This is great for the Matmid members who's Matmid account is based in Israel. Just posted on the site...

Exclusive Deal for Matmid Members Flying Business Class to All Western Europe Destinations (Zone C)

Round-Trip Business Class Flight –
$549 + 349 Points

Valid on Departures until June 24, 2006

All Fares Include Airport Taxes and Surcharges

Terms:

* Deal tickets will be ticketed in W class.
* Minimum stay Saturday / Sunday at destination; maximum stay three months
* No departures on Sunday or Monday
* A reservation that is made 15 – 41 days before the flight must be ticketed up to seven days after booking. A reservation that is made 14 days before the flight must be ticketed up to 24 hours after booking.
* Ticketing less than 7 days before the flight will entail a $35 fee.
* Ticketing will be done through Airtour; reservations are made through travel agents or through EL AL Reservations.
* It is possible to combine destinations in Western Europe (Zone C).
* Changes in the ticket can be made after ticketing, before departure for a $100 fee (subject to ticket conditions).
* This deal applies to El Al flights only (exclusive of code share flights)
* Tickets on this deal cannot be upgraded.
* Tickets for this deal can be purchased for round-trip (RT) flights only, in the relevant Class.
*It is possible to supplement points with money, on condition that members have a minimum of half the required number of points.
* It is possible to return an unused voucher that has not yet been ticketed for a service charge of $30.
* Deal tickets are valid for EL AL flights only even in cases of flight cancellations or changes made by EL AL.
* It is possible to exchange a regular bonus ticket for the deal dates that was issued before publication of the deal, and to exchange it for a deal voucher – for a service charge of $30.
* The deal is for Matmid Club members in Israel only and only for flights that originate in Israel.
* No points will be accumulated on these tickets.
* The ticket fares indicated above include airport taxes and security levies as of the date of this publication and are subject to change in accordance with decisions by the relevant authorities.
* The number of seats is limited.
* The deal is subject to Matmid Club regulations
* Errors and omissions excepted

Not bad for the TLV-LHR route!! Business for £350!!!!

Cheers

Any quick way of earning the required points through special offers by that cutoff date? :)

I wish I had seen this about 12 hours ago. I made a reservation in Coach to MXP at that point. This would cost me only $80 more. I just called LY reservations and asked if I could change but was told that I would have to pay an additional $100 cancellation fee so I passed on it.

Okay, now I am really frustrated!

I thought I had found an out! I did some checking on El Al's website and found that although my ticket usually costs $100 to cancel I could do so for 100 shekels "when the reservation is made directly through EL AL's reservations call center or via the company's web site, the ticket may be cancelled within 14 days of the date of reservation but no later than 2 working days prior to the flight's scheduled departure, provided that the reservation was made at least 7 working days prior to the flight's scheduled departure. If the above conditions are met, you will be charged ILS100 or 5% of the total price of the ticket, whichever is lower."

All right! I meet all of those qualifications! I am between the 14 day maximum and 2 day minimum. My reservation was made more than 7 days in advance. I made it through the reservations call center.

I called LY Reservations back and read that to them. They agreed. They checked to see if there were seats available in Biz on my flights and found there were. It would cost me 100 shekels only to cancel my original ticket.

But -- it turned out there is a catch. Because this is a Matmid offer, I have to get to an El Al Office by tomorrow.

I can't do it. The closest one is in Haifa (about 90 kilometers away) and I will be tied up all day.

The really frustrating part? As I discussed in this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=546791) El Al tells me it can't manage to send my ticket to me in less than 10 business days but it demands that I get to its office in one day!

Oh well, Coach isn't all that bad -- I guess.

Dovster,
Would it be easier for you to get a travel agent?
Why do you need to only make a booking and reservation directly with El Al?

Dovster,
Would it be easier for you to get a travel agent?
Why do you need to only make a booking and reservation directly with El Al?

In this particular case, they told me that because it was a Matmid offer I had to get to an El Al Office. Actually, it would not have made too much difference as the closest travel agent is about 35 kilometers from my house and I didn't have time to go there.

Please do not ask me why I can pay for a regular ticket over the phone but not anything to do with Matmid. Delta certainly allows me to make award reservations on the phone.

[QUOTE=Dovster]In this particular case, they told me that because it was a Matmid offer I had to get to an El Al Office. QUOTE]

That is weird they have told you that, usually Matmid offers you can get through travel agent.
Ah well.

More El Al bureaucratic stupidity:

I had to change the return date of my flight. I checked, made sure there were seats available at the same price, and called Reservations.

The rep confirmed that this was right and then told me there would be a $100 fee. I read to her the info I posted above (in # 4) about the fee being 100 shekels or 5% of the price -- whichever is lower.

The rep agreed that was the case but only if I wanted to cancel my reservation -- not if I wanted to change it.

Okay, I told her, let's make the new reservation, then cancel the old one, and charge me the 100 NIS instead of the $100. She agreed to do this.

Of course, she couldn't actually charge me the 100 NIS. That would be too simple. Instead, she charged me for the whole fare all over again and told me I would get a refund for the first fare in 30 days.

I asked her to send me an e-mail confirming this and giving me the new itinerary. She agreed to give me itinerary but said she could not include the confirmation of the cancellation. I have no idea of why.

Then she called me back to tell me that in order to get the refund, I would have to return the original tickets to them. I asked her how I could do that when they refused to send them to me, saying that 10 days was not enough time when there are holidays -- I would have to pick them up at the airport.

She looked in her files and said that it was written there that they had sent them to me but, no, they couldn't have as they didn't have enough time. She said she would try to find the tickets.

About ten minutes later she called me back again, to tell me that I would have to have my passport with me when I pick up my tickets at the airport. I reminded her that we had agreed that I would pick up the tickets immediately before the flight -- and if I was going to leave the country I would be fairly certain to have my passport with me under any circumstances. :rolleyes: