El Al Matmid - Amazing service yet again

I flew on Monday on LY315 to London, on the Sunday I got a call from Shachar at the Sherut Shalom, Mr. Rosenberg, you are flying first class with us and we would like to send a driver to pick you up for the flight, we have agreed on the time and on Monday morning the driver was outside my home, courtous, tidy and a person you can talk to with wide range of knowledge about everything - the guy is an ELAL employee awaiting a new position in the airline - Mor (I think his name was) a pleasant drive to the airport and then met Shachar at the Sherut Shalom, all was ready - excellent servive!.
Once on board the aircraft, I saw Hila Grinberg (rom a previous thread), I got a warm hug and a kiss - that is what I call home away from home.

On my return home from London, I arrived early into LHR from Casablanca, I saw Rami the Station Manager and explained that I am on the late flight and have a conference call and if I could stay at the lounge. The answer was immidiatelly "sure you can, go to the lounge, I will talk to Kathy" I got to the lounge, I was allowed to stay in there during my entire transit time, Kathy took care of me as if I was her own son - did I say home away from home already?

Service on the flight home was once again above and beyond in addition to a short flight we arrived 25 minutes ahead of schedule.

I flew on Monday on LY315 to London, on the Sunday I got a call from Shachar at the Sherut Shalom, Mr. Rosenberg, you are flying first class with us and we would like to send a driver to pick you up for the flight, we have agreed on the time and on Monday morning the driver was outside my home, courtous, tidy and a person you can talk to with wide range of knowledge about everything - the guy is an ELAL employee awaiting a new position in the airline - Mor (I think his name was) a pleasant drive to the airport and then met Shachar at the Sherut Shalom, all was ready - excellent servive!.
Once on board the aircraft, I saw Hila Grinberg (rom a previous thread), I got a warm hug and a kiss - that is what I call home away from home.

On my return home from London, I arrived early into LHR from Casablanca, I saw Rami the Station Manager and explained that I am on the late flight and have a conference call and if I could stay at the lounge. The answer was immidiatelly "sure you can, go to the lounge, I will talk to Kathy" I got to the lounge, I was allowed to stay in there during my entire transit time, Kathy took care of me as if I was her own son - did I say home away from home already?

Service on the flight home was once again above and beyond in addition to a short flight we arrived 25 minutes ahead of schedule.

Nice to hear such feedback, although I would say that for first class I hope it's quite obvious.

Nice to hear such feedback, although I would say that for first class I hope it's quite obvious.

Actually it is not. For the Sharot Shalom in CDG (I was flying F of course) I had to call them 18 hours before the flight because they did not call me. They told me that they forgot to, and that they will call me again within a hour. And they did not call!!! called them 6 hours later and they told me that they forgot to call - again! and then they booked the car for me

Actually it is not. For the Sharot Shalom in CDG (I was flying F of course) I had to call them 18 hours before the flight because they did not call me. They told me that they forgot to, and that they will call me again within a hour. And they did not call!!! called them 6 hours later and they told me that they forgot to call - again! and then they booked the car for me

I find this odd, specially with the CDG station which I find one of the best ELAL has.

I find this odd, specially with the CDG station which I find one of the best ELAL has.

Happend (like it happend to gordo) to me with them one time, And since then they give me an amazing service...

I think its not allowed to mention names here in the forum, But anyway
for everyone, If you got great service from FA you should know that sending
a Thank you later to Nimrod Demajo (Responsible for Parsers/FAs) will be
very helpful for them.
Same for Sherut Shalom service (i remember the name, but you can get it
from the call center).



Ebzed.

I think its not allowed to mention names here in the forum
It is indeed against FT rules.

Gal, you seem to like droping names putting emphases on the fact that everyone knows you, and you get fantastic personal service.
I'm not doubting that for one minute, but I don't see the point in coming on here every few weeks telling us yet again about the amazing service you get, when I and others have said it before, you get this service purely because they know you so well, and the bottom line is 99% of everyone else don’t get treated this way, regardless of their Matmid status.

Again, I'm sure you are getting amazing service, but you are reporting this like it is standard with ELAL when that is very far from the truth.

It is indeed against FT rules.

Gal, you seem to like droping names putting emphases on the fact that everyone knows you, and you get fantastic personal service.
I'm not doubting that for one minute, but I don't see the point in coming on here every few weeks telling us yet again about the amazing service you get, when I and others have said it before, you get this service purely because they know you so well, and the bottom line is 99% of everyone else don’t get treated this way, regardless of their Matmid status.

Again, I'm sure you are getting amazing service, but you are reporting this like it is standard with ELAL when that is very far from the truth.

I agree with you, Clubman.
I am a passenger X or Y with no special status and, 2 weeks ago, I flew in C class. I was really disappointed with the service which was really nonexistent, a bit like in Y class...I am not saying that the FAs were rude or not polite, but they looked so lazy; it was not at all a special flight. Noone to ask you if everything is OK and if you enjoy the flight.

Concerning the CDG lounge, it was a real disgrace:
- out of 4 computers, only 1 was working, and we couldn't touch it because there was a teenager who was on facebook for hours...
- not a lot to eat: no cheese, the bread looked as though it was made 1 week earlier.
- no special service.

So, very disappointed with service

Concerning the CDG lounge, it was a real disgrace:
- out of 4 computers, only 1 was working, and we couldn't touch it because there was a teenager who was on facebook for hours...
- not a lot to eat: no cheese, the bread looked as though it was made 1 week earlier.
- no special service.

So, very disappointed with service

IMO, Star Alliance Lounge in CDG is the same, "food" and service-wise, except I don't remember any PCs there at all; there were 1 or 2 showers tho. Personally I think it's more an inherent problem of CDG and the local staff than the individual airlines when it comes to such problems at CDG.

Again, I'm sure you are getting amazing service, but you are reporting this like it is standard with ELAL when that is very far from the truth.

I dont agree with you clubman, Gal's post are important, And i dont think
they are very far away from truth, What you get is what you give.
So, I know a FA or a Station Manager because i fly quite often, but we
are not friends and he dont owe me anything, but still give me an amazing
service...

And sometimes i get it without even knowing the people, Every airline have
bad ones and good ones, EL-AL is trying as much as possible.
You guys are using this forum to complain, Why not letting others to praise?

I have customers/co-workers flying for the first time in EL-AL and praise the
service comparing to others (I have also other which really hated them...)

And Yes, I just landed in france, flying with EL-AL with a crew i dont know,
And still the service was amazing (And it was without they noticed i am TPL,
Since the apologized after for missing this fact).

Ebzed...

I dont agree with you clubman, Gal's post are important, And i dont think
they are very far away from truth, What you get is what you give.
So, I know a FA or a Station Manager because i fly quite often, but we
are not friends and he dont owe me anything, but still give me an amazing
service...

And sometimes i get it without even knowing the people, Every airline have
bad ones and good ones, EL-AL is trying as much as possible.
You guys are using this forum to complain, Why not letting others to praise?

I have customers/co-workers flying for the first time in EL-AL and praise the
service comparing to others (I have also other which really hated them...)

And Yes, I just landed in france, flying with EL-AL with a crew i dont know,
And still the service was amazing (And it was without they noticed i am TPL,
Since the apologized after for missing this fact).

Ebzed...

Well, I'll take the middle ground here, not least because I know all three of you personally (clubman, ebzed, and Gal) and know that you all believe in what you say.

I think that both PL and TPL get additional recognition and special treatment - I certainly feel the difference from when I was GL. Generally, when in C service is good. In Y it usually is too but not always and also in C not always. Gal - we were together on a flight to CDG and the service wasn't perfect - there was at least one FA who had a sour face during the entire flight and we both noticed that.

So overall, I would say, the reason Gal usually experiences good service has something to do with the fact that he travels in C and is TPL. It doesn't hurt that he knows people either.

That said, Clubman has a point in that it's probable that most people do not consistently experience the level of service that Gal, ebzed, or myself receive. I'm not saying it's bad, I think frankly it's normal that some people get a different level of service based on their value to LY.

So I think it's okay for Gal to praise, as it is for others to criticise but not eveything should be considered face value and there are bound to be different views.

I didnt felt the big difference between GL and PL not to mention between the PL and TPL, Only the upgrade ratio was raised...
(BTW: EL-AL opened the concierge services to PLs aswell rather only to TPL)
(Today i have noticed the last minute upgrade points is different between SL/GL and PL/TPL)

Anyway you get bad service, complain, you get good service, praise,
and not only in the forum.... make sure people in el-al knows,
this is the only way to change.

I am opening a group in facebook (nahh.. .just kidding...)
(But you can always praise good service in the EL-AL FAs group in Facebook)

Thanks,
Ebzed.

When I fly F everyone is very nice
When I fly C most of them are very nice
There are some people in Sherut Shalom that are very very nice and even more. (I can not say their name but i transmit the names telepaticaly, which is
allowed in the forum )
LiorM

So I think it's okay for Gal to praise, as it is for others to criticise but not eveything should be considered face value and there are bound to be different views.Well said economyman.

I didn't mean Gal shouldn’t praise when he feels necessary and it’s always good to hear positive things as people are often in a rush to report bad service, but not as eager to report good service, but I what I trying to say was that all of Gal's reports so far indicate special treatment rather then the norm.

but I what I trying to say was that all of Gal's reports so far indicate special treatment rather then the norm.

Again, I Disagree with you, I have many friends with GLs and SILVER (shh... TPLs are not allowed to mingle with Silvers...), And they report same
treatment as Gal...

There is a nice russain lady in el-al jfk, that upgrade a friend of mine and his
wife (they were with a kid) from J to C, and they are a basic Matmid level!
All because they were looking tired (had one big mess with internal flights
to get to JFK), They didnt felt good.... All they were asking is good seats in
economy because of not feeling well and back issues...
I personally made sure to report her to the station manager as soon as i heard
this horrible service story! 8-)

GL friend which was sure to miss the flight and call the station manager to
tell he wont make it, EL-AL monitored his other flight (it wasnt a connection)
and made sure someone will wait him as he landed (20 minutes before
flight close) and rushed him into the LY flight.

I have many examples, So its true EL-AL are not perfect and they mess
quite often, But when they try to be good, they do it as good as they can!

You need to remember, They dont get high salaries, sometimes FAs do a quicky in one day, and called urgently the next day for another one, I am sure you guys have bad days as well but you are lucky enough no one
have a forum to complain about it! 8-)
There are refreshing the crews quite often, if someone doesnt fit or behave
correctly he/she is being kicked out quite fast.

Ebzed.

Again, I Disagree with you, I have many friends with GLs and SILVER (shh... TPLs are not allowed to mingle with Silvers...), And they report same
treatment as Gal...

I'll have to side with clubman and LY777. This is not the norm for service on LY. I've flown BKK-TLV 6 times so far this year. Last year I flew this route 8 times and 6 the year before. All this exclusively on Y tickets. The last time through one of the Thai security screeners said "I think I've seen you before" but that is the extent of the recognition I've received. I get upgrades pretty regularly. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get them without points as I travel on the 'right' class of Y ticket. But the station manager wouldn't know me from a hole in the wall. I don't get hugs and kisses when I get on board. I've been referred to once by name by an FA during the service. I think I need to start to travel with ebzed and gal in order to learn what I'm doing wrong. At the hotels I stay at most regularly everyone refers to me by name so I don't think it is that I'm rude to people or anything. I guess if I was TPL or flying in F class they'd have extra things they are supposed to do for me which would get them to start remembering who I am. What am I doing wrong?

What am I doing wrong?
You are not sexy as us! (Kidding..., Whoever knows me, knows that being
sexy and me are very far away from each other!)
Did anyone said Karma?

(Again from the example i have given before, you can see matimd/silvers
got great service without being known).

GL friend which was sure to miss the flight and call the station manager to
tell he wont make it, EL-AL monitored his other flight (it wasnt a connection)
and made sure someone will wait him as he landed (20 minutes before
flight close) and rushed him into the LY flight.


How/why did this GL friend even have the station manager's number? Had this friend not had the station manager's number the flight wouldn't have been monitored and nobody would have been waiting for them.

So I guess one thing has been identified. I need to be asking for the business card of the station manager when I am checking-in I guess.

How/why did this GL friend even have the station manager's number? Had this friend not had the station manager's number the flight wouldn't have been monitored and nobody would have been waiting for them.

First you can ask for the business card, I am not sure this will be given,
As it have the Cell phone of the station manager, and they dont like people
calling them on minor things...

Second, My friend was wise enough to Call EL-AL in israel and notify them
about he might miss the flight, And he got thru the call center the phone
of the station and were advised to talk to the station manager.


Next thing i can tell you, That if you are lucky enough to have Haim Romano's cell phone, And found at the airport, or and hour or two before the flight that you lost your passport and you HAVE to be in israel the next day, The guy is enough "powerful" to make sure you get into the flight without it (ofcourse you need to deal in israel customs, but that's easy...)
Now lets see LH doing that to a HON!

I personally had a TLV -> CDG -> MAD -> TLV ticket few years ago, while
being GL and had to fly urgently back to Israel (so urgent that from the airport i went directly to ER), Without changing the ticket, and without knowing anyone (yet) in the CDG, once explained my situation, I was on the first flight to Israel from Paris (even when it was overbooked), and i arranged everything regarding ticketing/change fee few days after returning... (and sent tons of chocolates and flowers to one of the
shift managers that helped that day)

So, The FA didnt smiled to you?, The PCs at the lounge didnt worked?
I hope you wont need any of the services i mentioned above, Then you
might start to understand the little things that change everything...

(And yes, sometimes when i am not too protective on EL-AL, I complain
as well, But its out of fun... nothing else!,
And no, I dont work in EL-AL as some of you know).

Ebzed

It is indeed against FT rules.

Gal, you seem to like droping names putting emphases on the fact that everyone knows you, and you get fantastic personal service.
I'm not doubting that for one minute, but I don't see the point in coming on here every few weeks telling us yet again about the amazing service you get, when I and others have said it before, you get this service purely because they know you so well, and the bottom line is 99% of everyone else don’t get treated this way, regardless of their Matmid status.

Again, I'm sure you are getting amazing service, but you are reporting this like it is standard with ELAL when that is very far from the truth.
Clubman, me unlike you, am not hiding behind an allias. I write what I feel and how I am being treated, no matter why I am being treated so. If the reason is that I am known by those people (wonderful people) better yet.
Never the less as mentioned by EBZED they do their best and they really try.

Clubman, me unlike you, am not hiding behind an allias. I write what I feel and how I am being treated, no matter why I am being treated so. If the reason is that I am known by those people (wonderful people) better yet.
Never the less as mentioned by EBZED they do their best and they really try.

gal Rosenberg, does it bother you that we use nicknames on this forum? You could head over to the ORP forum and suggest that we get rid of nicknames and have everyone use their personal names. Why do you feel that clubman is hiding behind his nickname? You are being treated a certain way because you have a certain status and the staff has come to know you. Feel free to post about your wonderful experiences and we'll feel free to post that this isn't the experience that most LY pax experience or should expect to experience. I don't see the problem here. Personally, I'm just trying to figure out how to get to the level of goodwill you achieve while still traveling on Y class fares.

yosithezet, no I am not implying anything about the nicknames. However, I find that clubman's attack on me was out of order. I love and enjoy flying ELAL and will keep doing so. Also read what EBZED wrote in regards to status.

yosithezet, no I am not implying anything about the nicknames. However, I find that clubman's attack on me was out of order. I love and enjoy flying ELAL and will keep doing so. Also read what EBZED wrote in regards to status.

Fair enough. I guess I didn't see it as an attack but after rereading I can see your point.

I did read what ebzed posted about his friends with lesser status. This only reinforces my point. These people are getting this treatment for reasons outside of the fact that they are merely flying LY. If this wasn't the case then I'd be having the same experience that they are having. I'm not saying I'm having a bad experience. But I'm not having the experience you and the others are having.

I'll continue to fly El Al without much in the way of complaints other than the seat pitch in coach . If TG or SQ were to start flying to TLV I'd likely stop flying LY altogether.

I find that clubman's attack on me was out of order.

Clubman, me unlike you, am not hiding behind an allias.Care to explain what that means...? :confused:


I'm sorry you feel I was attacking you, so please accept my apologies, but that was not my intention.
I was simply trying to explain that the wonderful service you always get on LY and keep coming back to report here is out of the ordinary, rather then the norm, simple.

And I am not saying the norm is bad, I'm just saying that while service on LY might be mostly good, it is not exceptional for everyone as it is for you.

ELAL's seat pitch in coach is not bad VS the likes of CO, BA, IB, OS, LX, LH

ELAL's seat pitch in coach is not bad VS the likes of CO, BA, IB, OS, LX, LH

I've never been on OS or IB but I've been on the others. The only airline that I've been on with worse economy seats than the LY 767s is 9W at the back of the bus.

When is the last time you sat on the EAR/EAJ in coach in a window seat? I'm 6' tall and when I come off the BOM-TLV flights in the 767 if I've been unlucky enough not to be upgraded I am in pain. It isn't just the pitch but the poor quality of the ancient seats. The wire frame of the pockets doesn't help much. I even make sure to toss the literature in the pocket in the overhead in order to gain a bit of room.

I wrote this before in numerous threads. I think that LY IS exceptional in service.
(-) In Y I find the service to be very nice most of the time and courteous if you are polite and the seat on par with the rest of the world more or less (EXCEPT the missing IFE)
(-) In C I find the service to be very nice 99.99% of the time and courteous if you are polite and the seat on par with the rest of the world (flew LH/TG/SQ/OS/KE/etc..) except the new SQ seat.
(-) In F I find the service to be exceptional all the time and the seat awful compared to the others I flew (SQ/SX/LH) but in all of these I did NOT like the service at all and found it too...... fake I guess is the word.

Bottom line, I think LY service for passengers and matmid club is exceptional (cannot compare the great service I got from LY when I was GL to the awful service I got from LH being SEN) and should be appreciated. On the other hand LY equipment is below standard (F lounge cannot be compared to the FCT of LH or the F lounges of SQ/TG etc, LY F seat is just a joke compared to the above mentioned seats)

I'm sorry you feel I was attacking you, so please accept my apologies, but that was not my intention.
I was simply trying to explain that the wonderful service you always get on LY and keep coming back to report here is out of the ordinary, rather then the norm, simple.

And I am not saying the norm is bad, I'm just saying that while service on LY might be mostly good, it is not exceptional for everyone as it is for you.

I also didn't see Clubman's response as an attack and I agree with him 100% that what Gal, ebzed, and even I sometimes experience is not the norm, i.e. most people do not obtain such a level of service from LY.

I also didn't see Clubman's response as an attack.Thanks economyman.

Thanks economyman.

Clubman, no hard feelings yet, your initial response is a bit harsh. I take it from reading that some of us do get the preffered service, yet, the ELAL guys should be thanked for it, as they do and are doing their best...

I am always happy flying LY and tend to get great service. 3 years ago a bunch of us were on the way to a ski vacation, one of the kids in the group had a fault in passport, ELAL sent a representative, handled our baggage got us confirmed on the evening flight and had enough time to sort out the PP during the day. Saved a vacation.

If only ELAL was part of an alliance I would fly them more often....

(-) In C I find the service to be very nice 99.99% of the time and courteous if you are polite and the seat on par with the rest of the world (flew LH/TG/SQ/OS/KE/etc..) except the new SQ seat.


During my last flight last Monday TLV-CDG LY323, I didn't find the service exceptionnal at all.
In fact, there was service in the a/c during only during the first hour of the flight.
After the meal, there was no more service at all.


In the middle of the fllight, I was thirsty, went to the galley, and there were no F/As...There were some drinks, but no glasses... I had to go to the economy galley to take a plastic cup.
Furthermore, at the end of the flight, there was no drink service (in April, I flew on the same flight in Y, and there was a full drink service with crackers before landing).
To end, I found the Purser rude. I asked the passenger next to me (who is TPL) how he found the Purser and he made me laugh. He told me: "The Purser doesn't care,he is going to retire soon"


But I still had a good experience on the flight...

Clubman, no hard feelings yet, your initial response is a bit harsh.Fair enough, didn't mean to be though.

But I still had a good experience on the flight...Service was bad; no FA's to be seen after the meal service, no additional drinks service.

So what was so good...? :confused:

Service was bad; no FA's to be seen after the meal service, no additional drinks service.

So what was so good...? :confused:

The movie had Hebrew subtitles! ^

really Amazing service you got it was a nice thing for you

really Amazing service you got it was a nice thing for you

Welcome to FlyerTalk, ely3256874. What programs do you participate in? Where do you usually fly?

So what was so good...? :confused:

To be in the F class section :)

my mom and i arent Frequent flyer but i love the forum but we fly every summer aboard last week we back from italy in elal filght from rome