bostonbali

I echo NYTA's comment - it was nice to meet several of the Israel Flyertalkers, as well as the LY reps.

Looking forward to the next get-together where we get to discuss good ol' mileage runs, fuel dumping, mistake fares, etc -and not just telling LY how they fall short of the competition (which they do!)

clubman

Agree!

simba8

nu?
The summary is.....
the take away was...

NYTA

Summary was that a couple people from El Al came and listened to us complain. We hope someone over there that can make a change will get the message.

Other than that we had a beer or two and met our local fellow flyertalkers. Nothing earthshaking.

simba8

Anything discussed around monitoring FT or is engagment still preferred via facebook?
Anything around expected changes to....anything El Al related?

yosithezet

First, thanks to all those that showed up. It was nice to meet you. We had about 10 FTers and a few people from EL AL. The venue acoustics weren't great but I think things were a bit better once we moved into the room. Was great to meet y'all and put some faces with the names.

I met with Liat and some others at the EL AL office on Sunday morning. We discussed the lack of followup with their presence on FT. I was not aware of their extensive FB customer service efforts but apparently they really see that as the channel they focus on the most. They realized that perhaps they need to use the same processes they use on FB in their presence on FlyerTalk. I believe they are sincere in their intent as otherwise they would not have joined the FT gathering. Let's give them some time to work things out and also let's understand that this is a customer service channel. You are unlikely to get answers to questions which are strategic in nature or all-encompassing. Generic complaints are not really something that can be addressed. But specific questions and issues hopefully will be addressed in a timely manner.

Again, thanks for all those that attended. Y'all don't need to wait for me to come back to Israel to organize a get-together. Just do it! ^^

clubman

As someone who spends a small fortune on social media, promoting the product our company sell, I can understand why they put so much effort into FB, but they obviously have completely neglected to identify how important Flyertalk is and if that changes that would be fantastic.

Sorry once again for not being able to make it, as it would have been nice to meet you all, but hopefully next time!

ELY001

I've visited EL AL's facebook sites many times (Israel and USA ones) and found them to be tastefully and well done with a lot of followers and commentary. They even have contests on FB where they give away free tickets to Israel as they did for Yom Hatzmaut 2012.

I believe I mentioned this before a while back, but when I met with Danny Saadon in NY he had no idea what flyertalk was. I actually got on his desktop computer and brought him to this forum where he read each and every post pertaining to the Economy Plus roll out. I told him that having a serious presence on flyertalk was, at minimum, equally as important as having a presence on facebook because all of the serious frequent fliers congregate here and provide excellent (and often times raw) feedback. Not sure what he did with that information, but it seems like not much.

hnussbacher

I think FB PR is focused more on economy travelers whereas FT would be more focused on premium class travelers. Hopefully Elal can realize the difference.

mikebg

They also need to realise that there are many people who will never, ever, ever, go anywhere near the privacy-compromising den of facebook.

LatusElAl

They are totally incapable of recognizing the difference.
El Al still doesn't understand the difference between macro and micro.
They could care less about the fact that passenger x might generate $50K a year for them; all they care about is that the 001 on a particular night has a high enough profit margin and thus they are sooner to hold out to the last minute and sell a one-time passenger a seat in I class instead of the $50k per year guy a seat in D class. All that just so they can make another $500 on the 001 - meanwhile they jeopardize the $50K.
And you expect these yutzes to give a damn about premium pax? They don't even understand their own business!

hnussbacher

Just reviewed their FB page. Very Hebrew oriented. I would suggest that we start throwing our FF complaints to their FB page and see how they handle it. They may on their own realize that FB is not the best media for handling our issues.

LatusElAl

The LY FB page is just one big advertisement. No question answering or problem solving or policy explaining to be found there.

yosithezet

First, the fact that you don't see a conversation happening doesn't mean that they aren't handling lots of queries through messages on FB.

Second, hundreds of millions of people have no issues with the privacy or lack there of on Facebook and Google. Seems like a pretty good place to market a consumer product. I expect that FB would be a fine medium for handling the issues that have been raised here. What is so unique about it?

Lastly, how about we give them a chance to adjust their approach to FlyerTalk before we complain more about their approach. Encourage them.

LatusElAl

Plain and simple:
The problem is not with Liat or anybody else involved in social media at El Al.
And its not with Gala, Yonit, Lyna or anybody else who works with the TP's and PL's, etc.
The problem is not even with Shkedi (though he is totally inappropriate for the position).
The problem goes all the way up to the top, to Mrs. Borowich, who's sole purpose is to to milk whatever she can out of the company, here and now, and who couldn't give a damn about the long term, brand building or customer relationships.

So why do we all still keep flying El Al?
Good question.