El Al Israel Airlines

JFK-TLV. Security top notch food pretty good and I found flight attendants attentive but the seats on both the 777 and 747 were horrible - the tightest I've ever had to endure. Unless they reconfigure seating I'll never fly El Al again.

TLV-JFK. Flight was overbooked and denied boarding even though we were on a tour. I understand this is a common occurrence and that Israelis are given preference over residence of other countries. El Al wanted to place us on standby even though there were seats in business and 1st class. EL AL wanted to place us on the 600am flight from TLV to Barcelona with transfer to AA plane to JFK. So instead of arriving 600am we would arrive 300pm with no sleep. Not acceptable. Wanted to purchase 1st class ticket EL Al did not want to sell. Finally convinced El AL to sell me the 1st class tickets. Once I became a paying passenger I guess a group ticket does not count as a paying passenger attitudes change and El AL became friendly. Flight was pleasant lots of space seats folded flat FA attentive. Unless you fly business or 1st class cannot recommend this airline.

LAX to TLV recently and the worst flight I've ever been on. Bad leg room terrible food and an elderly lady next to me trying to take over half my seat I've come to expect nothing more from most flights. What I do care about is the careless way they treated my luggage. All of my luggage except for my violin were messed up (and I mean messed up) when I got them back.

EL AL between London and Tel Aviv 4 times now and each time has been stressful in one way or the other. B767 has really bad legroom and is very cramped with very poor IFE. You don't get a choice you just watch whatever is being shown and Iwas a good 4-5 meters away from the pathetically small screen. Many passengers refuse to conform to any rules ignoring the crew instructions. El Al needs to be more forceful in maintaining a level of decorum. Food is very good service was friendly on flight and the airport. Security is lengthy but the security staff are polite. Since I don't have much choice of carrier for business flights I can be sure that I will be flying with them again but after 8 flights with El Al I'm as prepared as I can be - some good earplugs an eye-mask (they keep the lights on too long overnight) an ultra-small laptop to watch my own movies on the cramped seating area and the all-essential neck-pillow. Try to get the thursday evening flight out of Tel Aviv rather than the Friday morning flight - its a lot less busy albeit no less noisy and irritating.

The restrooms and aisles were blocked for long periods of time as men congregated to pray. The seats were awful - narrow and hard. My wife asked for some orange juice; never got it. The security is great but terrible at the same time. I felt safe but was worried I would miss my connecting flight due to some searches taking 30 minutes each. I will never fly El AL again.

I flew El Al for the first time this past week and will never fly this airline again. I was seated next to the galley and the attendants left the curtain open at all times. I kept closing it so I could get some sleep since it was a 1 am flight but the attendant always opened it again. There was so much noise on this flight that I could not get to sleep at all. The reservation desk of El Al made a mistake with my return flight and it took 2 hrs at the airport for them to fix it. The food was the only good thing about this airline.

New York JFK-Tel Aviv Tel Avi to Newark. On the way to Israel B744 old seats old LCD screens with poor quality image. Food okay flight attendants nice and polite. JFK is a nightmare to connect. EL AL security personnel polite. One complaint is that they kept the lights on to allow them to sell Duty Free items for another hour. TLV-EWR newer B777 but not with IFE on demand. Service for dinner only a sandwich since it was a midnight departure. I got a Gluten Free meal which was nice and actually had a taste. The seats on B777 were nicer. EWR much easier to connect. Check in staff in Tel-Aviv excellent. My father in law was 83 they allowed us to go to a special check in desk where the security personnel came and cleared us instead of standing a long line.

Tel Aviv-London Berlin-Tel Aviv in old B757. Cabin crew very friendly and attentive. However there's a big minus for the old plane in the rear of the cabin the noise is almost unbearable. The security check on the flight to Israel was quite surreal the cross- questioning and other things made me feel like in a James Bond movie; however the security personnel friendly. My bag was opened and searched without me but everything arrived in one piece in Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv to Frankfurt on B767-300. On the bad side the flight was delayed for approx 2 hours due to a technical problem on the incoming aircraft. However we were given accurate information and breakfast was offered in an airport café. Aircraft was old but in good condition and clean. Seat comfortable and seat pitch fine. Staff friendly and attentive serving water during the flight. Hot meal was fine. Headphones free of charge IFE limited to old overhead monitors showing a recent movie.

MAD-TLV Business Class B737-800. On the positive side attentive crew and excellent lunch service. Entertainment program enjoyable. Seat from the old generation but comfortable. Service and comfort would shine more with an upgraded airplane. On the preventive side some flights form the USA and South America connecting in Madrid with ELAL to TLV do not have enough time for luggage to be transfered and go through ELAL strict security process which includes passengers recognition of each piece. This is due not so much for the extra time for ELAL security but mainly for slow luggage transfer and baggage claim at Barajas airport.