clubman

I really would appreciate all the regulars here answering this, as I'm intrigued.

It certainly seems that threads about LY giving their aircrafts a retro paint job, someone holding the worlds largest LY memorabilia collection, or new aircraft (understandably) get far more responses/discussion than threads discussing issues that seriously effect the regular travellers and FF members, such as the upcoming devaluation to the club, effecting most Matmid members, especially those with status.

A smilier thread in the BA forum would have hundreds in not thousands of responses within 24 hours. I know you cannot compare the traffic (the BA forum get's tens of new threads a day posted there), but still, just 8 people have bothered to respond and discuss the changes to Matmid which considering how bad they are, is astonishing.

Based on what threads people here tend to respond to, my guess is there are far more occasional travellers here who don't really care about status, or points etc, and tend to have some emotional attachments to the airline (thus usually will avoid responding in threads that might seem to bash ElAl), than regular travellers that tend to hold status and care about it.

Am I wrong?

yosithezet

Perhaps a poll would be useful? Perhaps something like:

How often do you fly EL AL?
Less than once a year
2 or less trips per year
5 or less trips per year
10 or less trips per year
20 or less trips per year

Ditto

My last LY flight was in 2011, and even then "by mistake" (LX codeshare), however as I do fly to TLV quite often and have many friends there, this forum is of interest to me.
If LY were a part of any alliance I would seriously have considered them for those flights, but as I'm not based in TLV, I have no use to Matmid points and will most likely never get any status with LY.

Innocent Abroad

No offence but for various reasons I avoid LY That said, TLV is my home-base so I find the forum interesting and let's face it, it's not entirely LY focused (a positive thing, in my view).

mbloch

I am a very regular flyer (TP for 8 years now) and look at messages quite regularly, say every week or two. Doesn't mean I get too excited about changes since there is little that can be done to influence them. Am also in the camp of those who decided to fly ElAl no matter what, for Zionist reasons, so there is not much they can to discourage me. I'm also very very happy with the way I am treated and the soft product. Am not too demanding re hard product so quite happy there to. And, being Senator and HON Circle for 20 years, I find the competition not too exciting either (except for Swiss). All in all a happy camper that follows the forum regularly but don't find much to speak or complain about :->

awayIgo

I make 2-3 trips a year to Israel and I always fly El Al. If flying from Israel to Europe ( varies) I also fly El Al . It is a combination of Ziionist reasons ( like mbloch) and the fact I feel that they are the most secure.

I read this forum daily, and I am concerned about the new point scheme ( while I think I may end up ahead in the long run, I'm concerned about the transition year) Howver, I don't comment unless I feel my post is adding something.

Pihawkins

sabbasolo

I fly lots, but avoid LY unless there is no reasonable alternative. However I follow the forums because I am based in Israel.

moe8555

I fly whoever works for me in terms of schedule and price. Sometimes it's El Al, sometimes it isn't. I just returned from Prague with UP, so El Al got my business there.

I'm based in TLV so the forum is important to me. I also hold a Fly Card Premium but never any status, but with these recent changes I think it will be cancelled and any paid flights will be credited to Qantas. Most of my spend is now on U.S. cards anyhow that also earn me transferrable points that convert to Qantas, among others.

clubman

But why? Why give them your business? You have other better options, that's what I don't understand. I don't really buy the Zionistic reasons given by some here, as they really are irrelevant now the company is privately owned, and run by a bunch of people doing a terrible job of it.

I truly miss the ElAl of old, The days when Gold was top tier, we were treated incredibly well, and upgrade policies were extremely generous.
Matmid has got worst and worse and has nothing to offer (except the occasional good business class deal when they run a promotion), no option to spend with other airlines as they don't belong to an alliance, points expire after 3 years, accumulation ratio is horrendous and about to get worse, and other than the mentioned offers here and there, actual redemption costs (points wise) are sky high.

LY777

Houminer

Goldpeter

ELAL

Elal is my preferred carrier, unfortunately the competition gets 80% of my monthly Israel flights due to status on other alliances.

If only ELAL could join star alliance!

Calculated Risk

I fly over 25 times a year and am based in Israel. I used to fly exclusively BA then switched to LY when BA changed terminals in LHR. Wasnt' much of a challenge as ElAl matched my status with BA. I'm now at the end of my tether with LY and so will be switching back in 2019 - unfortunately BA won't status match so will have to start from the bottom again.