New York to israel- what airline do you recommend

amother

Magenta

Thu, Aug 03 2023, 12:45 pm

amother Banana wrote:

I love El Al, even though Israelis often love to hate it. I feel like I'm in Israel as soon as I get on the plane, maybe even when I get through security. I love the music selections. I love that I can get a kosher vegetarian meal instead of having to bring my own sandwich. I even love (ok, maybe am amused by) the abruptness. It's like being with family. When we flew with the whole family, the flight attendant recognized that my elderly father enjoyed tea and kept offering it to him, even when it wasn't meal service. I've seen flight attendants holding and playing with babies to help their Moms. Once when I flew with a nine year old in August, the flight attendant took him for a tour of the plane with coloring books and little gifts and a visit to the cockpit. Last year, when I scored a premium economy seat on sale and my chair wouldn't recline, the flight attendant was so upset that he brought me a bottle of wine. Yes, I've also heard some bad stories, but that's life. My kids tease me that I always cry when we land and they play Heveinu Shalom Aleichem.

Me too! Seriously. This is the part that makes me feel like I'm in Israel before my plane even took off. And for the money I'm spending on the trip, that feeling of an extra few hours in the place I want to be is so worth it.

amother

Natural

Thu, Aug 03 2023, 12:55 pm

I love United. I did hear that El Al upgraded their planes recently and that's great, so maybe I will give it another try in the future. My past experiences (from over 5 years ago) with El Al were not great due to broken seats, broken screens, hot planes, etc. The first time I flew on United I was amazed at how much ore comfortable the plane was and it made a big difference.

Also, I opened a United credit card and it's very easy to get points and convert to free flights.

amother

Lilac

Thu, Aug 03 2023, 1:26 pm

The one negative about El Al is also teh positive mentioned - you are with family. Unfortunately our brothers and sisters seem to feel that the whole world revolves around them. So - if they need something and they aren’t supposed to be standing up they don’t care. More than once I’ve gotten scolded for not switching my aisle seat(which costs extra) with a middle seat so a man should not have to sit next to a woman. It doesn’t matter that the whole playlist sleeping there will always be two people screaming at the top of their lungs v across the plane. The El Al flight attendants put up with itn

amother

Olive

Thu, Aug 03 2023, 1:27 pm

Dh flew with American this winter.
Then we flew with United because wanted to fly with family members. United had no wifi coming or going even for money.

Dh was dissapointed that we didnt fly elal but I go with best prices

amother

Smokey

Thu, Aug 03 2023, 1:58 pm

Premium makes such a difference for flying it worth getting the upgrade if you can afford it, the better food and nicer seat makes the whole experience more comfortable and less of a sensory nightmare for me, the only flight I ever managed to sleep well on was when I flew premium.
I've had bad experience with united, the staff in Turkish airline are amazing!!
Elal crew were okay but I used them a lot during COVID and it wasn't so pleasant. I assume those issues are irrelevant now.