unitedflyer007

So I flew SFO-> TLV -> ADD -> CPT, first leg on United, rest on Ethiopian

Here is my experience connecting in TLV: Don't
I arrived around 11 pm, and as I turned into the "connecting flight" corridor, there was a sign "pick up the phone if you're connecting." Bad sign. I pick it up, and wake up the guy who comes out and brings me to a security area. I was the only person connecting. Out of the entire flight. Or any other flight. About 5 people showed up from security, brought my checked bag from the bowels of the airport, put me through the scanners. They knew exactly what they were doing, from a security standpoint.

But.… I had a bad feeling about the luggage, so when I checked into Ethiopian, I asked the woman to verify that they had my bag. She called and said they did. (It was a 4 hour layover)

To my surprise, when I landed in Cape Town, my luggage was right there... not. Yup, they lost it and found it 2 weeks later when I was back home,

So don't connect through TLV, for the love of god. Their lounge is terrible, btw.

Btw , ADD is almost as bad. I didn't know there was a second security checkpoint at the gate, and that there would be a mob of people trying to get through. I almost missed my flight because it took 1.5 hours to get through the second security (which didn't even stop me for having a full water bottle).