Pobeda Airlines, which calls itself a "low-budget" airline, intends to begin flights from Moscow to Dubai in the fall. Flights will open on October 25 and will be operated four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, reports Travel.ru's own correspondent.
Departures from Moscow (Vnukovo Airport) on various days at 7.50, 8.15 and 9.05, from Dubai (main airport) at 14.45, 15.05 and 16.00. Travel time is about 5 hours. The route will use a Boeing 737-800 aircraft in a single-class configuration with 189 seats.
Prices start from 4899 rubles one way (separate flights from Dubai - 3905 rubles) excluding the cost of baggage, seat selection, etc. Tariffs for peak dates are significantly higher.
Passengers intending to use Pobeda services should keep in mind a number of features of this airline, exercise extreme caution and attentiveness, and be prepared for various difficulties and surprises both when booking a ticket and during the flight itself. Let us remind you that Pobeda allows you to carry either miniature carry-on baggage with strange dimensions of 36×30×27 centimeters, or a handbag or briefcase without size restrictions, free of charge.
The cost of carrying small checked baggage on Pobeda has recently increased, although it remains relatively affordable — 777 rubles for 10 kilograms of checked baggage when purchased in advance and 1,000 rubles when paid for at the airport. Baggage of 20 kilograms on this line costs 1,499 rubles (at the airport — 3,000 rubles).
There is no food on board regardless of the flight duration, and attempts to take your own food in a separate bag may result in a requirement to check this bag in for 3,000 rubles (if it does not fit together with the rest of your hand luggage in the Pobeda "calibrator"). When purchasing a ticket on the Pobeda website at the minimum "Standard" fare, the company by default includes paid insurance, to get rid of which you need to independently uncheck the corresponding items at the bottom of the additional services selection page.
In addition, in recent months there have been many cases where Pobeda arbitrarily changes an existing booking to add additional services not ordered by the passenger. As a rule, this happens if the passenger studies the cost of these services in the "booking management" on the company's website, but has no intention of buying them. However, Pobeda pretends that such study is equal to a firm intention to buy these services, arbitrarily changes the booking and sends the passenger a demand for additional payment for these unordered services. Another fantastic way to get extra money from the passenger for nothing is the so-called "cancellation fee", which Pobeda tries to collect in such situations.
There are also problems with returning or changing a ticket in the event of flight disruptions or schedule changes - Pobeda hides the toll-free call center for forced changes and refunds. There are also problems with boarding a flight - Pobeda can herd passengers into an apron bus even before the plane itself appears at the airport. Seat selection is paid, and to encourage the purchase of this service, Pobeda can deliberately seat passengers flying together at opposite ends of the cabin and prohibit them from changing seats. At one time, this led to a loud scandal: Pobeda turned in a family with a baby to the police for an attempt by the parents to reunite on the plane - after the airline itself deliberately seated them in different rows in an attempt to earn an extra 149 rubles from each of the passengers for changing seats.
Pobeda recently introduced the option of fixing the ticket price for 48 hours. However, this is a paid service - 499 rubles will be added to the final price for each flight segment of each passenger. It is worth using only if there is a high probability of a significant increase in the ticket price in the next two days.
Passengers planning to fly Pobeda from any foreign airports should keep in mind the serious problems that this carrier's customers encountered last fall and winter, when Pobeda made check-in at foreign airports paid (25 euros). At the same time, according to numerous reviews from Pobeda passengers, free online check-in could work incorrectly or not work at all. Many passengers claimed that "free" check-in only worked if the passenger had pre-paid for the choice of a seat in the cabin. It is possible that these problems have already been resolved, but the passenger should still check in online, and in case of problems with this service, have proof of its inoperability with them at the airport.
Source: travel.ru