MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT   Passenger Reviews and Customer opinions

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT review :  1 February 2010 by R Alirezaieyan   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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This is the worst airport I have ever visited in my life. Going there to visit relatives, I step out of the plane into a brown colored air terminal that has clearly not been updated since Soviet times. I walk to Customs that takes an hour to get to and staff rude, unhelpful, and know no english. Fortunately, the man behind me knew Russian and English so he translated, and for reasons I don't know, they ask me where I was born. I reply Bandar-Gaz Iran and they pull me aside (even though I came with a US passport), start searching me and take me to the Chief (the only one who knew English apparently) and start asking me ridiculous questions such as, my home town, my alma mater, my affiliations, where I got my tickets, have I served in any military, my university major, what countries have I visited in the last six months. When I answer all these questions, they deliberate a little longer and check my name on several computers. Finally they let me go after an hour. When I get out, I find my family in a mess of people whom security gives no effort to control (they worry about finding terrorists more, like people from Iran). Store in Arrivals area is expensive and costs more to get a bottle of water than a Glass of Vodka and cigarettes. Restrooms filthy.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT review :  19 January 2010 by R Knupfer   (Switzerland)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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The annoyance already starts at the immigration control point: endless queues, the passport check lasts an eternity, the border control staff is unfriendly and incompetent (unable to communicate in English); the services at this airport are unsatisfactory at all points. The restaurants available are extremely expensive and the food offered miserable - my advice: try to avoid SVO for arrival/departure during your trip to Moscow DME (Domodedovo) would definitely be a better alternative.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT review :  11 January 2010 by N Fegley   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Staff in Sheremetyevo Airport mean, prices in the stores are high and limited places to eat, walk and relax. I had to pay $20 for phone card to call my husband and made only one phone call, I talked only 2 minutes and my phone card was expired. I bought a bottle of water for $4 and never opened yet when security throw my water to the garbage. Security went through my baggage and checked each my close, and presents that I bought for my family. I didn't like this airport and I hope that I never have to fly through this airport again.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT review :  9 January 2010 by K Jain   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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What a dire airport. No fruit or vegetables in sight. Nothing but Alcohol, Cigarettes and perfume. In fact a bottle of water would set you back $7 US compared to a bottle of alcohol costing $4. Ridiculous is the word to use! Full of cigarette smoke. I thought it was illegal to smoke in public places now - not in Moscow Airport obviously.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 19 October 2009 : by O Bana

Customer Rating : 1/5

Indeed one of the worst airports in the world, at least when talking about an international major hub! I hope to see improvements when terminal 3 comes into operation, but don't hold your horses on that one - they been promising it for years. The worst thing about this place is the endless waiting, just because someone cannot be bothered to do their work! Some survival tips for transfer passengers - don't allow less than 2 hrs for transfers (within the same airline, terminal) - ensure you are the first to exit the plane - run for the transfer desk (staffed by one lady and her younger colleague who thinks its more important to chat on her mobile than serve 3 plane loads just arriving) - be polite, patient and don't ask questions. Smile a lot! (seriously hard, but try). If you need water be prepared to spent 5 Euros for a tiny bottle.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 31 August 2009 : by Dorothea Bassett

Customer Rating : 1/5

This is an old, dirty and horrible airport. Okay so they are undergoing renovation at the time, but the impression is like going back in time to the soviet era! Staff unwilling to make any efforts to help you out - you better have some money, because neither one of the two money machines were willing to give out any currency at all! Toilets are filthy, only redeeming feature of Sheremetyevo is the new train station across the road - which is still under construction, but at least there you find clean modern facilities and new coffee shops and seats to rest in. But otherwise be aware - this is an old, battered and run down place! let's hope the renovations will eventually improve some of the most horrible aspects- the toilets!

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 15 April 2009 : by Sergey Chikmaryov

Customer Rating : 1/5

Simply terrible. I hate this airport, it's dirty, small without any comfort, there is no place to sit, you have to wait for ages for passport control or luggage than you fly in. Rude and useless staff. Of course, you can use Domodedovo but what should do unlucky ones who (like me) must use SVO because there is no other way to fly from Moscow to some destination?

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 15 April 2009 : by Yevheniy Kahanovych

Customer Rating : 1/5

T2 is like return to old Soviet times. Dark, claustrophobic, inefficient, overpriced, tired and not clean. The only place which is bearable is their new railway station with direct rail link to the city. The station is airy and has some places to seat down and relax (Starbucks etc.), so would recommend to stay there as long as possible. Then give yourself 10 mins to reach terminal 2 and at least 2 hours to check in for shorthaul flight. Remember not to rush, because their security is incompetent, very slow and become too happy if they can delay you somehow. Layout is idiotic, especially on arrivals, and nothing can be easliy found there. The pluses were fast immigration with no lines, train link to the city and Aeroflot check in staff who were nice.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 15 April 2009 : by C Dunlop

Customer Rating : 2/5

If you like looking at tall beautiful women, this airport is great, as you will see many of them working in the duty-free stores. If you enjoy being ignored by said women and anyone else who works here, you're in for a treat. As other reviewers have said, this is an airport to be avoided at almost any cost. Dull, dirty and expensive. The coffee shop girl gimped us on our change when we paid in euros, giving us rubles and making up her own conversion rate it would seem. The only people who even tried to be service minded were the 2 little old ladies selling newspapers. Ground crew shouted at us as if we were naughty 4 year olds. Our gate number was changed 3 times in less than 2 hours, with no real explanation why or if it would change again.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 12 February 2009 : by R Hayes

Customer Rating : 1/5

I am based in Moscow and have to use Sheremetyevo airport on a weekly basis to travel around Russia and to destinations in former soviet union. It is an absolutely loathsome place and to be avoided if at all possible. It is without a doubt the worst major international airport I have ever been to. Immigration at terminal two can often take one hour. Terminal c is somewhat better. My advice to anyone coming to, or passing through Moscow is use Domodedovo airport in the south. It is overcrowded, but much more user friendly. It also has a good, frequent and cheap train connection to Pavaletskaya station in central Moscow. If you do have to use Sheremetyovo at any time except the weekends you are also advised to use the railway to connect to down town area. I have frequently spent in excess of two hours trying to get in to Moscow on the dreadful traffic clogged Leningradsky highway.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 12 February 2009 : by Hector Torres

Customer Rating : 2/5

I am a frequent flyer to Moscow, specifically SVO 2: These are my tips and hopefully they help. When Arriving to SVO2, make every attempt you can to get to passport control before anyone else does. I say this because the lines are painfully slow and if your lucky you do not get stuck in the line in which the passport control official decides to go on break and leave you standing there. typical line wait time is 10 minutes per person in front of you, try to get there in the begining of the line. SVO2 has two corridors for you to choose from either green or red, green if nothing to declare and red if you have something to declare. Tip: Dont bring anything you have to declare becuase you are in for a long wait, typically the green corridor is a straight walk out into the recieving area and you will see friends and family immediatly. RED a very long wait depending on how many officials you have working, most of the time its one person. Be prepared, dont go outside I say this because you will be overrun by hundreds of taxi drivers, each trying to grab your bag and take you to moscow or scare you to get in there cab, they have no concept of space when coming at you. They speak barely any english and will typically overcharge you. Just go to the taxi desk inside airport and pay the guy a fee and he will get you a cab at a reasonable price. Reasonable being typically about 25 to 30 US, or 1200 rubles or less. Exchange some money before leaving airport, they will hand you a reciept that reciept you can use to exchange money when you leave plus its good to have some rubles before heading out into moscow, typically have your bank card with you, your more likely to find an ATM more over than a travelors check cashing place. A lot of people do not speak english. The younger generation learn it in school but forget it as they do not speak english all the time unless they work in a job that requires it. Show them respect and learn the russian language or at least learn key phrases, you will be surprised how a few key phrases help you out. As a tourist if your in a city more than three days you must register, typically the hotel will register your tourist visa and passport. But if traveling outside of moscow know the local laws of each of the cities specially if you plan to stay there with friends, know where you can register and understand this without connections politically or economically domestically in that area, be prepared for it to take a while for the registration if your a tourist and your local friend does not have connection to cut the line. Departing - We all like getting to airport early, dont do it. Dont come to airport until two hours before because not allowed to check in before schedule departure. A lot of smoking areas before the gate checkin TGIF and so forth. Get rid of your rubles becuase once you enter your gate all they will accept is EUROS. Western Union has a good exchange rate in that country when it comes to RUbles. ATMS will vary greatly in fees, if you do not understand the ATM do not use it. Each ATM will charge a different fee based on the amount being withdrawn. Use bank atms and limit your use of stand alone atms, the fee is percentage and will vary. Try to use only bank atms if you can. Always carry cash, I noticed one thing outside of MOSCOW, alot of places do not take visa or American Express, Most of the time its Master Card. Carry rubles always.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 26 January 2009 : by Farouk Mogheth

Customer Rating : 2/5

Arriving from Prague and connecting to Bangkok by Aeroflot. I guess my criticism will not be as painful as before since this time I was ready for what to come. But after 1.5 years I saw only partial positive developments and the main issues (serious ones) still stand. Had to use bus to get to terminal (Aeroflot attendant informed that this is due to lack of available gates) where visibly we see that 80% of gates were free and remained so for the duration of my 5 hrs transit stay. Bus remained closed with a fully packed A320 passengers jammed in one bus. Transit gate that welcomes you with a lady officer devoid of human emotions but did her job, then going through tedious security gates that need (without exceptions) you to take off shoes and belts. The terminal of SVO2 is very small, was small and became even smaller. New shops that look clean and selling rather expensive stuff. This time there are several ATMs available which was great since last time none was available and no one accepted cash for food - otherwise nothing real to talk about. The upper floor was spacious where so many were sitting on the ground - now technically almost non available since its been eaten out by some offices/storage? Nice to see how the officials think that walking and buying can assist passengers to spend their time in the Terminal. None of the magazine stands sell internet cards or credit (Ads for www are everywhere). Found by chance that only next gate 20 there is a free www wifi transmission. Log on, you will see a clock ticking (24hrs free access per IP address). Keep the page open and open a new one and you have www - saved me from death by utter boredom. Cannot wait for the new terminal as this one is still a great embarrassment. As mentioned here by most passengers, no smiles and do not expect any customer service - at best you will be barked upon if you dare ask anything.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 20 December 2008 : by Dave Molinari

Customer Rating : 2/5

I consider Sheremetyevo 2 airport close to the worst international airport I've ever been in. It is ugly, people unfriendly, few places to sit, and annoying taxi drivers everywhere in the arrival area. It's also amusing to me that they have a book shop there that has "Books" and "Magazines" written in English on the sign, but there are no English publications there. However, since I have been there many times, I can offer some tips to make it more bearable. First, there is a TGI Fridays restaurant there and it is pretty good. They have English menus and the servers can speak enough English, as well. Secondly, there is a lounge on the upper floors that is not obvious to find. Take the elevator up there (I can't remember what floor) and you will have at least a reasonable level of comfort. The furniture is worn and the place has a dirty feeling to it, but there are places to sit, you can order food, play pool, or sit in front of the huge windows that overlook the runway. There is also internet there. The bathrooms are not great. As mentioned by others, delay going into the final gate after passport control as long as possible since there is absolutely nothing to do there and hardly anywhere to sit. Check the departure boards to see when your gate is open since it won't be available until about 90 minutes before the flight. Passport control is better than it used to be, so I've found that you can get through it fairly quickly. Plus, if you get stuck in line and your flight is about to leave, just start shouting your destination to the workers there and they will often help you to the front of the line. Another peculiar thing I finally resolved for myself is that since you must wait for your gate to be opened, there are doors to that section that you must go through first. There are always a lot of people standing there and it looks like you are in for a long wait, however, I finally noticed that most of those people are friends and family of travelers and their just saying goodbye to them. You are able to walk right past them usually. I've never found the information booths to be very useful, so I don't have any helpful hints for you there. The English level of workers is abysmal for an international airport, so be prepared for that. For arrivals, I agree with previous comments that it is best to have arrangements made for someone to pick you up. It relieves a huge amount of chaos for you after a long flight. The passport control, while inconsistent, has become much faster than in years previous. I've never had trouble with baggage claim. If you need to take a taxi, use the official desk that has black and yellow checkers on it. There is one in the baggage claim which is quite handy, but there aren't always people working there for some reason. Still, there is an equivalent desk once you get outside customs. It is not cheap, but at least you get a guaranteed price up front and the cars are new and comfortable. If other taxi drivers approach you, don't look them in the eye or they won't leave you alone. Just keep walking and say "nyet" over and over until they walk away. If you need cash, there are ATM's everywhere. That's all I can think of for now. I always use an extremely useful line that serves experienced Russia travelers well. It is "you should have seen this place 5 years ago." Any newcomers have to believe that they are seeing a much improved airport, though it will probably be hard to imagine.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 21 October 2008 : by Jose Vazquez

Customer Rating : 1/5

Last September I flew in as a transit passenger to go to Ukraine. I knew that I had 6 hours to wait for my flight. Aeroflot Transit desk check me in and told me to return in 4 hours. I had to wander around the narrow corridors of the terminal due to some contraction going on there and no place to sit. Full of smoke all over the airport, being an international terminal nobody could speak English or any other language other than Russian - not to count the rudeness of the personnel at the terminal. The lounges and restaurants are a complete ripoff lousy food, and lousy service poor ventilation and plenty of smoking people. Finally the 4 hours are up headed to the transit/transfer lounge and they took the group of people downstairs and if felt like transfer of prisoners. Now getting into terminal one - you have to go though security even that you came from a secure area of the terminal as transit passenger - obviously logic is not functional here. Once I got in I have to say that Terminal impressed me a lot more that terminal two. Good areas for sitting good restrooms, and places to eat and drink - language was a problem but terminal ok. On the way back transferring from terminal 1 to terminal two was more efficient since it was 4 hour delay, still felt like exchange of prisoners. I read promotions about terminal two as being a premiere terminal for the russian people - if they call this premiere they can keep it and advise international passengers to find another way to enter Russia or go to other countries. My wife and I have agreed the next trip to Ukraine we are changing planes somewhere else in Europe.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 13 October 2008 : by Michael Ryan

Customer Rating : 1/5

The worst airport I have been to in my life! Toilets are a shame, no paper, no running water, very dirty. Long line at the check-in counter and no one seems to care, no staff to handle problems and no chairs to sit on while waiting for your flight. Everything on the airport is a rip-off, from taxi to food - its a bit better now that there is an aeroexpress connection to Savelovskaya station but hopefully we will see a much better and efficient terminal 3 very soon.

MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT customer review : 19 August 2008 : by Alonso Fernandes

Customer Rating : 3/5

Transit via SVO 4 times last 3 months. No seating, awful lounges, terminal under construction so it’s full of dust and not very clean, feels claustrophobic. Very efficient for short connection (you can manage it in 15-20 minutes if you let the transit staff know) as gates are very close to each other, but totally unsuitable for anything over 1:30 hours as simply there is no space to rest. On tight connection the transfer desk people were paging me to let me trough the transfer checkpoint immediately and it took me less than 10 minutes from deplaning to boarding, Impressive. As for the staff, the dragons at the crystal doors after the transit desk usually let you wait there till a group forms before letting you out to the departure areas. If they make you wait for too long use the bell by the door to annoy them and they will let you pass. I forgot a suit bag on my incoming plane, and the agents at the departure area Aeroflot transfer desks did everything they could to get it for me before my next flight, including running all over the airport, once again impressive and I really appreciated. 0 stars for hardware, 3 stars for transfer convenience and staff. Looking forward to use the new SVO 3 terminal.