El Al Matmid - My LY002 expirence this sunday...

After i got the official response from EL-AL, I think its a good time to share you
All, Its very important to mention EL-AL didnt denied my complain, Agreed and
gave a very bad excuse...

My trip back home started in Washington with AA Flight (Code Share EL-AL),
I made sure few days prior to the flight to reserve seat 72C, When ticketing
AA i couldnt do the checking in the Kiosk, Had to go to the counter, Got
the Ticket for the AA flight, The person saw i am on 72C but couldnt give me
the ticket due to a problem. (There were about 4 more people doing the same
route and they got the tickets (one of them is a Likud Minister).

Anyway, In the US as in the US, We were about 2 hours in the plane on the ground, Due to weather/traffic, Then we departure, Landed 18:40, 18:50 out
of the plane - Started the run of my life (I swear!).
From Terminal 8 to Terminal 4, 15 Minutes, arriving to EL-AL 19:05.
The girls from the check-in were already about to leave (with personal bags and etc...), When i asked if the flight is closed, They confirmed.
Didnt helped me to mention i am TPL, and to mention the Fact that the check-in for business should be closed 19:10 for business and 19:20 for first
class.

I begged them to check me in, But it didnt helped they were insisting i wont
go to the flight (they were already the way out of the check-in area), One of
them, Finally agreed to call the station manager (while i hear another one telling her not to waste her time on me!), The station manager approved
my boarding (i was upgraded to first), went to the lounge (still had 10 minutes
to grab food/drink) and then to the plane.
------------------------------------------------------------
The reply i got from EL-AL is that they agree with what i said, But the flight
was overbook, people were downgraded from business to economy, The
check-in employees where tired/upset/whatever from all the fights and since
i was the last passenger, and they saw i am not coming, they decided to close "earlier"...

I wanted to reply and make more mess out of this answer, But there was a
positive thing in the process, First the station manager, upgraded me to
First prior knowing if i come or not, Then from the lounge to the plane,
I got stuck on TSA with a nice guy that decided to ask me for a description
of each cable i had in my bag (about 30 cables!), during all that time an el-al
Representative was with me, calming me down, Making sure the plane will
wait for me (i was delayed for 20 minutes in TSA).

Also EL-AL Manager for NY (Or US) would like to meet me on my next flight
to discuss the whole story...


So... Shortly, TPL or not... if the check-in employee didnt had a personal
initiative to call the station manager (they were the last one the checking area + a security person - Sometimes it all ends with personal initiatives...

(sorry for the long post:cool:)

Ebzed.

Glad you made it and I am sure you TPL status helped. But what about those of us who don't have that status! You were on a codeshare flight and booked, I presume from DC to TLV. El Al should have been aware that your connecting flight was late and arrangements should have been made for any and all passengers in your position to make the TLV flight! After all--if you had time to grab a bite in the lounge you were't holding anything or anyone up. ( okay--TSA did their thing--but they are jerks anyway!)

As said, When i arrived the check-in counter the ladies there didnt want
to do the check-in, they didnt care about being TPL (it didnt said much
to them), They were already outside the counter on the way home...
The local EL-AL team was already on the boarding.

EL-AL was suppose to be fully aware i am on board the WDC flight, I really
dont understand what happened there, I Believe it was easy for them to "believe" i wont make it and give my seat to someone else (Although i was upgraded to First - But probably someone was on standby for the case i really dont come).

(All the other passengers had boarding cards from AA, so they went directly
to the plane with no need to go over the EL-AL counter).

About TSA - That's a different story, In each airport they have different approach, I think simply the guy who checked me was so bored...

(sorry for the long post:cool:)

Ebzed.

The longer the better;)

Ground hostesses are leaving the check-in area DURING check-in time?

And they refuse to do their work for a passenger?!

Wow... I see that El Al's legendary level of service and friendly attitude have not improved over the last 30 years... despite all the marketing effort trying to persuade us that the airline is now "different" than what it used to be in the 1970s and 80s.

Ground hostesses are leaving the check-in area DURING check-in time?

And they refuse to do their work for a passenger?!

Wow... I see that El Al's legendary level of service and friendly attitude have not improved over the last 30 years... despite all the marketing effort trying to persuade us that the airline is now "different" than what it used to be in the 1970s and 80s.

The ground staff at JFK, with the exception of 2 or 3 people, are not El Al employees but rather work for Swissport to whom El Al contracts the work. Doesn't excuse the behavior, especially of the F?C counter, but . . .

I'm a bit surprised LY doesn't use its own people with 2-4 wb flights a day for its biggest market.

I'm a bit surprised LY doesn't use its own people with 2-4 wb flights a day for its biggest market.

I think its the same all around the world.... and its all'bout the money

How many points did you get from Elal?

How manu points did you get from Elal?

Nothing..., I didnt asked for any compensation as well...

Nothing..., I didnt asked for any compensation as well...

And why didn't you ask?
I think you should ask .

Liorm

And why didn't you ask?
I think you should ask .

Liorm

Its not about the points, I donated 7000 points last year and i am still with around 20k - I am trying here to make sure EL-AL understand the Mistake
they have done while they consider this as ".... happens, We were tired, go nag someone else..." - I will meet next week EL-AL's USA Office Manager for a
discussion.

I had similar behavior (not late to flight, but really bad service) and i have to
admit that after long discussion with the guy who run the show at EL-AL LA,
and the change in behavior i got for me and my friends - Worth much more
than few points....

Its not about the points, I donated 7000 points last year and i am still with around 20k - ...

ebzed - if you are looking for anyone to donate more points to, look no further :p :D

Kol Hakavod for the donation.
I think that Elal has a very good service on the ground and in the air.
But ,,, from time to time we some people that behave like in the old days
of bad service.
Last week my flight from TLV to JFK in F was very bad.
the F/A worked like they were doing C class service and even less
The way back was extraordinery all the way.

I am donating a show for Alut next month and I asked them if they can
get a free TKT from ELAL so I can give it to someone during the show.
They told me there is no chance Elal will do it.
Maybe I will talk with Mr Romano directly.
I will update you

I am donating a show for Alut next month and I asked them if they can get a free TKT from ELAL so I can give it to someone during the show.
They told me there is no chance Elal will do it. Maybe I will talk with Mr Romano directly. I will update you

Today i got a phone call from the my personal account manager, After writing
to EL-AL that due to the LY002 incident i had, and the bad service i got in general in the past few flights in NYC, I simply stop flying EL-AL to NYC.

She tried to convince me not to do so, Asking what i am expecting...
I have enough points so i dont really care about points...
If anyone have any ideas i am open to hear...

LiorM if you didnt managed to get the ticket from EL-AL, I am willing to ask them a compensation ticket for your show, Let me know.

For the Moment, I booked my next flight Continental, We will see how it goes.
The only problem flying Continental is that they dont have business, Only first,
This doesnt make big change in the price, But for the company, If i fly first
we need to pay extra taxes... (even if the ticket is cheaper than elal's business).

The only problem flying Continental is that they dont have business, Only first,
This doesnt make big change in the price, But for the company, If i fly first
we need to pay extra taxes... (even if the ticket is cheaper than elal's business).

How so? BusinessFirst is a business class product, not a first class one.

How so? BusinessFirst is a business class product, not a first class one.

Israeli tax authorities allow to expense air travel costs in economy and business only. This I assume is what ebzed is referring to.

However I agree with you that actually CO's BusinessFirst needs to be clasified purely as a business product and I'm quite sure the tax authorities (or the court) would see the sense in that since there are two classes, coach and businessfirst. It's the same with domestic travel in the US, where First is actually a business product.

ebzed, whilst I am not qualified to provide tax advice, if it were me I would certainly expense this fully and would wait for the tax authorities to question it, something I very much doubt they would do.

No problem with CO b/f for tax.
No tax free just for real F.

I used to fly with them for many years . The food is great.
The seats are OK but not more then that.
The service is good like in any other biz class.There is always
one F/A that speacks Hebrew


00000000000000000000000000000000

Thanks for yor offer. I am having a meeting with them next week
I will update you

The seats are OK but not more then that.

They're in the process of installing new flat-bed seats in BF, which should be much better than the current LY seats (disclaimer: I've only seen them online and read reviews, haven't had the chance to sit on them yet).
Granted, it's a process that will take some time to finish, but at least they have a plan, unlike certain airlines (wink wink nudge nudge).

No problem with CO b/f for tax.
No tax free just for real F.

I have checked more on this subject, CO's First is being sold as Z Class, So
it means even if they name the product 1st Class, its still considered as Business...
Only invoiced F or A is problematic...

Thanks everyone... Hopefully next week i will go NY instead of Paris to know the
difference between LY and CO.

I promised EL-AL a detailed report on the CO experience

Hopefully next week i will go NY instead of Paris to know the
difference between LY and CO.

I promised EL-AL a detailed report on the CO experience

Don't forget to report back to us here too

Ask for 1A or 1L. The best seats.
Don't eat to much before the flight because they have
very good food.
EWR is a very good hub and you can use the President Club
when you land. I always took a shower there before the next flight.

Have a safe trip

LiorM

...Don't eat to much before the flight because they have very good food...

Especially if you like ice cream. CO Business First is good. I did it last year to EWR. But the seat was not as comfortable as BA J, as good as LY J.

... But the seat was not as comfortable as BA J, as good as LY J.

Continental are in the process of installing new flat bed seats as their new BF cabin.