Value of El Al Points
 

I just did some analysis I thought I would share:

Based on fuel surcharge cost $75 you can pay with 150 points = $0.50 per point
You can purchase points from the website for = $1.00 per point
Reward ticket is 1400 points at average price of between $900-$1100 per economy ticket = $0.65 to $0.79 per point


Price of a roundtrip ticket using points is 1400.
Based on earnings you get per trip it is around 100-200 points per leg, it takes between 7-14 one way trips to earn 1400 points.

Overall, it is generally a bad idea to pay the fuel surcharge using the points as you are valuing them at 50 cents verse the 70 cents they are actually worth.

The recent sales offer of 900 points + $150 for a roundtrip is essentially a wash based on current market prices. Considering the average fare in the winter falls to around $800-$850, each point is really worth $.072. Slightly above average but nothing to be super excited for.

It is a smart move by El Al though because customers think they are valuing their points higher by using the average prices of $900-$1,100. If we use $1,100 the points are worth $1.05. Meaning you could purchase points at $1.00 and be making a profit essentially.

Well I hope this is helpful for someone. I did the analysis anyways so thought i would share.

Thanks for putting the time in with this analysis.

For me, the only correct use of Matmid points if for upgrading purposes. In that case its 1 point = $1.00.

long haul is 700 points.
but you can also pay 250$ + 300 points.

so taking the other option is much better than the first one, even if you have only 1 point and pay 299$ for the rest of the points.
but note, that S class + 550$ + 550$ almost if not equal to the price of W/J class ticket.

during winter,elal doesnt sell long haul to NYC for 800-850. the regular price is 1000$+
and during peak season, you can snag E class tickets, and the regular price is about 1400$+

plus - for a business traveler, going to NYC without a weekend stay is 2400$+ but you can still use the same 1400 points.

They also have, as in their recent sale, discounts of $100-150 for 100 points.

American Express Membership Rewards Ratio
 

Incredible deal!! You can now transfer Membership Rewards (MR) points from American Express and get more Matmid points than ever: 50MR = 1Matmid now instead of 70MR =1Matmid. And the minimum transfer amount is now 1000MR instead of 1050. This is a new negotiated full time rate between American Express and EL AL- not a limited time promotion.

A roundtrip economy class ticket from New York’s JFK or EWR to TLV is now 70,000 Membership Rewards points instead of 98,000- a savings of almost 30%. If you're not already a member, Amex Membership Rewards Cardmembers can sign up for the Matmid Club for FREE at http://bit.ly/ifLaH0! Transfer Membership Rewards points @ http://goo.gl/i0dSD or call 800-297-3276 and plan your trip to Israel today.

Do you represent Elal?
Many people here would be happy to discuss elal... or maybe you only advertise?

Based upon the following post, the answer appears to be yes:

Just pointing out that EWR is NEW JERSEY, NOT NEW YORK!! :p;):D

That proves nothing IMO. For all we know, he/she could simply be posting what the website said because he/she felt it was relevant. It would be great to hear otherwise though...