A review about Aeroflot in Economy Class

Aeroflot is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation. The airline operates domestic and international flights, out of its hubs at Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport and Vladivostok International Airport. We recently flew Aeroflot in economy class to travel to India and Japan, and here is our review.

Here is our review about our flight experiences with Aeroflot

Check-In

The check-in was done online, easily and without problem, before doing it I had been able to select all my seats, but be careful that this depends on the chosen fare. When buying I took the cheapest one, and it allowed me to choose but for example to fly to Japan (which will also be with Aeroflot) it did not allow me.

With the boarding passes, we arrived at the Nice airport for the baggage drop. No problem at this point. Despite having a long layover in Moscow, our bags would be in our hands until we reached India.

Note for long stopovers: if you have a long stopover in Moscow, but you do not plan to leave the airport to avoid having to get a visa, keep in mind that the suitcases will travel to the final destination, so if you need any item for your stopover, take it in your hand luggage. If you have a stopover at night, don’t worry, you can sleep at the airport since they have a hotel inside the terminal, so you won’t have to have a visa. See our opinion post about the airport hotel here.

Boarding

It starts shortly before takeoff, on all the flights we took the boarding started on time.

There is a special point that I have to mention and in other airlines I do not mention since I thought it was normal and what everyone did, but it does affect the review about Aeroflot: smiling at passengers.

Don’t expect smiles from the staff on the plane. Of none. On all the flights I took with them, maybe it was bad luck, none of the flight attendants smiled at the passengers. They looked like robots. In other words, they did what they had to do, but as I say, they seemed like robots in the way they spoke to us and served us. In other words, the reception and treatment is the coldest I had ever seen in any other airline.

Update flight to Japan: in this second time that we traveled with Aeroflot we could see the staff a little more smiling, a little less robotic. Although yes, it could still happen that a flight attendant asks a sharp question or acts like a machine. But it was much less than on the flight to India.

Seating

As I already told you in other airline review articles, one of the things that I value increasingly in airplanes is having only one seat out of two, and luckily with Aeroflot on short flights it is not possible since the seats are three-three. But on long flights, yes it is possible, since the configuration is two-four-two. Quite nice when traveling as a couple on a long flight. The best thing is that you don’t have to pay extra to have a seat for just two, as is the case with KLM or Air France. Although as I mentioned in the Check-in part, in some very cheap fares it is not possible to choose a seat before and only during check-in, but still without having to pay extra.

Seats were normal, economy normal, legroom was decent. The only bad thing is that if the one in front reclined it was very annoying, one felt crushed.

Business class seats looked much bigger and more comfortable, normal.

One point to keep in mind is that in economy seats only have the blanket but not the pillow for long flights, I tried to ask the stewardess for one, and she told me she didn’t have one. They only had for business. Something to consider since it is an accessory that is generally provided for long flights but does not occur in Aeroflot.

Update flight to Japan: the flight from Moscow to Tokyo was about 10 hours and in this one they did give us a pillow.

Welcome kit

Unlike other airlines with Aeroflot, there is no welcome kit bag. Just the headphones. And no, that doesn’t count.

Update flight to Japan: this time they did give us a welcome kit that included much more than what is seen in other airlines. In each seat, there was a bag containing: lipstick, ear plugs, eye covers and SLIPPERS.

A curious detail of the eye cover is that it had two sides, one that said DO NOT DISTURB and the other that was something like WAKE ME UP FOR LUNCH. Very ingenious.

Drinks and food

On long and short flights

There are at least two food options. They provide you with the menu when you start the flight, which gives you time to think about what you are going to choose, excellent for indecisive people like me. Another point in favor of the menu, for those who are taking care of their figure, is that each dish has the number of calories written next to it, which is quite useful. When the person in charge of serving arrives, you tell him what he chose, and he serves you but, as I mentioned above, the operation leaves a taste in the mouth of having spoken with a robot.

In terms of taste, I’m not complaining, it was fine. Go like any airline food.

Drinks

In this category, they have many options such as juices, sodas, liquors, wine. That’s not the problem. But there is something to be aware of with this airline that is also “different” compared to the others we have seen. Before serving the food, but well before, they will stop by to serve the drinks. At that time, you have to ask for two or three glasses without any shame, why? Well, because after that, they won’t serve any more drinks. After this, they will pass with the food cart, and only the food, so if you drank everything you will no longer have anything to accompany your food.

It happened to me on the first flight and for the following ones I knew that I had to ask for my glass of water and my drink for lunch (wine, juice, etc.) at that moment and wait patiently with the glasses in front of me.

Of course, after the meal, they will pass by to offer you tea and coffee. That doesn’t change, at least that. Also, on long flights they will pass by to offer passengers snacks like ice cream, for example.

In-flight entertainment

In each seat, we have an individual entertainment screen, only on long flights and in them, we had a good selection of movies to pass the long hours of flight. In addition to the flight maps. An interesting point is that there was a USB outlet on the screen, very useful to charge the phone.

Emergency instructions

All normal, they give instructions in Russian and English. Well visible to all passengers.

State of the bathrooms

On this topic, there are no complaints, throughout the flight they were clean and with basic items, such as soap and paper always available. An interesting detail (on the flight to Japan) is that there were disposable toothbrushes in the bathroom for anyone who wanted to use them.

Support through social networks

At this point, they need to improve. Agents on social media don’t have access to reservations, so they can’t help in real time. At least, depending on the situation, they can provide an email address to contact (and they do respond). The review in this area about Aeroflot are not perfect, since they cannot do much for us when using this medium.

Layover at Sheremetyevo airport

Sheremetyevo airport is one of those where making a layover becomes effortless, as it has several shops and restaurants in which to spend time. In addition, as I mentioned before, it has a hotel inside the international terminal for night stopovers. Consider that if you plan to do a day stopover in Moscow you will have to see it for yourself, visa included, since this airline does not offer any free tour of the city as some Asian airlines do.

Get your flight at the best price

Arrival to destination

We arrived at our destination on time, a relief to be able to stretch our legs after so many hours of flight.

General review about Aeroflot

Aeroflot left me satisfied without further ado, in terms of opinions it does not put itself above the airlines with which I have traveled. I have to say that the cold treatment of the staff left me “cold” too. I did not expect that. But I still recommend flying with them if an offer comes along with a great price. You just have to keep in mind what the treatment received will be. Although it seems that they are already improving on the issue of treating passengers.

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