seaskybound

Im going to be doing a lot of TLV flying this year...

Now if only they were part of an alliance. Going to be a hard sell. Anything less than PL forget about it...

gordo6

Please write here all of the details of your status match. How many flights will you fly to TLV?

I'm LY PL, BA G and BD*G, and I prefet the *A as they have good cover in TLV. *A will soon get me to ATH (A3), DEL (AI may fly to TLV from Oct), LIS (TP may fly to TLV by the end of 2010).

seaskybound

You can't beat *A for my needs, though I prefer non stops to HKG, PEK, LHR, CDG from TLV

gordo6

That's correct. For the US and EU I will prefer *A (unless LY is the only airline that offers nonstop to that dest., like CDG. LON is the only dest. which I will also use BA to). For the Far east - LY will be #1 (The prices of KE ae just too high, even higher than those LY ask for). I will never fly with TK due to political reasons, so it will be great for all of us when AI (or hopefully NH, TG or CA - SQ will never fly to TLV due to geographical reasons) will enter to the Israeli market.

ELAL

A3 already fly daily to TLV, (and they are cheap too).

What's the scource to this great info?

ELAL

Can we kindly have any explaination?

Bretteee

GORDO6:

Very interesting that TAP and AI may start / resume flying to TLV. They both used to fly to TLV but stopped. Air Seychelles also stopped.

gordo6

I know that but they are not members of *A yet.
Hebrew:
http://www.globes.co.il/news/article...00538526&fid=2 - That is about TP
http://passportnews.co.il/one_news.asp?ID=2627 - That is about AI.

English:
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/glob...538564&fid=942 - That is about TP
I know and it will be great for all of us. For all of the Scandianvia lovers among us - DY will start flight to STOCKHOLM. That will be a scheduled flight.
http://educational.co.il/article.php?id=274 (Hebrew only)

mkilmo

Very simple.

Singapore's good neighbor is Malaysia, which made it very clear to Singapore what will happen if they will have direct flights to tel aviv (given the fact that Singapore is a small area just next to Malaysia, you can understand what they may suffer). More specifically, there is only one reason for the Singaporean to have an army, and that is there neighbor, who dislikes us very much (Malaysian passports contain the text: Valid for all countries except Israel).

So SQ will never fly to TLV.

However, I see no reason for them not to start flying to Larnaca

seaskybound

So I am now a PL for six months. I still don't know what to do. I see elal has many 'enhancements' since I was flying them last 9-10 years ago ( I was GL then and would have been PL if they had that)

1. they don't give full points anymore but rather based on booking class (I flew TLV-HKG-TLV recently on LY because I was with other people and I only got a ridiculous 150 points total, this was a last minute economy ticket)
2. They don't allow upgrades unless you are on the expensive booking class

with the current economic situation justifying higher booking classes for more points and a 'chance' to get upgraded does not fly (double entendre )


I still like their direct routes to some of my destinations.

I sometimes would like to fly weekends (i.e. end business meetings on a Friday afternoon) and cannot. (On this point while I personally am not observant I fully respect ELAL, just another data point for my decision making)


BTW does my PL card get me into KDL when not flying LY?


It looks like that when the next opportunity to fly comes up (price schedule wise) I will consider LY. I need to see what the booking class issue really is (how much more it is 'typically' in $$)

ebzed

They never gave full points, its all about the class you fly...

Your 'chance' for upgrade can be guesstimated prior to the booking with the many tools exist on the web or a simple talk to your travel agent.
Also being a GL/PL/TPL entitle you to be upgraded if the flight is overbooked,
which means if economy is overbooked and there is place in business, Even
if you are on J class (bonus ticket) you will be upgraded.
Since you are a PL you will be upgraded before any GL/SL.


Yes you can...

JohnnieZ

I actually think most airlines do so, and unlike some airlines you get points in LY for deeply discounted economy (T/O/G) as well - albeit very few points.

True, you need to be in an S/Y/M bucket, but as a GL/PL you can also upgrade from Q/B for double the number of points.


Valid point and a major disadvantage of LY.

Yup.

clubman

You guys sure about that?

I could have sworn this is no longer the case, and you only get access to the TLV KD lounge when not flying LY...

seaskybound

For me TLV would probably be the only place I care. KDL is so much nicer than the Dan lounges (if I were DAN I would change the name, as it does not entice me to stay at their hotels)

economyman

That's right. Only KDL TLV now allows access for PL/GL when not flying LY.
If however you are flying on LY stock (i.e. a 114 ticket number) you can use any of the lounges so you could use the KDL in JFK for example when connecting on an LY ticket.