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-   -   Travel out of TLV [merged experience reports & tips] (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufthansa-austrian-swiss-brussels-lot-other-partners-miles-more/1574758-travel-out-tlv-merged-experience-reports-tips.html)

dgdevil Jun 7, 2014 10:46 pm

Thanks for the replies. I will update later with my results.

Mbcan Jun 8, 2014 2:06 am

I just came yesterday from TLV. My flight was leaving at 6:20 am, I came to airport at 05:00 and still had time to buy something in duty free plus 15 mins for coffee in lounge :)

ELAL Jun 8, 2014 2:41 am


Originally Posted by mkilmo (Post 22994154)
1. *G does not help you at all. The "quick" security check are offered when:
- travelling only with hand luggage (after OLCI + printing boarding passes, go to the "departure gates", just when you are asked to present passport+boarding passes, there is a counter on the right side for security questioning).
- J/F (try to enter the regular queue and ask them to guide you to the J/F queue. in the case of flights leaving from the ground floor (LH,OS,US, if I remember correctly), it is on the right of all the regular queues).

Note that after the questioning, you go throw the security check point like everyone else, and there are no priority queues (usually not needed - the maximum I waited in these is 15 minutes).

As a *G who flies through TLV monthly I have to disagree.

Most people don't kow it, but there is a seperate security line for J/F or *G members.
You head to the front of the security line, going outside of the line, and right at the front there is a enteance for J/F passengers.

There is no more xraying of luggage at TLV prior to check-in (is done post check-in behind the scenes), so after questoning you had straight to the business class check-in counter.

To summarise as a *G you need much less time (I personally arrive 1:30 before departure).

dgdevil Jun 8, 2014 3:44 am

OP here. The correct answer, today at least, is 33 minutes - from entering main door to exiting passport control. Might have been less if my Syria and Lebanon stamps hadn't piqued their interest. The real test of patience is sitting in Dan lounge for a few hours with Whitney Houston being piped through.

PS Guess I still have boarding gate hassles to deal with; will update accordingly.

ELAL Jun 8, 2014 4:03 am


Originally Posted by dgdevil (Post 22996590)
OP here. The correct answer, today at least, is 33 minutes - from entering main door to exiting passport control. Might have been less if my Syria and Lebanon stamps hadn't piqued their interest. The real test of patience is sitting in Dan lounge for a few hours with Whitney Houston being piped through.

PS Guess I still have boarding gate hassles to deal with; will update accordingly.

Did you find the secyrity line for J/F?

dgdevil Jun 8, 2014 4:17 am


Originally Posted by ELAL (Post 22996634)
Did you find the security line for J/F?

Didn't know to look. Saw your message after the event. Which "security line," anyway? I had 3 - random stop at main door across from Dan bus stop, pre check-in, then metal detector line (which wasn't too bad).

ELAL Jun 8, 2014 4:32 am


Originally Posted by dgdevil (Post 22996651)
Didn't know to look. Saw your message after the event. Which "security line," anyway? I had 3 - random stop at main door across from Dan bus stop, pre check-in, then metal detector line (which wasn't too bad).

Pre check-in.

dgdevil Jun 8, 2014 4:36 am


Originally Posted by ELAL (Post 22996689)
Pre check-in.

Oh, for sure, yes. I said I was business class, not exactly true, and walked through different lane, past the masses, to the front. Definitely a time saver.

SMK77 Jun 8, 2014 7:57 pm

TLV has just recently changed their security protocol: In the old days you needed to arrive indeed 3 hours before departure which was a major pain in the ....

Now, they don't check your checked luggage in front of you anymore and just have a short interview while you line up for check-in.

The check of your carry-on luggage is still a lot more detailed than you what you would find in any other airport but even that check is now more efficient.

If you are checking in First/Biz/*G, 90 minutes into departure is now fine.

CO FF Apr 11, 2015 8:23 pm

Is LH always a mess at TLV?
 
Tonite's a bad night for travel ex-TLV, with the end of the holiday week, but LH was a total cluster-buck.

1 checkin desk for economy (plus 2 for bag drop) - vs 2 for business plus the HON desk. No gate-area PAs for FRA or MUC (operating at adjacent gates 10 mins apart), and minimal (at best) enforcement of priority boarding.

Both FRA and MUC ended up 15-20 mins late off the gate...

The only saving grace is that Mrs CO FF is so exhausted by the 5am departure that she is sleeping thru the screaming baby behind us in J!

mamb0 Apr 12, 2015 1:28 am

Should be enough, since the C/Cl and F/Cl desk take on people from Eco if they can and the bottleneck normally is the security interview which reduces the sequence and frequence of pax getting to check in.

The average sec interview takes longer than the check in process.

CO FF Apr 16, 2015 5:27 pm


Originally Posted by mamb0 (Post 24653054)
Should be enough, since the C/Cl and F/Cl desk take on people from Eco if they can and the bottleneck normally is the security interview which reduces the sequence and frequence of pax getting to check in.

The average sec interview takes longer than the check in process.

Remember that on weekends, there is not only the FRA flight but also a MUC flight, both A321. Security was ready for it --6 people were doing interviews, more than were doing checkin.

When the desk opened at 2am, there were 50+ people lined up -- 40 for economy (reg & bag drop) and 10 of us for Biz. As always, the guy with 2 luggage carts had a mess of a ticket, and it took 25 minutes for the first 10 people to be checked in for biz.

IAATM Apr 17, 2015 9:50 am

Brussels Airlines SN3290 TLV-BRU @ 15:55 departing
 

Originally Posted by CO FF (Post 24676469)
Remember that on weekends, there is not only the FRA flight but also a MUC flight, both A321......When the desk opened at 2am, there were 50+ people lined up -- 40 for economy (reg & bag drop) and 10 of us for Biz

I appreciate that mornings at TLV are crazy, but what about the afternoon flights? For example, Brussels Airlines 3290 (TLV-BRU) departing TLV @ 3:55 p.m. (afternoon)? Would it make more sense to book the SN afternoon flight, so as to avoid the queue's and congestion at TLV?

htb Apr 18, 2015 1:33 am


Originally Posted by IAATM (Post 24679551)
I appreciate that mornings at TLV are crazy, but what about the afternoon flights? For example, Brussels Airlines 3290 (TLV-BRU) departing TLV @ 3:55 p.m. (afternoon)? Would it make more sense to book the SN afternoon flight, so as to avoid the queue's and congestion at TLV?

The only major waits I had in TLV with afternoon flights (on LH and LX) was the wait for the checkin to begin and the pre-checkin security people to show up, then in the lines for the pre-checkin security.

Everything else is pretty much a breeze -- and you can keep your dangerous liquids through security as well. Guess what: they simply check if it's an explosive or not instead of piling up all those potentially explosive bottles in the middle of the security area unchecked.

HTB.


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