Up till couple years ago, while this (Israeli) Airline was government-owned it was a mediocre airline. So mediocre I actually tried avoidig them.

But based on a friend's recommendation, I took an El-Al flight last year (Frankfurt-Tel Aviv), and it was excellent. Then my wife flew with them (Newark-TLV) and they were as good as any of the better European airlines. I flew with them again (Toronto-TLV) using my AA mileage. On time, good food, professional crew. Not to mention the unique, yet efficient extra security procedures....

I'm interested to know what others are thinking....

I've only flown with LY a couple of times, but haven't found them inferior to any other major airlines. Not great, but certainly okay.

We're considering using a well-priced round-the-world ticket next year that includes El Al, Qantas and Air Pacific (Fijian.) I certainly wouldn't consider it any less because of El Al's level of service.

I flew El Al in February and the flight itself was fine. The food was good, wine was free and service on board was excellent. However the security procedures are out in left field. I understand the need for increased security, but they went pretty far overboard with me. If you want more details, please see my trip report.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34950006

The fact is most passengers don't get this "treatment" so obviously you must have trigered SOMETHING in the minds of those El-Al security people, P_M.

We see how shallow and indifferent those TSA personnel are handling things. El-Al security concept is based on different criteria, which is a more professional way of doing things in this field. The Israelis just have more experience in dealing with terrorism, unfortunately....

There have been quite a few incidents in the past when innocent people were DUPED to carry on explosives.

Mamamia, the trigger was that I'm blonde, female, and I was traveling alone. Evidently I fit the profile of someone who could be duped into taking something on the plane.

You don't have to be blonde to be dumb. And you don't have to be dumb to be duped to carry on explosives into your flight.

One notorious case from years ago, was a young English woman whose Palestinian fiance sent her to fly El-Al to TLV for a visit to his parents in the Arab city of Ramallah. She was not aware that in her suitcase there was a bomb that he planted and that was suppose to blow up the plane in midair.

See, no airline can take those chances. El-Al just does it more seriously and professionaly.

somehow this thread seemed to turn political really quickly.

that's what the fodorite lounge is for, people!

Political? Not really. Security is very much part of taking a commercial flight these days.... It's an experience that can turn a flight into a real nuisance. But that's part of our reality.

But there's "security" and there's "security".

Much of what you see these days is more of a PR exercise and doesn't do much - especially given the cost - for security

I must say we're quite fond of breakfast they serve on board. What other airlines serve you warm pita (2nd helping available) with hummous?

Plus I never fail to find someone who knows someone I know (or related to). The last time we flew, one of the FAs turned out to be a classmate of my niece!

"But there's "security" and there's "security"." -- Which is exactly my point about El-Al's security...

A. They have a lot more experience in this field than any other airline (doing it since the early 70s).

B. They really use their brains, and they do use profiling, which American won't 'cause it's not politically correct... (oops, here we talk politics again...)

Getting to an El-Al flight you're interviewed by their security personnel who look you in the eyes, not just have your bags scanned/searched... Huge difference.