Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB currently do not work in Russia, and cannot be used for payment. UnionPay, the only foreign pay system that remains, is also unreliable, with users reporting that payment terminals belonging to sanctioned banks do not accept it.
Despite that, booking a hotel is still possible – the most common way being, like in the old days, to contact the hotel personally over phone or through their website. You can simply pay in cash upon arrival. All the hotels we talked to, both luxury and inexpensive ones, have confirmed this. Some, however, charge a small premium due to cash payment - nothing major, though.
Keep in mind that booking a hotel without paying in advance requires you to arrive strictly on time for the check-in, otherwise the hotel may decide that you had changed your plans and you may lose your room. Besides bringing cash, one can open a bank account in Russia – we explain how over here.
There are two other ways to book a hotel from abroad, without resorting to cash payment. Some of the hotels provide the opportunity to use a foreign card with a special link they send after booking. This enables you to pay using Visa and Mastercard - but not American Express. Mind you, it’s a rare option and you’d still better contact the specific hotel and find out if the option is available.
The second option is quite primitive: asking your Russian friends to help out.
Only cash will do here, we’re afraid. Having contacted the most popular Russian airlines, such as Aeroflot, S7 and Rossiya Airlines, we found out that online payment is only possible with cards issued in Russia. The only way to buy a ticket for a domestic flight without a Russian card is to do it at the airport or at the office of the company – you can find the addresses on the airline’s website.
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