I can't ever get Israir's crappy website to work. I mean, LY's is pretty bad--it only really displays properly in IE for Windows, which is a horrible browser--but Israir's is terrible. Israirairlines.com barely even displays in IE, and I've never been able to get it to show me a fare when I put in dates. No matter what dates, no flights are available.
[aside: what's the deal with Israeli webmasters making their sites so IE/Windows specific? Is frontpage the only web-design program that's been ported to Hebrew or something?]
But Israir's fares don't seem all that hot anyway, starting at around $937+ (I assume that's not all-in) for off-peak times, and going up around Sukkot, etc.
I've seen some decent fares on Alitalia (especially when you toss DL codeshares in the mix), but TK, BA, and even LX are cheaper for the dates we want. Plus on LX she can fly AA metal from ZRH to JFK, which has more legroom. And there are lots of AA miles to earn on LX and TK (a few on BA, too). Alitalia may earn NW miles by the time December rolls around, but that's very unclear, and I wouldn't be surprised if the cheap fares earned significantly less than 100%.
As for Czech, it's actually slightly cheaper for the dates we want than TK or BA (just over $700 all-in). But the 16 hour layover on the way back makes it pretty unattractive. PRG's a great city and all, but...
But thanks for the suggestions! While I keep shootin' 'em down, I do appreciate 'em!
Any tips about LY's fare tendencies would also be appreciated.