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JFK to TLV - Delta One vs EL AL Business

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JFK to TLV - Delta One vs EL AL Business

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Old Aug 24, 2017, 10:56 am
  #1  
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JFK to TLV - Delta One vs EL AL Business

Does anyone have experience on both? Looks like flat-beds on Delta and "bed-like" on EL AL. Other differences (other than schedules)?
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 11:18 am
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Well I don't have experience on El Al, however the JFK-TLV is on the 777, which are flat bed seats as I'm sure you, although they are showing their age.

El Al uses a 747 and in business is a angled lie flat... think of the old NWA world business seats. Even the older Delta 777 flat bed is far superior along with direct aisle access so won't have anyone climbing over you. For a flight that long its no choice in my opinion unless you aren't planning on sleeping.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 12:34 pm
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I would personally avoid El Al for reasons beyond the J product: the customer service issues, the lack of ability to earn miles with US partners, etc.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 12:43 pm
  #4  
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Only consider El Al if you require strictly kosher meals and not being seated next to strangers of the opposite sex.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 1:48 pm
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El Al has angle-flat beds on their 744s and 772s in J. You would have to fly in F to get a lie flat seat. However, their new Dreamliners do have lie flats in J and look pretty nice, but they are not scheduled to fly JFK-TLV until June. DL offers their standard D1 lie flat seat for JFK-TLV in J. For the seat alone, I would go DL.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 2:14 pm
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Originally Posted by rylan
Well I don't have experience on El Al, however the JFK-TLV is on the 777, which are flat bed seats as I'm sure you, although they are showing their age.
If the OP is traveling on or after 10-28-17, JFK-TLV is switching to a 333 which has the reverse herringbone D1 seats which IMO blows the 777 D1 seats away (I can't stand the 777 D1 seat)
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 5:53 pm
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I have flown both El Al and Delta on the JFK - TLV route. The Delta One product (the seats, the service, the meals/drinks. . .everything) is far better than the experience I had on El Al. To give you the strength of my conviction on this one, I have ~30 trips on Delta for this route, and will never again fly El Al.
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Old Aug 25, 2017, 8:12 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Only consider El Al if you require strictly kosher meals and not being seated next to strangers of the opposite sex.
Delta's kosher meals meet the same standards (could even be catered by the same people in NYC). Only difference is that El Al meals are all kosher and DL you need to special order.

Also, Israeli courts have now ruled that it is illegal for FA's or any other airline rep to ask a pax to move because of their gender on flights flying into or out of Israel.
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Old Aug 25, 2017, 9:11 am
  #9  
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It may be the same caterer, but I know orthodox people who won't eat in any kosher restaurant; they consult a rabbi in advance when they travel. They fly El Al exclusively because they trust its kosher food more.

It might be illegal for airline employees to ask or demand that passengers move due to gender, but I suspect that this is more likely to be successful--for example, by asking other passengers rather than relying on the GA or FA to pressure someone--on El Al if you can't get an El Al employee to help.
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Old Aug 25, 2017, 11:06 pm
  #10  
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I've experienced both.

In short, unless you care strongly about Jewish dietary requirements, D1 is a superior product.

EY Biz is not that great.
EY F, if availble for like $100 more, MIGHT tip the scale in favor of EY, but that products being cycled out
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Old Aug 25, 2017, 11:55 pm
  #11  
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This is actually one route where you might want to consider UA as well (since it seems you are already considering non-SkyTeam with El-Al). The 77W with the actual new Polaris seats is flying on UA 90/91 (just be careful because UA 84/85 is a 772 with the old seats)
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 9:09 am
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Come October LY will have their 789 flying out of EWR, becoming 2x daily come the new year. With the inclusion of Viasat WiFi (same provider as B6), El Al will move from worst to first option to get from NYC to TLV
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 12:45 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
It may be the same caterer, but I know orthodox people who won't eat in any kosher restaurant; they consult a rabbi in advance when they travel. They fly El Al exclusively because they trust its kosher food more.
I know a lot about this topic, and while these individuals may happen to trust El Al more, there is no logical reason for that trust, with the one exception being that the risk that the special meal ends up not being catered on DL, and on El Al the standard meals are all kosher. There is nothing "more kosher" about the kosher food on El Al than on DL, and unless they only ever fly to TLV and never fly anywhere else in the whole world, they will be eating kosher catering on other airlines.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 12:48 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by jdrtravel
I know a lot about this topic, and while these individuals may happen to trust El Al more, there is no logical reason for that trust, with the one exception being that the risk that the special meal ends up not being catered on DL, and on El Al the standard meals are all kosher. There is nothing "more kosher" about the kosher food on El Al than on DL, and unless they only ever fly to TLV and never fly anywhere else in the whole world, they will be eating kosher catering on other airlines.
Actually, the people I'm thinking of bring their own food and utensils on other airlines.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 12:49 pm
  #15  
 
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Actually, the people I'm thinking of bring their own food on other airlines.
That is absurd if it is true, unless they bring it as a backup in case the catering is mixed up.
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