El-Al Israel Airlines

It is OK to be a fully private airline and decide on your pricing. It is not OK to request protection from the government of Israel and on the first opportunity exploit Israeli citizens that were stuck abroad and charge them $1000's more.

I had a UNITED ticket to the USA and had to cancel it when airlines stopped flying to Israel due to FAA regulations. EL AL charged me $1500 more for the same tickets.

I had not choice but I certainly will try avoiding traveling with them in the future.

Though I am a Platinum Medallion Member with Delta ,I have travelled extensively with many other airlines,worldwide,however I have yet to see an Airline ,whose flight attendants are unanimously rude,blunt and rather unsensitive to the needs of an individual passenger,especially one who is currently walking with a cane due to a recent surgery.

I flew El Al last week into and out of Israel and needless to mention how disappointed I was with the quality of service,the overall unresponsive and insensitive attitude of their flight attendants on both tracts.

Even asking for a glass of water in order to take my medications seemed to go unnoticed by several members of their staff.

I had to literally ask three attendants for a glass of water prior to getting one and when I did finally get one it was given to me with such a moody attitude .

The same occurred when I asked for a pillow to place around my hip area.It was mentioned to me that there were no more pillows available and that I had to live with it. Meanwhile,five minutes later a flight attendant brought a pillow to a passenger who spoke Hebrew to her willingly and with a full smile.

I believe that if you are in the tourist business,a company such as an airline should treat tourists with courtesy,professionalism and dignity just as they do their own nationals.

Prior to my boarding the outbound flight from Tel Aviv,the departing gate was published on the screen.Subsequently,due to a temporary air traffic controller strike at BenGurion Airport,the flight was delayed indefinitely until further notice.

As a Priority Pass member,I struggled to find a caddy to finally get me to the participating Priority Pass Lounge,called the Dan Lounge as there were no wheelchairs available in despite of my request for one in my reservation.

When I did get to the Dan Lounge,I was told by one of the ladies at the front desk that even though I had the right card ,I could not get in because the Club was full and that if I wanted,I could try to find a seat by the gate opposite or adjacent to the Lounge.I patiently awaited twenty minutes prior to reentering the Lounge and this time another lady at the front desk was kind and somewhat sensitive to my predicament and allowed to me to get into the Lounge.To my surprise,the Club was not really that full as the other lady had stated and there were approximately fifteen empty tables.

The kind lady at the front desk (Shirley) mentioned to me that I should check with her for any updates every fifteen minutes .

The second time around I checked with her,my ELAL flight had started boarding from a totally different and very distant gate.

Given my medical handicap ,I mentioned there was no way I could get to that flight walking and that they had to do something urgent in order to help me. When physical assistance came along I was placed in a bus and the driver himself was confused as to which aircraft he had to drive me . When he finally figured it out ,I was elevated on a crate to the height of the door and here again I was absolutely disgusted that ,in despite of the driver knocking on the door of the aircraft so that the flight attendant could open it for metro get in,the one pilot looked at him and drew the shutters down!

I was in a state of total disbelief as to what had happened and to make matters worse,no one of the staff on that El Al aircraft even apologized to me for all the major inconvenience I went through to board their plane.

El Al is an airline which truly needs major improvement in how to treat their passengers with courtesy,professionalism and ,when needed,some empathy and understanding.

They are 100% excellent when it comes to security but when it comes to quality of service and treatment to passengers,they are below average and indeed have a long way to catch up with other major international carriers

Well I had my first court date with ELAL today in NYC . They actually had two representatives show up, it was freezing cold, I will not get into the whole story but as I mentioned prior,

I requested a Judge and not an Arbitrator so of course they gave as a new date in March with a Judge. I just found out from a friend (lawyer) that most likely this will happen several more times since NYC cut many of the Judges so I should expect at least 3 more visits before we actually see a Judge, that's fine with me,

It's not the $400 they mislead me to think I would not be charged if I provided a Doctors note since I was very sick and then charged me, it's the principal . So we will meet a few more times and I will keep you all up dated.

I am an Israeli. In the last 10 years I fly ~150,000 miles every year. I am a senator in Star Alliance (LH, United) and Gold in British. it is the second time EL-AL approached me, asking to fly with them and giving me automatic Platinum frequent flyer, upgrade vouchers etc. I have a been a fool twice !!!

Here are the 10 top reason NOT to fly EL AL:

1. If something goes wrong - the flight is delayed and you miss your connection - you are alone, do not expect any help from them

2. redeeming point is impossible - they will let you book a flight for point but will use multiple excuses to charge you twice the points

3. You want to upgrade with point or with their vouchers - you will find you need to purchase tickets that are as expensive as buying a business class. Otherwise - no upgrade is allowed

4. They have lounges only in very few place and they are opened only 2-3 hours before the flight - so if you have a long connection or want to arrive earlier to the airport and work in the lounge - not possible

5. They will of course not publish the opening hours

6. Check-in is available only 3 hours before the flight. If you come earlier to the airport - you need to wait

7. if you work on Friday abroad and want to return on Saturday - this is not possible - you will need to wait till lat night Saturday - at least

8. They do not take real care on frequent flyer travelers - being a Platinum I have called their customer service several time - they could not help me in any upgrade etc. saying that they need to earn more and thus they can not support me - well I wonder if there are many travelers that they can earn more than me.

9. Airplanes are old, entertainment facilities are poor

10. No other airline squeezes so many seats - it is impossible to seat comfortably - no space for the legs!!!

There are many other alternatives to fly out / In to Israel - EL AL is your worse alternative

My flight was from Israel to Germany and I started off the flight seated in coach. The flight was full and the seats were small so I asked for a business class seat. The up grade cost more than the original coach fair and after I changed seats, I was told that they did not have the meal for business class available to me. The service was good but the seating was awful. On my return flight, the seats were not full and I stayed in coach. The flight was late getting in. I thought that El Al airlines were a first class Airline however, I see that this is not the case.

I had a very unfortunate experience with this company today. I called to have a flight moved up to an earlier date for my sister in law who lives in Israel. I was on hold for 26 minutes before someone took my call. I was then transferred 3 - 4 times to different people before someone would help me. I was first told that it was going to cost $1,074.00 to have the flight moved to an earlier date, when we had just been told yesterday that the cost would be $340.00. After I was told this, I asked to speak with a manager. I was transferred another couple of times before someone told me that the cost would be $340.00. Every time I was transferred, I had to wait a ridiculous amount of time to speak to someone. Every person I spoke with was EXTREMELY rude to me, it was quite shocking to be honest. I have never had employees at an airline be so rude to me. The total time I was on the phone was 47 minutes. This call should have been 15 - 20 minutes at the most. Needless to say, we will never be using this company again.

I work in a customer service based industry,

Never again - treated like cattle.

No trip to Israel would be complete without flying El Al.

Felt I was in a vault. El-Al Israel Airlines very safe airline to travel with. On time, o.k. food, pleasant staff. It is usually pricier than other airlines.

I have travelled with El Al Israel Airlines twice this year and although the interrogation as to who, how, why you are making your journey is quite intense and you do feel a bit like a criminal in the making - you also feel quite safe in the knowledge that they do everything they can to thwart any potential acts of terrorism.