Day 1: New York in Russia Travel Log

We left for Moscow on a direct flight, from 7pm to 11:30am: 9 1/2 hours flight + 7 hour time difference.

La Professeure did the airport transportation arrangement and it was very smooth… We left at 2pm though, in case of holiday traffic, which failed to materialize.

The check in was smooth too, even though we had 8 luggage (in-laws brought 5), by the time we’re done with security, it was only 3pm, so we had 3 hours to kill before boarding: we went to Shake Shack.

The boarding time was 1 1/2 hours before take off because the airline needs to check our visas. So we were on the plane by 6:30. And then got word that the plane needed to wait for fuel and blankets. That added an hour of time for us to be docked at the gate; that was not fun. The pilot said he used the additional fuel to push the plane faster, so we still arrived on time.
I did not sleep well. For my work trip to Sydney the week before, I had business class on Cathay Pacific, whose seats recline all the way to flat. That made a big difference - a 10 hour flight on a economy felt like a 15 hour flight on business.

Last updated March 24, 2020