EL AL Matmid - Bag check times for TLV-JFK?

Hey yall! I'm on Taglit and my trip ends tomorrow, but I've extended my ticket until Thursday morning so I could visit Haifa on my own. I was wondering how early/late does El Al allow you to check your luggage?

I'm on the 10:40am flight on Thursday; would they let me check my bag around 1pm tomorrow (Wednesday -- it's within 24 hrs of departure)?

Alternatively, I found on a website that there's luggage storage in one of the parking lots but it only operates from 8am to 8pm; would I be able to check my bag in at 8:20am or so (need time to get the bag and go to the terminal) -- 2 hours prior to departure?

I know this is very last-minute but that seems to be how a lot of things worked on this trip; I only extended my ticket earlier today! I hope I can make this work; in the worst case I could simply roll my bag around Haifa I suppose, although I'd much rather not.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips! :)

-J.

Where are you staying Wednesday night? You may be able to drop it there in the morning.

It's unlikely you'd be able to check in the day before. As to whether picking it up before checkin is feasible, it depends on your own risk tolerance and ability to deal with the consequences. The recommended arrival time is 3 hours before your flight, but those checkin lines can take an hour or more even arriving then; *somebody* has to be at the end, why not you arriving at the 2 hour mark? Certainly some people arrive late for various reasons.

Caveat -- I've always been there at the 3 hour mark, so don't know if they cut off entrance at some point (likely closer to 1hr before, I'd guess). Worst case the line/security questions take too much time, and you have to go out the next day. If I was travelling with my family on a carefully coordinated itinerary with connections etc, I'd worry more than if traveling alone and direct to my destination.

I'm in Netanya tonight; I was planning on staying in the terminal Wednesday night. I suppose if I miss my flight they could put me on the 4pm but that's only if there's room AND if they even let that happen; also I'd really rather not be on that flight just due to the timing of it.

-J.

Where are you staying Wednesday night? You may be able to drop it there in the morning.

It's unlikely you'd be able to check in the day before. As to whether picking it up before checkin is feasible, it depends on your own risk tolerance and ability to deal with the consequences. The recommended arrival time is 3 hours before your flight, but those checkin lines can take an hour or more even arriving then; *somebody* has to be at the end, why not you arriving at the 2 hour mark? Certainly some people arrive late for various reasons.

Caveat -- I've always been there at the 3 hour mark, so don't know if they cut off entrance at some point (likely closer to 1hr before, I'd guess). Worst case the line/security questions take too much time, and you have to go out the next day. If I was travelling with my family on a carefully coordinated itinerary with connections etc, I'd worry more than if traveling alone and direct to my destination.

With 2 hours there in plenty of time (I usually make it 1:30).
If you see it's getting late lets say around 1:15 before the flight, go to a member of staff and they will take you straight to the front of the line, but as said with 2 hours this shouldn't be the case.

thank you Taglit. Thank you Israel.
למה את קשאסה....

Well I ended up taking my bag with me to Haifa. It really wasn't that much of an issue other than the super-intimidating railway officer person putting it on the overhead rack for me :eek: At the upper terrace to the Baha'i Gardens the guard said to leave my bag there and he would keep an eye on it, turned out he was from New Jersey! All told, I had a wonderful day (even though I did get lost on the buses a bit), and now I'm settling in back at TLV with a salad from Burgeranch and a diet coke with the rest of my scotch poured in ;) A ticketing agent said I could try checking my bag when the counters open at 3am so I may do that, otherwise I know I can check it at 6:40.

thank you Taglit. Thank you Israel.
למה את קשאסה....

Not sure what you mean about the Cachaca :confused: but indeed thank you Taglit, this was probably the most amazing experience in my entire life.

-J.

Not sure what you mean about the Cachaca :confused: ...

It's a poor attempt at humor.

"?למה את קשאסה" is a line from a totally tasteless Eretz Nehederet skit (http://www.mako.co.il/tv-erez-nehederet/season9-clips/b5e2b2f9faa05310/Article-6cba58d5d9c0531006.htm) mocking Taglit. Cachaça is a Brazilian liquor made from fermented sugarcane juice.

It's a poor attempt at humor.

"?למה את קשאסה" is a line from a totally tasteless Eretz Nehederet skit (http://www.mako.co.il/tv-erez-nehederet/season9-clips/b5e2b2f9faa05310/Article-6cba58d5d9c0531006.htm) mocking Taglit. Cachaça is a Brazilian liquor made from fermented sugarcane juice.

This dude who quit his job at Burgeranch but was there today picking up his paperwork, and a few of the employees, were telling me about that video actually!

It's a shame though that Youtube and other sites (like the one you linked) are blocked by the TLV web filter :mad:

-J.