EL AL Matmid - F class on HKG route

from what i see on the seat maps, elal will start to ofer F class on Saturday flights TLV-HKG, and Thursday flights HKG-TLV

anyone has any info on this ?

this means less chances for upgrade on an S class tix.
i need to consider going via BKK - changes there are much better.

One of the reasons there is no F service on the HKG route is because there was very low demand for it. Just because they start F service doesn't mean you will have any less of a chance of an S upgrade, but that's just my opinion.

One of the reasons there is no F service on the HKG route is because there was very low demand for it. Just because they start F service doesn't mean you will have any less of a chance of an S upgrade, but that's just my opinion.

of course there is less chance for an upgrade on an S class ticket...
12 less seats to upgrade to (F seats that usually are with C service). and Saturdays and Thursday's are already busy days :(

of course there is less chance for an upgrade on an S class ticket...
12 less seats to upgrade to (F seats that usually are with C service). and Saturdays and Thursday's are already busy days :(

But if no one buys the F seats, and they end up having regular C service, then you wouldn't be losing any seats to upgrade into.. (Unless I'm missing something, or just being dense - ALWAYS a possibility :p)

My original post was confirmed today on Yedioth Aharonot. a letter to the agents was issued about this change starting December 11.

here is the message to the agents:
חדש! מחלקה ראשונה בטיסות אל על להונג קונג
החל מה-4/12/2011


אנו שמחים לבשר על שירות חדש בטיסות אל על להונג קונג
שירות מחלקה ראשונה


שירות מחלקה ראשונה יופעל בנתיב TLV-HKG LY075 בימי שבת
וחזרה בנתיב HKG-TLV LY076 בימי חמישי.

הטיסות הישירות להונג קונג, במטוסים מסוג 777 .
הטיסות ממריאות משדה התעופה TLV ונוחתות בשדה התעופה HONG KONG INTL.



התוספת נועדה ליעל את מערך מחלקות הרישום להונג קונג, תוך מתן דגש על מחירים
לתנועה העסקית.

This will probably allow few people i know on this route to fly F, and other TPLs to be upgraded on overbook flights...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4169229,00.html

If anyways they treat F as C if there's no demand for a particular flight, AND anyways they are using 3-cabin planes, why not have F for all HKG flights, and not only 2/week?

If anyways they treat F as C if there's no demand for a particular flight, AND anyways they are using 3-cabin planes, why not have F for all HKG flights, and not only 2/week?

i've written a post about this change 2 months ago

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/el-al-matmid/1270941-f-class-hkg-route.html

anyways, from what i've seen, maybe 1/2 people buy an F class ticket (A fare) and the rest:
1. upgrade before the flight
2. get upgrade at the airport

because the saturday/thursday flights are in high demand, they usually dont offer J/Z on then and very limited seats in D.. so most people that buy I/C will usuall get upgraded to F.

kind of a dumb move i think. instead of getting more people to buy C, they get less people paying, and more people upgrading.

I remember the thread, and commented in it as well, though about your OP.

There are times (most) that I just don't get why LY makes the business decisions they make.

5 years ago at this time of the year, we flew to HKG in F. It was before they doubled the F on the 777s to 12 seats. There were 3 of us flying together, in paid A class. There was another passenger traveling alone. However, there was also a group of 3, who all had confirmed reservations, but there were only 2 seats available. I knew that F class was going to be full from watching the availability, but I had never heard of overbooking in F before!

5 years ago at this time of the year, we flew to HKG in F. It was before they doubled the F on the 777s to 12 seats. There were 3 of us flying together, in paid A class. There was another passenger traveling alone. However, there was also a group of 3, who all had confirmed reservations, but there were only 2 seats available. I knew that F class was going to be full from watching the availability, but I had never heard of overbooking in F before!

BA does it - was offered 1k pound for LHR-BAH flight once if volunteered to downgrade - which I grabbed given that I was on an RTW ticket. In the end they didnt need it so they offered me some miles for my kind offer.

BA does it - was offered 1k pound for LHR-BAH flight once if volunteered to downgrade - which I grabbed given that I was on an RTW ticket. In the end they didnt need it so they offered me some miles for my kind offer.

Downgrade to CW, WT+, or WT?

Considering redeeming some AA miles for an F ticket SIN-HKG CX -> HKG-TLV F. Any insights on the difference between C and F on the HKG-TLV route? I've never flown LY F. I'm not expecting CX F service, but what can you tell me about what to expect?

you can't use aa miles for F, only for business and economy.

I don't understand what all the big fuss is about being able to fly EL AL "F" class to HKG. Their "F" hard product (seat and IFE) on the 744 and 772 is substandard even when compared to many reputable airline's "C" hard product. I wouldn't waste money or valuable points trying to 'upgrade' to this product.

But I'm not comparing it to other carrier's products. I'm looking at F vs C. Is it better than C on the same bird?

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Well of course it's better than C (wouldn't be much point in it otherwise...) and considering how bad the C hard product is, F, while as mentioned is still substandard compared to the competition (BA CW and LX C are better than LY F) it's better than C with more space, larger seat (same seat as IB's C if you're familiar with it..).

Soft product on board should be very good though.

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Well of course it's better than C (wouldn't be much point in it otherwise...) and considering how bad the C hard product is, F, while as mentioned is still substandard compared to the competition (BA CW and LX C are better than LY F) it's better than C with more space, larger seat (same seat as IB's C if you're familiar with it..).

Soft product on board should be very good though.

Clubman,

I don't necessarily agree with you. In my opinion, LY's "C" and "F" hard product are very similar. So similar that it is not worth paying the extra money to upgrade from their "C" to "F" product. It is not like on Emirates where the difference between the "C" and "F" product is a semi enclosed large seat verses a full enclosed and completely private suite.

As far as the soft product is concerned, I am not sure about the rest of you, but the soft product for me is not nearly as important as the hard product. Service is service. Sometimes it is better, other times it is worse, and that is largely dependent on the crew and their personalities. However, what does not change and that which you experience the most on a flight and generates the most comfort (or discomfort) is the hard product. Particularly on an overnight flight from TLV to NY, what you want is a comfortable seat so that you could sleep most of the way through. Service, no matter how good it is, will never make up for a poor hard product.