New benefits. How families with children can save on flights around Russia

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You can travel to 46 destinations with seven airlines.

Where did the family benefit tickets come from?

In the past two years, the authorities have seriously taken care of domestic tourism. First, they introduced a cashback service for spending on travel in Russia. Then they began to return part of the cost of vouchers to domestic children's camps. The next step was the emergence of preferential air tickets for families for the sake of "increasing the competitiveness of the domestic tourism product."

For this, the state has provided subsidies for airlines. According to the idea, they will sell tickets to customers at a lower price, and then the firms will be reimbursed for the lost income. For the remainder of 2021, 1.35 billion rubles were allocated for these purposes. It is assumed that there will be enough money for flights for 50 thousand people.

Who can buy discounted tickets

To take advantage of the offer, you must have at least one child under the age of 18 and an accompanying person - a parent or legal guardian - in one booking.

Where and for how much you can fly at discounted fares

46 destinations have been selected for family flights at special prices. The list includes Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ulan-Ude, Ufa, Khanty-Mansiysk, Yuzhno Sakhalinsk.

Important: not a single preferential route connects these cities with Moscow, St. Petersburg or southern resorts.

The maximum ticket price is determined for each direction. This means that the airline has no right to sell it at a higher price, but at a cheaper price, yes. The state, for its part, is ready to reimburse the carrier for half the costs of the estimated full cost of the ticket. The maximum amount of the subsidy is equal to the maximum price of the flight.

The lowest cost was set for the Kazan - Yaroslavl route - up to 4,191 rubles. The maximum will be 10,953 rubles, it was determined for 22 directions. In this case, a child under two years old travels free of charge without providing a separate seat. Children with a separate seat or between the ages of two and 12 years old - with a discount of at least 25% of this tariff.

A complete list of destinations and maximum ticket prices can be found in the decree.

The program is just starting to operate, so it is difficult to understand yet how much discounted ticket prices will turn out to be in reality. If we compare the usual offers on aggregator sites with the prices indicated in the decree, then they often do not differ so much. But a lot depends on what prices are ultimately set by the carriers themselves. In any case, compare. Perhaps in some cases it will be more profitable to fly an unsubsidized flight.

When and where can I buy discounted tickets?

Carriers to receive subsidies are selected on a competitive basis. In 2021, money from the budget will be allocated to the following airlines:

• Azimut - routes connecting Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Tyumen.
• Smartavia - Murmansk - Rostov-on-Don.
• Red Wings Airlines - Yekaterinburg - Kazan, Yekaterinburg - Nizhny Novgorod.
• Ural Airlines - routes connecting Yekaterinburg with Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad - with Irkutsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, as well as Vladivostok with Irkutsk.
• Nordwind Airlines - routes connecting Kaliningrad with Voronezh, Irkutsk, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Samara.
• Aeroflot - Krasnoyarsk - Vladivostok, Krasnoyarsk - Irkutsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - Vladivostok.
• S7 (Siberia) - most routes, 32 out of 46.

The competition was held on 2 August. Airlines must register preferential fares within five days after signing the subsidy agreement. The documents themselves have either already been signed or will be in the near future.

Accordingly, these companies will either have discounted tickets or are about to appear, or have already appeared, depending on when you read this text. For information on how to buy discounted tickets, you need to look in the conditions on the website of each airline separately. Nordwind and S7 have already announced the start of sales.

Can I buy discounted train tickets?

Yes, although not within the framework of the above program. Russian Railways offers up to 40% discounts on long-distance train compartments for families with children. Condition - tickets must be bought at once for the whole family, which consists of a maximum of two adults (parents or guardians) and at least one child.

The promotion is valid until the end of 2021. Reduced price tickets are sold only at the box office upon presentation of documents confirming the relationship.