Same plane turn in TLV (BA 165/164) possible?
 

Flying to TLV to start an AONE3. Can I do a same plane turn with an 1:40 layover?

See these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ay-retrun.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-possible.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-tel-aviv.html
General consensus has been to not try it.

Thanks for doing my research for me! (I searched the OW board, but was too myopic to search the BA board.) I'm think I'm gonna give it a try, with a backup plan in case I miss my flight.

nologic's thread will be the one you want to look at then. You might want to bump that thread to see if anyone has any new insights. I doubt if any opinions have changed. The advice in that thread to not bring your laptop, etc, is probably wise.

Or just fly in on the redeye, hop a cab into town, have breakfast someplace, maybe at the Carmel market. Wander around old Jaffa, walk along the beach, whatever, then head back to the airport in time for BA 164. A very nice day.

If you find a good fare to TLV but need to fly out, a ticket to AMM should not be too expensive?

Too short a turn round.................
 

The BA computer doesn't like it..........
Planning a DONE5 starting also from TLV (as it is cheaper),but will stay there beforehand for a few days.
Are you able to pay AA for the fare (although starting in TLV) OR
do you have to pick up the ticket in Israel ? Just wondered. (BA tell me they will ticket mine and can start ANYWHERE but I think I will have extra LHR/UK taxes).................so may use AA but will they accept a UK credit card?

If you use the online tool it will force ticketing by the first carrier, in this instance BA, thus exposing you to a potentially higher net cost due to BA's fuel surcharges.

AA can issue the ticket through the offices of its general sales agent in Israel, Tal Aviation - http://www.talaviation.com/Israel - which may result in a lower net cost. To do this, you'd put an itinerary together using the AA RTW desk in the USA, telling them that it's for payment and ticketing in Israel. Once the itinerary has been assigned a PNR and priced by AA, you contact Tal in Tel Aviv, give them the PNR locator, and arrange payment through them. They may or may not charge you a service fee for this (I seem to recall they do, except maybe not for AONEx tickets) and when the payment is authorized they issue the e-ticket. This can all be done prior to arriving in Israel; you just turn up at the airport prior to your first RTW flight, armed with the e-ticket number, and off you go.

Note that in working with the AA RTW team you'll probably have an easier time of it if at least one of the intercontinental segments is on AA metal.

Tal has a "contact us" box on their website, also a phone number. You might email or skype them to make sure the above is still valid; no reason it shouldn't be. Ask them about your UK credit card - I doubt it will be a problem.

Thanks Again!
 

What expertise... I am really grateful and will act on it

Is this the answer?
 

At the recommendation of an Israeli friend, I have arranged a meet-and-greet service with ISROYAL, which claims they can get me through immigration and back through check-in and security in plenty of time to make the same-plane turn. It's not cheap ($180 for each of the arrival and departure, so $360 total), but well worth it if it works!

I was going to do this for our 2012 ex-TLV RTW, and found they respond well to email. Before actually ticketing, I realized I was going to be in Canada, so had AA RTW desk set it up for ticketing there. (Prior to being in Canada, I happened to call AA to ask a question, and the agent noticed that the itn had been set up for ticketing, and asked me if I'd like it to be issued, which I said "Sure" and so ended up with it ticketed out of the U.S. but at the same price.)

Our 2012 RTW is ex-TLV, and we're visiting Israel at the start, with the end just being a connection. After reading that thread I got nervous that we may have problems, even though its a 2 or 3 hour connection that AA says is legal, I wonder if the officials will find it suspicious to fly from Europe to Israel and back to Europe the same day?

Pricey, but for a same-plane turn, I agree it's worth it.

Worked like a charm. It took about 20 minutes from the time the door of the plane was opened until I was seated in the departure lounge, and most of that time was spent walking. I was met at the top of the jetbridge by a gentleman carrying a sign with my name. He used a security pass to access an elevator that took us down to the tarmac, where a van and driver were waiting to whisk us to immigration. The immigration agent asked a single question, "What are you doing in Tel Aviv." I simply explained that I was there to purchase a ticket and was leaving right away. She didn't blink or even look up; she stamped my passport and I was on my way. Check in was just as easy. As passport control, the agent noticed that I had just arrived. My escort and she chatted quickly in Hebrew, they chuckled a bit, and we were through.

Based on this experience, I think it's entirely possible that I could have done it without paying for the service, but I still think the money was well spent. We went to the front of every line, except the x-ray scanner (although that still took less than 5 minutes). And there was never any doubt in my escort's mind that we easily would make the flight.

Edited to add: I also wanted to mention that I was carrying both a rollaboard suitcase and a laptop bag (with laptop). Other than the routine security screening, at which I had to remove the laptop from the bag, carrying luggage and a laptop did not slow me down at all.

Congratulations and great to hear about a successful same plane turn.

It's great to read an actual first-hand report like this. Thank you for posting, Blumie!

I'm curious why you didn't use the international transfer area? (I've seen the sign for one, but have no idea if/when it works.)