Wandy1

I'm about to make air reservations to travel to Israel for vacation early September 2014. Am concerned about all the current tensions. I have traveled to countries in the past where demonstrations have been held, but this seems a bit more serious. If I purchase the tickets, and violence breaks out I'll be out the air, hotels and deposits to guides. What do you advise?

christabir

www.insuremytrip.com - get insurance with "cancel for any reason". Read the fine print!!

sandi

Of course purchase insurance as noted above.

But know that even during the two Intafada's the planes to Israel were full as they are now.

As I recall, it was only during Gulf War #1 (GHWBush) were some expats left the country for short duration of days in Europe; most returned soon after as within the country it was 'life goes on as usual.' Sadly, unless you plan to visit the 'territories' you're unlikely to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Your decision.

FrankS

I might hold off for awhile, because I wouldnt expect airfares to go up, or hotels to book up. In fact, with the latest news, you might get a better deal

A missile was shot down over Tel Aviv, another just hit Jerusalem, and still another hit a nearby town all today

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsIte...1/Default.aspx

I might hold off for awhile

sandi

FrankS - Thanks for that link as there hasn't been much (if any) of this on the news here in the States.

I'd agree to a 'wait/see' but unlike the comment at end of that link, this 'isn't the end of days.' Keep the bible out of it and hope people haven't forgotten how to talk and come to some sort of agreement for all parties/countries in this part of the world.

jgg

I find these decisions to be highly personal. We went to Morocco a week after a suicide bomber injured several people in Casablanca - we had a fabulous trip and never heard anymore about it.

OTOH we had plans for a trip to Japan- we were set to leave in 10 days when the tsunami occurred and then the nuclear reactor meltdown. Our daughter was a freshman in college and couldn't travel with us and our teenage son was bringing a friend. Not having our whole family on the trip and being responsible for someone else's teenager and all the unknowns with the reactor we decided to cancel the trip.

Israel is a unique situation. We went in 2010, we were thankful there had been nothing out of the ordinary for awhile. If it was me, and I was planning a trip to Israel for this fall - I would wait another 2 -4 weeks to see whether things had escalated or calmed down (that's not to say that things won't change again in sept), but tensions are high at the moment.
Overall, you just have to do what YOU feel most comfortable with.

sssteve

Wandy,

If we go by past experience, this operation will be over in a few days, and then things will be quiet for a year or two.

Wait a few days and then decide.

BTW, I'm writing from Israel. I live here.

FrankS

The airport is closed for us based carriers. If you have a flight from a non us carrier, you should check w/ them if they canceled their flights today

sandi

US carriers are currently forbidden to fly, but El Al is flying. Their commercial planes (the only carrier anywhere) that is equipped with the same equipment as their F## (fighters), to avoid heat seeking missles - Tom Cruise is following you, a la Top Gun. Even Mayor Bloomberg flew El Al this morning into Ben Gurion airport.

lovely2c

If I were you, I would plan to go - mostly because I think September won't be a problem - other than being very hot. Obviously you can buy air fare that is cancelable even tho it will cost more than the least expensive fare. Hotels normally ask for 24 hours notice to cancel so that should not be a problem. As for the guides, I guess you need to deal with that on an individual basis.
I have used Lufthansa in the past but I think I would fly El Al for a future trip as they seem unlikely to cancel flights in and out of Israel unless is it a true emergency plus they do have missile defense systems on their commercial aircraft. By the way, to see Israel without the jillions of tourists would be wonderful.