EL AL Israel Airlines review :  21 January 2009 : by S Robin   (Australia)

HKG-TLV Economy Boeing 777. The aircraft had the renovated cabin/seats but the entertainment system was the old variety, few programs & old flickering personal screens. Legroom was regular and seats comfortable. Two meals served were excellent. A glass of red/white wine was served with the meal - ordered red and it was terrible quality. What lets El Al's vastly improved product down are cabin crew, who are mostly rude. The second issue is that of the security who opened my bags without me being present & made a mess of my suitcase - I have no issue with them opening my bags, but with more respect in causing less damage in the process.

EL AL Israel Airlines review :  9 January 2009 : by B Caddo   (Canada)

BOM-TLV-JFK in Economy. BOM-TLV on-time, TLV-JFK 90 minutes late. Terrible first experience. Upon checking-in two of my bags, I was told that one would be searched by EL Al security staff without me being present. All contents in the bag not searched by EL AL staff (including many breakable items) made it safely to JFK. However, the bag that was searched by EL AL staff had, in total, 14 broken items – everything from individually wrapped carvings to jewelry. I had wrapped a number of breakable items in reusable wrapping/padding, only to find the wrapping removed and the items broken. In addition, 2 liquid containers I had placed in reusable/resealable waterproof bags were removed from the bags, and were broken, destroying many of my documents and business suits. The onboard service itself was comparable with many 2-3 star North American carriers, but far inferior to Asian and Indian carriers. I will not being flying with this airline in the future and cannot recommend EL AL due to their inability to treat their customer’s property with basic respect.

EL AL Israel Airlines review :  17 November 2008 : by Gary Belan   (Australia)

BKK-TLV and TLV-BKK. Service was quick and efficient. Crew were very pleasant. Toilets were kept clean and we arrived on time. TLV/BKK - there were a number of empty seats. My Nil Lactose meal was not loaded (I was on a TG codeshare ticket); the crew did their best to find me an alternative.

EL AL Israel Airlines review :  22 October 2008 : by Danny Tzur   (Israel)

FCO-TLV. Late evening flight - dep 22:30. Full cabin B737-800. The service was slow and inefficient. Drinks were offered only after the pax ended their dinner. Full light was on all the flight so it was hard to sleep.

EL AL review :  8 October 2008 by  D Batten   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  2/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

FRA-TLV, TLV-BKK and BKK-TLV, TLV-BKK. Given a choice I would never fly El Al again. Granted the Security task is serious but they must raise the standard of Customer Relations. Too often the interrogation is just rude. As a non Israeli and non Hebrew speaker you are automatically given a different Security Check. This can seriously delay check-in and limit your chances of a decent seat. Prior to a National Holiday, TLV can be chaotic and slow. Inflight, an inverse relationship exists between the number of Male stewards and the standard of Service. The food is passable. TLV and El AL experience sadly bookends the otherwise wonderful hospitality of the Israeli people.

EL AL review :  19 August 2008 by  S Robin   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Economy Hong Kong to TLV. Refurbished B777 with new carpets and upgraded seats. The 2 meals served over the 12 hour flight were large and good. Drinks served throughout the flight. The staff were friendly & helpful. The movie selections were a bit limited but all seats had individual screens. Legroom seemed a bit tight. Overall a very pleasant experience.

EL AL review :  10 May 2008 by  Ariel Harlev   (Israel)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

The economy class is average and worth the price compared to other airlines. They have a permanent problem in the B767's with the audio system, I had in all my flights problems with the headset and the plugs. Food is good, especially on the Breakfast. Business class is reasonable, seats are ok and the inflight service is pretty good.

EL AL review :  2 April 2008 by  Andrew Smith   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  1/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

JNB-TLV-BOM on EL AL. Check in at JNB was a nightmare. I was told that since my connection to BOM was more that 4 hours, I had to collect my bags in TLV and check in again. Then I was told that I had batteries in my checked luggage and those had to be taken out as it was classified as 'dangerous goods' (it was a torch BTW!). ELAL is a national disgrace with old aircraft, worn-out and dirty interiors, dreadful IFE, earphone sockets that don't work, and only the very newest of its fleet has screens in the back of the seat. The cabin crew were very rude and indifferent, and I have never come across an airline which allows passengers to blatantly break the rules regarding the position of seat trays/seats during take off/landing. Food was horrible, there was a shortage of food and some folks at the back just got soft drinks and juice for the 9hr trip from JNB. Reached TLV, then the nightmare began all over again. Despite being an Australian citizen, I was interrogated for over an hour in TLV, because I had a one-way ticket to BOM. I was flying QF from BOM to SYD, so what was the need for me to buy a return ticket to JNB?! Apparently the security staff at TLV had a hard time understanding this, and I was eventually allowed to collect my bag and check-in again. Flight to BOM was as usual - cramped and dirty. I'll never fly EL AL again. Security is good, but the interrogation and the shoddy service are the ones I cant stand. I think this airline is struggling to be even a 3-star one, deserves to be a 1 or no-star airline. Cabin crew and ground crew could use some customer service training, as I have never come across such rude people.

EL AL review :  22 March 2008 by  J Ignatius   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

LHR-TLV return. Security very tight especially on the flight from LHR. Boarding was slightly chaotic; there were no announcements and people just sat around in the departure lounge until El Al staff finally urged them to board the aircraft. Inflight service on both flights was disappointing. Cabin crew hardly smile. Food was just adequate. The check-in staff at TLV could benefit from training in customer services. The woman who checked me in was more interested in having a conversation on the telephone. Generally a poor service.

EL AL review :  15 February 2008 by  J Brown   (USA)

Customer Rating :  3/5

Recommended:

n/a

Value for Money:

n/a

Cabin Flown:

Economy

JFK-TLV return. Like night and day. Outbound flight a nightmare with mobbed check-in, flight packed with students, poor and meager food offering. Was moved from bulkhead seat to accomodate young family. Flight boarded on time but sat at JFK for three hours for no reason. Long overnight flight had too many loud passengers for sleep. IFE broken. On arrival at TLV, hundreds of bags had not made it because many had checked three or more in the first place. Return flight departed TLV just after midnight after quick check-in. Left on time. Food good, cabin full but quiet. Pleasant flight, arrival at JFK on time and bags came out fast. Try to book the 1Am flight out of TLV on return, allows better chance of sleep.

EL AL review :  11 February 2008 by  NAME WITHDRAWN   (Hong Kong)

Customer Rating :  3/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

HKG-TLV in business class. One of the new 772 aircraft. Departure as pleasant and efficient as expected at HKG. Seats are angled-flat, can't compare with BA or SQ but decent. Interior looks nice despite strange LED mood lighting. Crew nice and accommodating - good replenishing drinks throughout the flight. The meal service left much to be desired. Dinner was served immediately after take-off, which was 4:30PM local time, and was rushed through - by 5:15 it was all over, dessert and coffee and all. No warm snacks were offered during the flight except instant soup. "Breakfast" was served 1 hour before landing, which was more than 10 hours after dinner, and a strange choice of menu considering that it was 9PM TLV time. It felt like an overnight inflight service pattern was forced on what is essentially a long evening flight. IFE also very disappointing; VOD with very poor selection of both movies and music, which did not even match the listings in the IFE magazine. Finally, the amenity kit is pathetic, very basic and cheap-looking. No face lotion to be found there or in the bathrooms.

EL AL review :  1 January 2008 by  B Namsil   (USA)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

TLV-JFK Business Class. Ben Gurion International is a new airport and EL AL Kind David lounge is a spacious and comfortable pre-boarding area with full line of services inluding a spa. The B777-200 was not one of the latest new models, and the 2-3-2 configuration had seats from the old generation. I found these not fully reclinable seats more comfortable when compared to angled lie-flat new ones with small legroom and width. In this case legroom and width was excellent. Service was attentive. Dining good but not gourmet. Entertainment basic. In general, EL AL Business product was enjoyable, but without the refinement or focus on detail of major players in the field.

EL AL review :  24 December 2007 by  B Namsil   (USA)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

MAD-TLV Business Class. Smooth and efficient check-in. Extra security process not bothering at all. Boarding was a most disappointing experience with no special attention to premium class passengers. Aircraft was a 767-200 with a 2-2-2 configuration in Business Class. The seat from the old generation, was confortable enough for a 4:30 hours flight. Service on board was attentive, lunch and entertainment were enjoyable. In general, EL AL Business product was acceptable and consistent with average standards in the market. My recommendation to EL AL would be to look forward into a more refined level.

EL AL review :  14 November 2007 by  J Trevers   (USA)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

BRU-TLV and TLV-EWR economy. Brussels to Tel Aviv flight was surprisingly good. Food decent and more plentiful than on my earlier American Airlines flight. Service was friendly and efficient. Originally planned to fly from TLV to Paris and then to New York, but the flight was delayed 7 hours and there was no way to make the connection. They provided us free drinks and snacks, vouchers for breakfast and lunch and free phone calls. I was re-booked on a nonstop El Al flight to Newark, leaving 12 hours later. They provided a cab, hotel in Jerusalem and dinner on account of the delay. The return flight was long and chaotic, as those long flights from Israel usually are. My IFE was broken, so I was given a portable DVD player. Dinner okay, breakfast was a pretty lousy omelet. They promised transport home from Newark (since we were originally scheduled for JFK), but forgot to let anyone at Newark kn0w. So after an hour for the Newark ground staff to check with Israel, and 90 minutes waiting for a car service that never showed up, they paid for cabs for each of us