New “Lite” Tickets to Europe
Mar 4, 2019, 11:40 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Israel
Programs: LY, BT
Posts: 126
New “Lite” Tickets to Europe
Hey,
I was finally forced to give the new Life fares to Europe a try because everything else was pretty much gone at the time I booked.
Altogether I would conclude that the product was pretty much okay. T1 is still a dump, but if you travel with hand luggage only it can be considerably faster than the time you’d spend in T3.
Wi-fi on the 739 is a nice perk on a LCC flight, the sandwiches were actually edible and the soft product was...well, El Al.
Interstingly, they offer coffee and tea free of charge, but you need to walk to the galley at the back of the plane in order to get it. As a result, people are having a hard time getting to the lavatories because they can’t get past the coffee line - nevertheless, word is the FAs actually prefer this to the heavy tea and coffee trays they used to have to carry around.
All things considered, the basic experience is obviously a huge upgrade over UP, although I hate to see some parts of it - like reasonably priced Premium Economy to Europe - gone.
The biggest downside is that extra services come at a steep surcharge, which is even more infuriating due to LY’s inability to get its’ IT story together. If you don’t believe me, just try ordering a ticket on a third-party website and then find a way to add your Matmid ID, select a seat and purchase a 20kg bag. There is no way you can perform all three of these without calling LY customer support at least once.
PS - LY have announced they’re updating the add-on fees in order to reflect ticket prices. Longer flights (e.g. London) higher fees, shorter flights (e.g. Larnaca) lower fees. https://m.ynet.co.il/Articles/5473382
I was finally forced to give the new Life fares to Europe a try because everything else was pretty much gone at the time I booked.
Altogether I would conclude that the product was pretty much okay. T1 is still a dump, but if you travel with hand luggage only it can be considerably faster than the time you’d spend in T3.
Wi-fi on the 739 is a nice perk on a LCC flight, the sandwiches were actually edible and the soft product was...well, El Al.
Interstingly, they offer coffee and tea free of charge, but you need to walk to the galley at the back of the plane in order to get it. As a result, people are having a hard time getting to the lavatories because they can’t get past the coffee line - nevertheless, word is the FAs actually prefer this to the heavy tea and coffee trays they used to have to carry around.
All things considered, the basic experience is obviously a huge upgrade over UP, although I hate to see some parts of it - like reasonably priced Premium Economy to Europe - gone.
The biggest downside is that extra services come at a steep surcharge, which is even more infuriating due to LY’s inability to get its’ IT story together. If you don’t believe me, just try ordering a ticket on a third-party website and then find a way to add your Matmid ID, select a seat and purchase a 20kg bag. There is no way you can perform all three of these without calling LY customer support at least once.
PS - LY have announced they’re updating the add-on fees in order to reflect ticket prices. Longer flights (e.g. London) higher fees, shorter flights (e.g. Larnaca) lower fees. https://m.ynet.co.il/Articles/5473382
Mar 5, 2019, 3:08 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Israel
Programs: LY, BT
Posts: 126
nope, all ex-UP destinations (SXF, BUD, PRG, LCA, KBP) still depart from T1 which is one of the reasons why it’s annoying that they sell Business class at full fare but you don’t get access to KDL.
T1 will undergo construction shortly so they might move all flights to T3 for a few weeks, ultimately there will be some kind of lounge at T1 as well as additional shops and an improved synagogue/prayer room.
T1 will undergo construction shortly so they might move all flights to T3 for a few weeks, ultimately there will be some kind of lounge at T1 as well as additional shops and an improved synagogue/prayer room.
Mar 6, 2019, 2:02 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2005
Location: TLV/LHR
Programs: BA GGL, IHG Diamond Elite Amb, HH Diamond, Avis PC, Hertz PC, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 12,948
No arguments there. I said it was a joke when they announced they were getting rid of UP but still leaving some routes at T1.
Jun 1, 2019, 1:08 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,538
I'm a little lost about this thread. On my flight (NCE-TLV) I can book lite or classic. I thought that the differences were in terms of luggage and ability to pre-assign seats. Is the suggestion from this thread that the inflight service would be different too? I thought that LY tried that years ago, that it was an unmitigated disaster and that they gave up for good the idea of a low cost "sub class" within their planes? Sorry I'm a bit confused by what I'm reading here!
Jun 1, 2019, 5:39 pm
#9
Join Date: Nov 2009
Programs: LY-PL, A3-*G
Posts: 1,680
I'm a little lost about this thread. On my flight (NCE-TLV) I can book lite or classic. I thought that the differences were in terms of luggage and ability to pre-assign seats. Is the suggestion from this thread that the inflight service would be different too? I thought that LY tried that years ago, that it was an unmitigated disaster and that they gave up for good the idea of a low cost "sub class" within their planes? Sorry I'm a bit confused by what I'm reading here!
Jun 2, 2019, 12:53 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,538
Aug 15, 2019, 5:30 pm
#13
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: TLV
Programs: BA, A3, LY; IHG/IC, Accor
Posts: 128
I have to warn that sometimes it is neither! It happened to me more than once that when I had forgot to purchase a seat for a "Lite" fare, the OLCI process produced a boarding pass with "a seat will be allocated at the airport" label. Also, in my experience, during OLCI there is neither a seat selection stage, nor an option to purchase a seat, nor an information regarding selected seat for a "Lite" fare. Of course, with El Al one can not know whether this behaviour is consistent or accidental.
Aug 16, 2019, 7:57 am
#14
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Jerusalem
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 1,281
I have to warn that sometimes it is neither! It happened to me more than once that when I had forgot to purchase a seat for a "Lite" fare, the OLCI process produced a boarding pass with "a seat will be allocated at the airport" label. Also, in my experience, during OLCI there is neither a seat selection stage, nor an option to purchase a seat, nor an information regarding selected seat for a "Lite" fare. Of course, with El Al one can not know whether this behaviour is consistent or accidental.
