The EL AL FAQ (Newbie Questions Welcome - Flame Free)

The OP has been moved in its entirety to the Wiki. Feel free to update as necessary

EL AL Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of the State of Israel, though a publicly traded company. The official writing of the name, EL AL, is the airline's callsign. It is officially listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange as ELAL.

LY - IATA code, used in conjunction with flight numbers (and a common shorthand on FT to refer to EL AL)
ELY - ICAO code

EL AL is a modern airline, flying an all-Boeing fleet out of their hub, Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV, LLBG). They operate the King David Lounge at select airports around the world, and have a frequent flyer program, with deals with numerous airlines, hotels, and credit cards, Matmid.

Glossary of Frequent Flyer Terms and Airport Code and Airport City Lookup

AC or A/C: In the context of the El Al board, this means aircraft. However, on the Air Canada board AC denotes Air Canada and on the American board AC denotes Admiral’s Club, AA's lounge. Because of this, you will usually see a/c.

AFAIK: As far as I know

AVOD: Audio-Visial On-Demand. This applies only to PTV's. (See below.) Instead of a few (usually around 12) channels that play the same movies over and over again, AVOD allows you to select from hundreds of stored movies, TV shows... and start them whenever you want, with the ability to pause, fast forward, and rewind. Most AVOD's come with touch-screen technology. They also store lots of music. Most also come with pre-loaded games.

C: Can either refer to Business Class or a full fare Business Class ticket

COC: The Contract of Carriage. More information on the COC can be found at this link General Conditions of Carriage on the El Al website.

DO: An informal or formal gathering of Flyertalkers held anywhere in the world. See here: What's a Flyertalk DO? for a longer explanation.

EL AL ("EL AL" is the official writing of the name, though it may be seen written as ELAL, El Al, Elal, or elal) is the flag carrier of the State of Israel. Contrary to popular belief, it is NO LONGER THE OFFICIAL AIRLINE OF ISRAEL as it was privatized in June 2003. (The Israeli Government does own some shares, but not a controlling stake.) EL AL's IATA code used in conjunction with flight numbers is LY. "LY" is also a common short-hand of referring to El Al. El Al's callsign is EL AL and the ICAO code is ELY.

ETH: Eilat Airport

F: Can either refer to First Class or a full fare First class ticket

Fare Bucket/Fare Class/Class of Service: Refers to the "kind" of fare you bought both in terms of service (e.g. First Class, Business Class, Economy Class) as well as the flexibility (e.g. changeable, refundable). Fare Class

FT: FlyerTalk. Duh!

FTer: FlyerTalk user

FWIW: For What It's Worth

GA: Gate Agent

IDB: Involuntary Denied Boarding (Compensation). This occurs when in an “oversold” situation when not enough passengers give up their seats and therefore must deny boarding to a passenger. Please note, if one is IDB’d, depending up the country where the flight is leaving from, there are certain requirements the airline must meet.

IFE: In-Flight Entertainment

IIRC: If I Recall Correctly

IMHO: In My Humble Opinion

IMO: In My Opinion

KDL: the King David Lounge, El Al's premier lounge.

LLBG: Ben Gurion International Airport's ICAO code (Usually used in conjunction with LY's domestic flights to Eilat)

Matmid: EL AL's frequent flier program

Mods: Moderators of the forums here on FT. See this quote from FT's FAQ page more:
MX: Maintenance or Mechanical

OLCI: Online check-in

OP: Original post

OT: Off topic

OTOH: On the other hand

PAX: Passengers

PTV: Personal TV. This means that each individual seat has its own private TV screen (usually on the seat-back in front of it, though sometimes in the armrest) as opposed to an overhead TV.

TLV: Ben-Gurion International Airport's IATA (and more commonly used) code

VDA: Ovda International Airport's IATA code, located 60 km/40 miles north of Eilat

VDB: Voluntary Denied Boarding (Compensation). This occurs when El Al (or any airline really) are in an “oversold” situation and a passenger voluntary gives up his or her seat.

WX: Weather

Y: Can either refer to economy or a full fare ticket

YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary (means that what was true for one person may not necessarily hold true for you)

The callsign is: ELAL

LY? is only it's code used with flight numbers.

How do I know where the best seat is?
The answer depends on a number of variables. First off, what cabin are you flying in? What plane are you flying in? The LY fleet and classes of travel can be found here.

F on 744s and 772s feature seats that recline to 180 degrees to form a fully flat bed whereas Business Class features lie-flat seats that recline to a near 180 degree level, but in practicality is closer to 170 degrees allowing for very comfortable sitting and relaxing, but not as comfortable sleeping.
The 767s feature C only, which although comparable to C on the 744 and 772 in service, has a different seat, which is a comfortable recliner seat, but not a lie-flat seat. The 752s and 737s feature both C and Y as well.

SeatGuru is an excellent source to decide where to sit. Best and worst seats on El Al.

Note that on flights that offer F seats but not F service, only Matmid Gold and higher will be able to select F seats; at OLCI, they will open up for a fee.

Seats in Y that feature extra legroom (such as emergency exit row seats) can only be selected by Matmid Gold and higher. At OLCI, remaining seats will be given out, by priority, to Silvers, and then other pax for a fee.

MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON! IN THE MEANTIME, SEE HERE FOR SOME MORE INFORMATION: http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/H..._PreferredSeat

EL AL operates an all-Boeing fleet:


737-700 All In Full EL AL Livery
4X-EKD - Ashkelon This plane is all Economy Class, and usually flies the TLV-ETH route
4X-EKE - Nazareth

737-800 All In Full EL AL Livery
4X-EKA - Tiberias Retrofitted with Winglets
4X-EKB - Eilat
4X-EKC - Beit She'an
4X-EKF - Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) Delivered with Winglets
4X-EKH - Yarden (Jordan River) Delivered with Winglets
4X-EKJ - Degania Delivered with Winglets
4X-EKO - ??? Delivered with Winglets
4X-EKP - ??? Delivered with Winglets
4X-EKI - ??? (Leased from GECAS)
4X-EKL - Nahalal (Leased from Air Europa) Delivered with Winglets
4X-EKS - Caesarea (Leased from ACG) Delivered with Winglets
4X-EKT - ??? Delivered with Winglets

757-200 All In Full EL AL Livery
4X-EBU
4X-EBV
4X-EBS - ??? Was originally part of Sun D'Or Airlines fleet. May not be in full livery
4X-EBT - ??? Was originally part of Sun D'Or Airlines fleet. May not be in full livery
4X-EBY - ??? Was originally part of Sun D'Or Airlines fleet. May not be in full livery

767-200ER All In Full EL AL Livery
4X-EAE - Mishmar Haemek
4X-EAF - Daliat El Carmel

767-300ER
4X-EAJ *not in full livery* (Leased from GECAS)
4X-EAK *not in full livery*
4X-EAM
4X-EAP (Leased from CIT)
4X-EAR (Leased from ILFC)

*777-200ER (These planes will slowly be upgraded to feature AVOD (with games) at every seat. In the meantime, seats feature PTVs with a number of channels of looped entertainment.)
4X-ECA - Galilee (AVOD)
4X-ECB - Negev (PTV with loop entertainment)
4X-ECC - Hasharon (PTV with loop entertainment)
4X-ECD - Carmel (Features AVOD in F/C only, but the system is a poor system)
4X-ECE - Sderot (AVOD)
4X-ECF - Kiryat Shmona (AVOD)

*747-400 (These planes will slowly be upgraded to feature AVOD (with games) at every seat. In the meantime, seats feature PTVs with a number of channels of looped entertainment.)
4X-ELA - Tel Aviv-Jaffa (PTV)
4X-ELB - Haifa (PTV)
4X-ELC - Be'er Sheva (PTV)
4X-ELD - Jerusalem (PTV)
4X-ELE - Rishon Le-Tsiyon - with Economy Plus (See note below) *not in full livery*

4X-ELH - *unnamed* *not in full livery* (This plane has an all Economy Class configuration on the main deck, and Business Class only on the upper deck. It is the newest 744 to join the LY fleet, but has considerable age already.)

Note about 4X-ELE: This plane was formerly owned by Singapore Airlines. It's differentiated from other 744s by the existence of row 80 in the upper deck Business Class section. The plane features newer F seats and SQ's old C seats. This plane, however, features numerous technical difficulties, and the IFE, though AVOD, has numerous glitches. The IFE in Y is the same as other, non-retrofitted, 744s.

*Note that only the 777-200ER and the 747-400 feature First Class in addition to Business Class.

The 777s and 744s are going through a retrofit. When that's finished, all 12 planes will feature the same F seat, (a fully-flat, 180 degree, bed) and the same C seat (a 170 degree, angled lie-flat, seat). A picture of the new C seat can be found here. F/C/Y will feature AVOD as well. In the meantime, if seated on a plane that does not yet feature AVOD, LY will provide VOD devices, free of charge, to F and C pax, and to Y pax for a $10 charge. (This is in addition to the existing PTV with multiple channels of looped entertainment, available for free.) More information can be found here.

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How can I contact EL AL?

FROM ISRAEL

• EL AL Representative Center: 03-977-1111 OR *2250
• General Information (Ben Gurion Airport): 03-971-6111
• Customer Relations -
• Fax: 03-760-2233
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Mail:
  EL AL – Israel Airlines
  Customer Care Department
  POB 41
  Ben-Gurion Airport
  70100
• Baggage Claims: See El Al Baggage Claims

EL AL Contact Forms (Online forms related to Matmid, King David Lounge, Customer Service...)

EL AL's Worldwide Office. EL AL has offices in the following countries:
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Columbia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Holland
Hong Kong
Hungary
Indonesia
India
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kenya
Latvia
Lithuania
Mexico
Nepal
New Zealand
Philippines
Poland
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
UK
Ukraine
USA
Venezuela
Vietnam

It's usually A/C rather than AC.
AC being the IATA code for Air Canada.

No, LY Insider is not an official LY rep on FT, they do not have one, and while he/she do work for LY (so they claim) they are not very active on here (50 posts in over 2.5 years...).



Keep up the good work joshwex90, we have spoken about creating a proper LY guide on here for ages but no one has had the time to do it...

The information you have posted so far is a little all over the place, and so I would have probably waited until I had it all sorted and in context but I'm sure you will sort that out in time.

Will try and help you as much as possible.

The King David Lounge (or KDL) is EL AL’s lounge for premium passengers including First Class passengers, Business Class passengers, TPLs, PLs, and GLs.
The following airports have KDLs:

• TLV
• JFK
• LHR
• CDG

Note the following access rules:
LY F and C pax have access to the lounge, and F pax have additional access to the First Class section of the lounge. F pax may bring in up to 2 guests, each a minimum of 2 years of age. C pax may bring in up to 1 guest, minimum of 2 years of age. (There are cases of babies being been brought in - YMMV)
Matmid Gold, Platinum, and Top Platinum also have access to the lounge. TPLs have additional access to the F section of the lounge. The same guest policy applies, with Gold/Plat allowed +1, and TPL allowed +2.
Note that with the exception of the lounge in TLV, Matmid Gold and higher only have free access to the lounge when departing on an El Al flight! In TLV, Golds and higher can continue to access the KDL, even when flying with another airline.
The same access rules for Matmid Gold/Platinum applies to King David lounge members! The cost for membership is $300/year, though if sponsored by an existing member, you get a 50% discount.
Matmid Gold/Higher/KDL members are able to arrange for a guest to have access to the KDL if they are not themselves flying. This will cost 60 points from their account, and needs to be arranged beforehand with the Matmid/KD service desk. You will need to know the flight details and name of the person who you wish to arrange this for.
Note: You are only able to arrange this for people traveling on LY flights. People traveling on any other airline are not able to have guest access pre-arranged for themselves if the Matmid/KD holder is not going to be present (if they are present, then there is no problem). This is due to new security rules that have been implemented by Ben Gurion Airport (Thanks to sn1ke for the updated access rules.)

Passengers can also access the lounge, with no guest privileges, by purchasing a day pass for $29 or arranging in advance with EL AL for 60 Matmid points. A GL or higher can arrange for someone to be allowed access for 60 points, even if he/she's not there.

When no KDL is available, pax may use partner lounges. Note though that in EWR, LY pax do not have access to the BA lounge. Rather, they have access to the Jet Airways Hospitality Lounge, located in Terminal B, pre-security. Note that the relationship with the Marriott lounge has been severed.*

See also ELAL KD Lounges/Lounge Access across the world, with information updated and culled by sn1ke and fellow El Al forum members.

See the following thread, TLV King David Lounge Get-togethers, an El Al forum sticky, which enables FTers flying the same day to meet up at the KDL, as well as request people with KDL access for a flight at a similar time, to "guest" you into the KDL.

Also located at the TLV Lounge: NEW! Cigar Club at the King David Lounge

*More information on EWR lounge. See here: Info on Lounge @ EWR, Post 5 and Airport Lounge Facilities by Jet Airways, and by "International Destinations," select "Newark." Notes about the lounge as per Jet Airways:
Open from: 14:45-23:00 (2:45 PM-11:00 PM)
Laptop and Mobile phone charging stations
Newspapers and Magazines available
Wi-Fi available
See Newark Lounge for pictures.

Add content

booking reward travel on el al

There used to be an official representative called El Al Rep., but we haven't heard from him in quite a while.

Deeply discounted economy: T, L, G and O
Discounted economy: K, H, V, N and U
Less discounted economy: Q and B
Full-fare economy: Y, S and M
Deeply (?) discounted business: W
Discounted business (but really, not that cheap): Z and D
Full-fare business: I and C
Discounted first class: A
First class: F

The earning table can be found at: http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/M...ationTable.htm
Bonuses for elites: 10% for Silvers, 25% for Golds, 50% for Platinums and Top Platinums.

EL AL's USA-based FAQ Page on Matmid

Matmid is El Al's frequent flyer program. The program is point based, as opposed to other programs which are mile based. This means that you will earn points based on your destination region (Middle East, Eastern Europe, Western Europe...), class of travel (First, Business, Economy) but more specifically fare class (Y, B, F, J...) as well as Matmid level (Basic, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and TOP Platinum).

Why would I want Matmid points? Many reasons!
The more points you have, the higher your Matmid level, and the higher your Matmid level, the more points you can earn on future flights!
But isn't that circular logic? Yes, but seriously, the higher your Matmid level, the more benefits (BESIDES FOR HIGHER EARNING LEVELS!) you get.
Such as? Priority check-in, more free luggage allowance, access to the King David Lounge...
Wow! Sounds great! Any other reasons why I'd want to earn Matmid points? Absolutely! With Matmid points, you can buy things! You can treat yourself to that little something extra by upgrading your ticket from an Economy ticket to a Business or First class ticket. Or, you can buy an entire ticket using points (subject to an additional $50 service fee).

Great! So how do I go about earning Matmid points? Well, first of all, you need to signup at Frequent Flyer - El Al Matmid signup. Registration will cost you $25, but you will earn 30 points automatically! However, there are ways of enrolling in Matmid for free as noted in the following threads: (Note that the free registration does not include the 30 free points!) Free EL AL Matmid enrollment! - Search through the thread as there are a bunch of links.

There are a number of ways to earn points, though the most common and easiest is to travel with El Al.

The earning chart is slightly complicated, so a look at the site should help a little bit, but hopefully, we'll try to consolidate a lot of information here so you won't need to poke all around the site grabbing information from here and there that's all really related. See here for point accumulation.

See this thread, Earning LY Matmid points with Israeli CCs, a sticky in the El Al forum, about credit card partnerships with Matmid.

Bonuses points earned by Matmid members:

• Silver - 10%
• Gold - 25%
• Platinum/TOP Platinum - 50%

What about upgrades?
For Economy pax ticketed in Y, S, or M class, you can upgrade to Business class. (You will be re-booked in R class.) For Business class pax ticketed in C or I class, you can upgrade to First class. (You will be re-booked in A class.)

What if I don't have enough points? You have 2 options:

1. Purchase supplemental points. Points can be purchased at $1/point.
2. You can supplement the upgrade in points with money. How? Instead of paying the entire balance in points, you can supplement up to half the balance with money, which will be equivalent to the fare price at the time of ticketing.

Are there other ways of earning points? Yes. You can earn points on partner airlines (see second post) as well as with credit card companies, hotels, rental car agencies, and others. (IF PEOPLE HAVE SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE AS TO MATMID PARTNERS, AND ACCRUAL INFORMATION, PLEASE SHARE!)

IMPORTANT LINKS FROM EL AL'S WEBSITE ABOUT MATMID:
El Al Israel Airlines - Matmid FAQ
El Al Matmid Partners (Hebrew Only) (I will try to update a post to include the information on this page, translated into English! In the meantime, when using Google Chrome, Google offers the ability to translate the page for you, which, though not perfect, is very helpful.)

THIS WILL HOPEFULLY BE UPDATED IN THE COMING DAYS TO GIVE A MORE COMPLETE, ACCURATE, AND EASILY-READIBLE POST REGARDING EVERYTHING TO WITH MATMID, WHEREAS THERE WILL BE A SEPARATE POST DETAILING FARE CLASS, AND RULES RELATING TO FARE CLASSES. AS ALWAYS, THE MORE HELP, THE MERRIER!!

Related to that is LY's codeshare agreements. Unfortunately, LY has varying agreements, depending on the partner, so I will only give a limited explanation here - FEEL FREE TO QUOTE ME HERE AND ADD, MODIFY, CORRECT...ANY OF THE INFO I PUT IN!!
AeroMexico (AM), American Airlines (AA), Qantas (QF), South African Airways (SA), Swiss International Airlines (LX), Thai Airways International (TG) on Tel Aviv-Bangkok routes, and Iberia Airlines (IB). Points can also be accumulated with LY subsidiary Sun d'Or International Airlines (2U).
*Note that the website lists an agreement with CSA Czech Airlines (OK) though I had heard that with OK's rebranding and reconfiguration of the company, that agreement was terminated. Correct me if I'm wrong!
Matmid has 5 levels: Matmid Basic, Matmid Silver, Matmid Gold, Matmid Platinum, and Matmid TOP Plainum.

Matmid is LY's frequent flyer program. Related to that is LY's codeshare agreements. Unfortunately, LY has varying agreements, depending on the partner, so I will only give a limited explanation here - FEEL FREE TO QUOTE ME HERE AND ADD, MODIFY, CORRECT...ANY OF THE INFO I PUT IN!!
AeroMexico (AM), American Airlines (AA), Qantas (QF), South African Airways (SA), Swiss International Airlines (LX), Thai Airways International (TG) on Tel Aviv-Bangkok routes, and Iberia Airlines (IB). Points can also be accumulated with LY subsidiary Sun d'Or International Airlines (2U). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_D%27Or for more.
*Note that the website lists an agreement with CSA Czech Airlines (OK) though I had heard that with OK's rebranding and reconfiguration of the company, that agreement was terminated. Correct me if I'm wrong!
Matmid has 5 levels: Matmid Basic (TL), Matmid Silver (SL), Matmid Gold (GL), Matmid Platinum (PL), and Matmid Top Platinum Circle (TPL).


Certain econ fares with LY (B, M, Q, S, Y, W, K, H, R) earn 100% miles for AAdvantage, and other econ fares (G, L, N, T, V) earn 50%. All other fares do not earn miles. In addition:
Also, as a note, A class fares on LY, which is discounted First Class, earn miles for AAdvantage like all Business Class fares!

AAdvantage earning structure on El Al

Indeed, I remembered this late last night and was going to mention it today, and the reason it slipped my mind earlier is that as you say we haven’t heard from them in such a long time and even when we did they were not very helpful or active in any way what so ever.

Real shame (as I have pointed out before) that LY cannot be bothered to appoint an official active rep here just like BA, BMI, SPG and other do.