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Aeroflot, Russia's national airline, apparently has stopped accepting many brands of credit cards, a move prompted by the deepening financial crises. An Aeroflot spokesperson tells CardLine Global the airline still accepts cards carrying the American Express, Diner's Club, MasterCard and Visa brands, despite press reports that the airline, along with additional merchants in Russia including restaurants and mobile phone stores, have stopped accepting credit cards from all but a few issuers. "There is no limitation" on accepting cards from any issuers, the spokesperson says. When CardLine Global contacted Aeroflot's booking service, however, a representative indicated the airline would accept payments with cards issued by Bank VTB, the bank holdings of natural-gas company OAO Gazprom and Sberbank Rossii, all three of which are based in Russia. "Information [about] when Aeroflot will accept cards from other banks is not available yet," the booking representative says.
