After the international sanctions on Russia, major Western flight search engines (like Skyscanner, Momondo, Kayak, etc.) stopped showing flights to Russia. If you search for a flight to Moscow on Skyscanner, you’ll likely see a message saying “no results found.” That doesn’t mean planes aren’t flying—it just means these platforms have decided to hide those routes. At the same time, Russian airline websites like Aeroflot, S7, or Pobeda no longer accept Visa or Mastercard cards issued outside of Russia. As travelers, we face a double challenge: we can’t see the routes, and even when we find them, our foreign bank cards get declined.
Fortunately, there’s a tool I’ve been using for years that bypasses both of these issues. Aviasales, a Russian flight search engine available in multiple languages, still indexes all real flight options to and within Russia. Even better, it redirects you to agencies or airlines that do accept international Visa and Mastercard payments—and in some cases, even PayPal. Use the search box below to check flight options from your departure city:
After you enter your departure city and click “Search,” you’ll instantly see routes operated by airlines like Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, Air Serbia via Belgrade, or Qatar Airways via Doha, among others. It’s also a good idea to use the same search box to add domestic flights—say, from Moscow to Sochi, from Kazan to St. Petersburg, or from Moscow to St. Petersburg. That way, you can also book flights with Russian carriers like Aeroflot or S7 Airlines.
Aviasales doesn’t sell tickets directly, but it lets you compare prices from dozens of agencies and airlines in one place. Once you find the flight on Aviasales, it gives you several booking options, including well-known travel agencies that accept foreign cards, such as Trip or Kupi. It works great for both international flights (e.g., from your country to Moscow or St. Petersburg) and for domestic flights within Russia. You’ll find a detailed explanation of the booking process in this article: How to Buy Plane Tickets to Russia (and Within Russia) with a Foreign Card.