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Elal is like $500 more expensive. I hear Swiss airlines is good but the security at Elal is the best.
Anyone fly on Swiss going to Israel? I would love to save $500, but then again, safety first?
Have you heard of many terrorist incidents occurring on Swiss, where their planes with passengers are being highjacked every other Monday?
Keep the $500, and fly swiss . I’ve flown it from Israel and it was just fine. You may even get an empty seat next to you which you won’t get on el al
“but the security at Elal is the best.”
That’s what many people say. Based on what? Sure, security at El Al is absolutely the best.
And the risk is absolutely the highest.
If you’re an Islamic terrorist wanting to make a nice attack, and you have one El Al plane in front of you and one Swiss plane, which would you be more likely to choose to attack?
The only reason El Al has so much security is that it is the world’s most threatened airline.
I’m not saying anything pro/anti El Al, just pointing out the facts.
While I cannot argue with saving money there is more to flying on ElAl then security versus Swiss.Also you will have to make a stopover in europe which is currently a hotbed of antisemitism.
B)Unbeknown to many, a while ago Swiss was fully taken over by Lufthansa. There really is no difference flying the two of them.
If you are comfortable flying lufthansa and do not mind german on the flight (german is the main language of switzerland followed by french)then you can.Many people would not be able to stomach such an experience.
The argument can be made that the reason El Al is more expensive is because they don’t fly on Shabbos. Spending the extra money on El Al might help them to retain their shomer shabbos status. If they don’t make enough money, they may consider lowering their prices and start flying on Shabbos to make up the lost revenue.
Additionally, supporting Jews is always better than supporting non-Jews (though $500 may be too steep a price for this).
not even a contest swiss > elal. if you’re flying with friends you can get like a 10 hour stop over and do something cool
You can leave the airport between connecting flights?
Don’t you need a VISA to enter whichever country the stopover is in?
what about with a turkish flight…i was thinking of going to israel and having a stopover in istanbul…is it dangerous? (keep in ind the airport has security all over the place)
You can have the best of both… some Swiss flights are carried by Elal for the first leg from Israel, so you go through regular Elal security. Then for the long flight you get the comfort of Swiss…
doesnt swiss let you take an extra bag?
SaysMe- no, by now I think all airlines only allow one checked in suitcase. They do have nicer planes though.
tickle me pink:
what about with a turkish flight…i was thinking of going to israel and having a stopover in istanbul…is it dangerous? (keep in ind the airport has security all over the place)
I flew Turkish Air once and I thought it was fine. The service was very good. You don’t have to worry about the airport; it’s an international airport with thousands of travelers. Nobody will bother you. If you go out into the city, it may be a different story.
Nopes. Just checked Swiss website. To Israel only one suitcase can be checked in.
just flew swiss last week and they only allow 1 checked bag fee
As long as El Al is Shomer Shabbos, that’s what I fly.
Right, and I want to encourage Jews to continue being Shomer Shabbos.
nanny-you will sometimes have a codeshare from tel aviv to zurich or geneva operated by elal.
TO some above posters: bear in mind when traveling issues can occur beyond your control. A couple I know had a weather delay forcing them to stay in zurich overnight the wife became sick to her stomach from hearing the german over and over again.
In a more concerning scenario I also know of a person who had to stay in Istanbul.The person in turkey was offered accommodation as the delay was due mechanical failure and turkish air was footing the bill. However due to fear of antisemitism and security concerns they opted to stay in the safety of the airport.
Many things can happen when traveling so far away.If given a choice why fly on an airline operated by out and out sonei Yisroel or are run by countries where if stuck you can be placed into sakana?
nanny-
I’m not saying you have to pay $500 in order to enable someone to keep Shabbos, but there are people who give hundreds of dollars of tzedakah to kiruv orginzations so that not yet frum Jews will be shomer Shabbos. Is this much different?
On that note, since you aren’t receiving more for your money with that $500 because you could fly on equally qualitative airlines for $500 cheaper, and the only reason you are spending $500 extra for El Al is to enable them to be Shomer Shabbos… can you count that as ma’aser?
nanny- I believe that you might have gotten me mixed up I never mentioned about Maaser. However a compromise (and might even be gotten for same price as swiss)would be british , virgin delta continental etc.. much better in terms of security and at least you will be safe if stuck.
I flew swiss about six months ago. They allowed one checked bag. I took along a second bag and they charged me $100. It’s a nice airline, comfortable seats (if you care there are games you can play) but I think elal also has that. It is true that elal has better security there are pros and cons to each one.
news flash – ElAl only allows one checked bag for free.
farrockgrandma- That was awhile ago wasn’t it?
nanny- ask your travel agent. She’ll see it in her system which flights are carried by El Al. Bear in mind that you’ll only get El Al security for the first leg. That is the riskier leg though.
is swiss air different from aerosvit? Maybe thats what i’m mixing up
When you fly out of Ben Gurion, all airlines use El Al security.
When you fly to Ben Gurion, you may or may not get El Al security. For example, when I flew Delta to JFK and back, we had to go through security twice at JFK – once in the normal place (before heading to the gates) and again just before walking down the jetway onto the plane. A Delta person told me “the Israelis insist that they watch everyone go through security a second time.”
I have flown Swiss many times and I really enjoy it. El al and Swiss are merged for all flights going in and out of Eretz Yisrael for a few years now, so the security is the exact same, in both directions. At the end of the day you are paying the extra five hundred dollars just so it can say El Al on your ticket. I know many people on my flights who booked through El Al and were on the exact same flight.
When comparing prices one should compare the prices between airlines that fly direct – such as United vs ELAL at Newark and Delta vs ELAL at JFK. You will find that the prices tend to on average be comparable. When comparing ELAL with a stopover you are no longer comparing apples to apples but apples to oranges. Generally stopover flights are cheaper – and $500 is the exception – its more like $200 – $300 and thats because 1} supply and demand – people generally would rather fly directly 2} Europe is set up as sort of a commuter based approach so that many people use the airlines as a stopover in the home city of the airline in order to continue to ones final destination. Airlines use this to entice people to use their airline thereby dropping the price. So for example if one wants to fly from say New York to Israel tou could perhaps use 20 or so different airlines to get to ones final destination. And since most people dont care where they stop – rather for how long and is the airline a reputable one – the airlines thereby compete on price.
Swiss is based out of Switzerland. Aerosvit is a totally different airline based out of Ukraine.
nanny: Yes, I would rather take fewer trips on El Al then fly another airline. I think it’s safer to be around other Jews in general.
But my trips are pleasure trips. It would be different if it was for business.
“Also you will have to make a stopover in europe which is currently a hotbed of antisemitism”
abcd2, you need to get out more. The world out there is not that scary.
tickle me pink – I know two people that have flown with Turkish, one with a big family and one alone. They both had no problems and said it wasn’t scary (as much as the concept is).
US , Canadian and EU Citizens do not need a Visa if they visit any Schengen countries (Western European Countries part of the Schengen agreement)
Turkey (and Israel) gives US citizens visa upon arrival.
If you are an Isareli citizen its different and I dont know the Visa laws
About Safety for jews in Europe, Ive been there a few times including Germany and did not feel unsafe at all. In fact the first thing I saw in Germany was a Kosher food Machine.
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