

      They dont even ask me for any detail’s just that’s its suspended

      • The Original David says:
        18 Jul18 July 16:39

        You must know who you’ve been redeeming for though. You tell us – have you breached those T&Cs?

      • Rob says:
        18 Jul18 July 17:43

        They won’t ask you. You need to approach them and show that every redemption you have done is above board, and that any large Avios deposits into your account are above board. If you stay quiet it stays suspended.

        • Robert says:
          19 Jul19 July 10:45

          It was a direct transfer from my amex. so im good here.
          I gave access to my girlfriend to use the avois as i didnt have any use of the,.

          She booked a gateway for her friends 6 in total under different names but she did not get paid for this.

    • nick says:
      18 Jul18 July 17:14

      I’m convinced this is normally caused by the buyer contacting BA for whatever reason… to make a change on booking etc

      It’s not some sophisticated screening software…

      • Rob says:
        18 Jul18 July 17:40

        Wouldn’t be a very sophisticated bit of IT which looked for accounts with redemptions for people with different names, quickly filtering out surname matches, and prioritising those where the country of departure differs from the country of the booker.

      • Robert says:
        19 Jul19 July 10:45

        I can confirm this was the case.!!

  • xcalx says:
    18 Jul18 July 16:54

    “Clause 22.2 of the Terms & Conditions states that any redemption of Avios awarded to another person will constitute a fundamental breach by the Member,”

    Sounds a bit harsh stating ANY

    • Anna says:
      18 Jul18 July 16:58

      Also completely contradicts the way HHAs work!

      • xcalx says:
        18 Jul18 July 17:04

        Indeed. Also I was of the understanding that NOT having a HHA meant that award flights could be booked for anyone.

      • Rob says:
        18 Jul18 July 17:40

        If there is any evidence you have accepted payment for the Avios then you are in default.

  • Anna says:
    18 Jul18 July 16:56

    Are you saying that you don’t know what they are referring to? Or that yes, you have committed all these breaches of Ts and Cs, and moreover are publicising on this site?!

    • Lady London says:
      18 Jul18 July 18:44

      Or perhaps OP’s Avios account has been hacked?

      • Anna says:
        18 Jul18 July 19:27

        Which would be a reason for him not to know what they are talking about. Not enough info!

        • The Original David says:
          18 Jul18 July 20:12

          Let’s be honest – the fact they’ve posted the message above without any further info basically confirms they were chancing it and hoping to get away with it. If they’d redeemed a ticket for their mother-in-law who has a different surname and has never flown with them, they’d have said that.

          They played the game for a while, now they’ve lost, time to find somewhere else to play. Bad luck.

  • Alex Sm says:
    18 Jul18 July 22:16

    Another good thing from Wizz flights to St Pete and Moscow that it would prompt BA to lower their fares which currently are RIDICULOUS! I went to Moscow last week and my return economy ticket with BA was £600! Similar to my trip to St Pete in June (when BA economy was about £600 while business on LH was £450 return). With no normal food, old planes, broken tables, frozen IFE and grumpy stuff. “To Fly.To Serve”
    When easy was flying to Moscow BA kept their prices very low too and £200 return fares were a norm not an exception. I very much hope that competition with Wizz will help to see these fares back soon.

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