How to book Uzbekistan Airways online

Board outside Ichon-Qala, Khiva

I read that it is cheaper to buy any flight tickets in Uzbekistan itself but we didn't really have much time to do slow travel, so we opted to get the tickets before departure. If you plan to take a domestic flight, it would be hard to avoid Uzbekistan Airways. 

Despite not very popular everywhere else in the world, the flight is clean and looks new, except that the seat number is located behind the seat, not at where it usually is - under the luggage compartment. They even come with luggage allowance and some food. 

If one google Uzbekistan Airways, the website you find would be this. This website shows time of departure and arrival but no option to book it. In fact, this tour operator's website gives a summary of schedule depending on flight route. It's handy to know what day the flights are operating. Whereas this website mentioned of assisting on flights booking but it is not instant confirmation. 

We found two websites that allowed online flight booking directly. 

1. Uzbekistan Airways UK

Yes - their UK website allows online booking but of course, charges pounds. 

2. Priceline.com

This is an American website so it charges in USD. 

Here's the catch, you either pay in pounds or USD. We found the conversion is slightly cheaper if we pay in USD, hence we booked via Priceline.com. I have used this website before this when I booked a domestic flight for my travel in states. 

Being paranoid, after being issued flight itinerary and ticket number, I checked it against the Uzbekistan Airways website, under "check ticket" and found the details of our flights. So I was assured that it wasn't a hoax. We booked a one way ticket from Bishkek to Tashkent and another one way ticket from Tashkent to Urgench. Both flights were without any issues or dramas, checking in at Manas International Airport though, was a different story but nothing to do with Uzbekistan Airways. 

Side note: Summer is definitely here...