Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - New Website for TLV International.....

Finally Ben Gurion Airport / IAA, have launched their new website....at last a vast improvement on the old one!. This site is packed with info and interactive maps that guide you through this truly quite impressive airport.

http://www.iaa.gov.il/Rashat/en-US/Airports/BenGurion/

Enjoy.

Thanks, good info. ^

Am I converting correctly, a taxi from Ben Gurion Airport to my address/hotel in Jerusalem is ~45 NIS = ~$11 US?! Seems like a deal if I am converting correctly.

Thanks, good info. ^

Am I converting correctly, a taxi from Ben Gurion Airport to my address/hotel in Jerusalem is ~45 NIS = ~$11 US?! Seems like a deal if I am converting correctly.

I believe that's the price for a "sherut" or shared taxi. They'll drop you at your address, but they may make several other stops first. A private taxi will cost more.

nothign wrong with the sherutim, they're great ^

nothign wrong with the sherutim, they're great ^

Absolutely. I'll be hoppin' a sherut next week when I get to TLV. Looking forward to it, actually. I haven't taken a sherut since i was 8 years old (I've always either been picked up or driven off in a rental car).

I was just pointing out that 45NIS doesn't get you a private ride to J-lem.

BTW, do sherut drivers expect a tip?

i used to take 'em twice a month in each direction. They sort of ask for a tip by telling you the price is $10, when it might have been $9 or alittle above $9. Then again when you pay them in Shekels they dont say a word.
After having been in Israel for 6 months and when I was used to how things were back in NY all I keep hearing was. Sliha adone ze lo new york. How good it felt to finally be able to say it back to someone, you guess it the sherut driver who after I paid him in shekels said ' what no tip, dont you tip in NY'.
then again they expect you to put the bags in and take them out always claiming they have a bad back. I tell them find another job.
havent taken a sherut in over 4 yrs as I rent cars when I get there, if its 45 shekels thats about $10 today. the shekel has gotten stronger (hard to believe this yr) it was for a time just over 5 to the $. With the difference one got when changing it not in a bank it did usually come to around $1 difference.

BTW, do sherut drivers expect a tip?

Taxi prices in Israel always include a tip in the total charge.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/496634.html

Not enough gates at new terminal.

From the article:
However, the new terminal suffers from a shortage of boarding bridges, said a senior source at the Airports Authority.

"Not every plane will have a place next to a boarding bridge," said the source, adding that in the off season, only 90 percent of the planes will be parked next to a boarding bridge, a figure that may drop to 70 percent in high season.

The plan was for 4-5 wings. They built only 3 for now. Each wing has 8 gates (B,C,D 2-9), plus 2 extension gates with no Jetways (1, 1A) for planes that are parked at remote locations. Also, not all planes will be connected to gates at all times (like CO 90 landing at 4PM, departing CO 91 at 10:50PM - the plane does not have to be attached to a gate all this time).

This is common in 99% of all the world airports. Not a big issue.

The 24 existing gates with Jetways are already more than what Terminal 1 had.

The problem will be with Jumbo's and only 1 single entrance jetway. Could make loading a very long process. They should have had double ramps.

Flying out tomorrow afternoon on OS, will try and send a report of the experience.

Shofar

The double gates story is also not an issue. Most airports that feature double gates are connecting to the front doors anyway. On widebodies, the main jetway connects to the 2nd door and a secondary jetway (if exists) connects to the front door. The secondary jetway usually allows more convenient boarding for the premium classes rather than faster loading for coach (majority of the passengers).

In AMS they have gates with jetways that connect to the back door of 747s but they rarely use it for loading a plane.

Anyway, the use of single jetway to a plane will still be a lot faster than the process at terminal 1 - go down the stairs, wait for the bus, board the bus, wait for it to fill, drive to the the plane, go up the stairs to the plane, board the plane.

I just arrived into Terminal 3 this AM. Truly impressive - but my gosh, what a long, long walk from the plane to the baggage claim! Most of the way there were moving walkways, but golly. Overall, very nicely done. There was something very cool about such a modern facility in Israel. There's actually a great place to watch the planes now as well. on the departure level - we've never had that before.

One apparent piece of poor planning, though, IMHO is the fact that you've got to shlep your luggage up a level or two for taxis. That's really stupid. They are going to have to change that around.

Opened a new thread in the TLV forum with remarks on the terminal -

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=369079