best airline to take to Israel

amother

Cerulean

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 12:58 pm

Looking to plan a family trip to Israel. Im slightly flexible with dates , and am wondering which airlines you would recommend? Its a long flight and were KAh a number of ppl so want to make it as comforable as possible

gingertop

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 1:05 pm

All airlines suck. Get the one with the best rate. If you're willing to pay more, do economy plus for the leg room. Make sure you get good seats- it doesn't cost more, just make sure it's done.

essie14

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 2:42 pm

gingertop wrote:

All airlines suck. Get the one with the best rate. If you're willing to pay more, do economy plus for the leg room. Make sure you get good seats- it doesn't cost more, just make sure it's done.

Yup. They are all equally terrible. Just power through. I prefer non stop flights if possible.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 2:53 pm

Another vote for "sucks". Bring tranquilizers and ear plugs for everyone.

Delta France is THE rudest airline I have ever been on. They treat you like you are a major inconvenience, just for breathing in their direction. I've never been treated so badly in my life.

Basically, expect the worst, and if things are just OK, you'll not be disappointed.

Ruchel

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 2:55 pm

What choice do you have?
I find air france unpleasant but professional. Elal AWFUL if you ask anything (plenty bad experiences but I take them for security - rethinking for next time). Do you have others? I loved air India.

gingertop

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 3:02 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Delta France is THE rudest airline I have ever been on. They treat you like you are a major inconvenience, just for breathing in their direction. I've never been treated so badly in my life.

.

That was my experience with Alitalia. And their uniforms make my eyes hurt.

animeme

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 3:51 pm

Hated Alitalia, for the same reason. They especially resent kids. That's one perk for El Al- they assume kids will be kids and are good with that.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 3:56 pm

I've never had a bad experience with El Al. Service has ranged from amazing to simply acceptable, but no worse.

I love Virgin. Consistently great service all around, but not the cheapest airline, by far.

amother

Cerulean

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 4:12 pm

the 2 cheapest seem to be norwegian and tap air? has anyone flown with them

SuperWify

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 4:17 pm

Great service, good with kids:
British and Turkish Airines-

Decent service, ok about kids:
El Al, United (ok), Wow (decent),

Downright nasty:
Lufthansa(never again rude impatient and nasty about kids).

amother

Cerise

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 4:45 pm

If you're open to make a stop over & catch another plane, swiss air is great. I've never had bad experience with EL AL.
My parents only fly delta & they've never had issues.

gande

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 5:16 pm

I have had good experiences with cheap earli es such as Ukraine and Azerbaijan if you dont mind a stop.

shanie5

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 5:49 pm

We flew aeroflot and had a great experience. (the layover was very long going there, but that may have been due to our limited travel dates). They were good with kids. At the beginning of each flight, they gave out little backpacks with activities to keep the kids busy. 2 flights, 2 different backpacks.
The only thing they weren't too happy with was the number of men going to the back of the plane for minyan. They said it wasn't usually so many at once. (over 20 men).

I would definitely use them again.

amother

Cerulean

Wed, Oct 17 2018, 11:49 pm

shanie5 wrote:

do they only fly from jfk?
also the flight times seem longer because they are flying north. is that the case?

DrMom

Thu, Oct 18 2018, 2:08 am

I prefer ElAl.

Flights are usually direct, they always have kids' meals, the security is excellent, the food is decent (for airline food).

Plus, I like the feeling of "being home" when I step on the plane and hear Hebrew again.

Turkish Air is supposed to be excellent, but I do not want my hard-earned money going enrich the treasury of a govt run by Erdogan.

Teomima

Thu, Oct 18 2018, 2:48 am

DrMom wrote:

THIS

gingertop

Thu, Oct 18 2018, 3:23 am

Another thing about ElAl is that they have bassinets on board. I can't tell you how many times I've traveled and purchased the bassinet seats for extra $$ only the airline didn't even have bassinets on board. OTOH, ElAl has a lot of families so it may be others will get it before you. But if you book in advance and reserve those seats and request a bassinet, you're better off with ElAl than some other airlines.

Raisin

Thu, Oct 18 2018, 5:15 am

amother wrote:

the 2 cheapest seem to be norwegian and tap air? has anyone flown with them

not used tap but norwegian charges extra for food and luggage. So add that to the cost. And shlepping along food for a long flight is not fun. I've not flown on them but my daughter did and it was fine. My friends had horrible delays with them (some their fault some not)

essie14

Thu, Oct 18 2018, 5:53 am

The NY-Moscow flight on Aeroflot is just as long as flying direct and then you have several hours in Moscow and then another flight to TLV. It was VERY long.
That being said, they were amazing with the baby. Had plenty of bassinets and the staff was wonderful.