While EL AL certainly isn't the world's best airline, they're an especially useful airline for getting between the US and Israel, given how few nonstop flights there are between the two countries. Up until 2014, the best way to redeem miles on EL AL was through American AAdvantage, though that partnership was discontinued. EL AL…
Continue reading: The Best Way To Redeem Miles For EL AL First & Business Class Between The US & Israel
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Qantas call center sucks. Try Matmid Club, it's only 5000 Matmid points for all-new Dreamliner business class from Newark to Tel Aviv!
In Australia the Qantas call centre is available 24 hours. They have call centres in Johannesburg, Manilla and Hobart. If you have Qantas status you will be transferred to the Hobart call centre which I have always found to be extremely helpful and polite.
Lucky, were you able to price out awards with YQ? What is the YQ like on the flights from/to the US? Thank you.
QF call centres are terrible as the entire program. I was going to redeem for FJ flights (not many options around) and so collected some miles with QFF. I ended up redeeming my points on JAL which is not bookable online. Though over my 5-6 calls I had friendly agents the waiting time was always excessive (like 30-40 min). On top of that they charge you 6000 points extra for ANY BOOKING OVER PHONE no matter it's not bookable online. Their online booking engine has very limited capabilities I would say. Not only it shows just about half of their partners, but also doesn't let you to book from many airports (like you can book DXB-MRU, but cannot MRU-DXB + hundreds of airports are simply missing from online search form), so you have to call, so you have to pay extra 6000 miles. I asked the fee to be waived since JL awards aren't bookable online and each of the agents I spoke politely refused.
Long story short. If ElAl flights between the US and Israel aren't bookable online then be prepared to pay extra 6000 miles for each ticket (be it one way or roundtrip).
IME the call centre for reservations is 24h, just depending on when you call, you might get transferred to a diff call centre. I find the South African call centre to be the worst, the agents are as dumb as **** and I have had to really negotiate with them for basics. As far as the 6k phone fee, I have had luck getting it waived but not through the SA call centre, only the others, and it wasn't easy.
It seems that LAX-TLV is 7.5k miles one-way, so it would be category 8 above and not 7.
You have to keep in mind that El Al's own Matmid program does offer periodic "redemption sales" that can offer unheard-of value. Some of these special deals are only available to Israeli members that hold El Al's Israeli branded credit card. They also have a monthly buy one-get one birthday deal (buy one regular *discounted* coach/business ticket, get another for 100-300 points + taxes) with revolving destinations, including business class longhauls.
Plenty of destinations for only 100 El Al points (+ fees) roundtrip through March, certain business redemptions to Europe for <800 points roundtrip. I believe Boston or Toronto are also on sale for 700 points roundtrip as well.
But Qantas is undoudtedly the way to go when there aren't any redemption sales, and I will now start to consider Citi cards for the first time.
Thanks for posting this new opportunity. What rate are fuel surcharges when redeeming via Qantas? And how long do Citi TY points take to transfer to Qantas?
Hey Lucky –
I’m surprised you didn’t yet cover the Ryanair pilot shortage fiasco. I was expecting you to write about that, and United’s 747 Retirement Flight which has been circulating in the news lately.
Also, did you know Saudia’s ULCC Flyadeal has started operations? And that Saudia has begun privatization efforts?
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170915-all-saudi-airlines-assets-are-to-be-privatized-before-the-end-of-2020/
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1166196/business-economy
I see AeroMexico listed as partner of El Al. Does anyone know if I can redeem for El Al flights via AeroMexico? Both airlines have terrible websites with very little actual information.
That being said - this would be an amazing redemption option since AeroMexico is an Amex transfer partner.