So, while I don't have Matmid status, I do pay a fee every month to be a FlyCard Premium holder. Apparently this means nothing when it comes to buying a ticket on El Al.

I was looking to buy a ticket from Rome to Tel Aviv on El Al. I went on the website and tried to buy the ticket. It did not give me the option to either select seats or luggage and I was not going to spend money on a flight landing at 2am only to find out that I'd be in a middle seat. So I stopped the online transaction and called El Al. I waited on the phone for half an hour and nobody answered. I had to hang up to take another call. I then called back and opted for the "return call" service. After over an hour nobody called back. I even tried calling through the US 1-800 number thinking that might help but the US office was closed and I got rerouted back to the Israel call center where I waited another 20 minutes.

I finally gave up and booked my ticket on another airline on a less convenient schedule but for about $110 cheaper.

I have never seen another airline that makes it this difficult to purchase a ticket from them, but this just reinforces why I almost never fly El Al