Wally, you would LOVE El Al!!
 

I recently returned from Israel and I flew El Al from JFK/TLV. While on board I kept thinking of how much Wally would appreciate El Al.

We were barely in the air when the captain turned off the Fasten Seatbelt sign. There were no announcements about using the bathrooms in your assigned cabin. Through the flight we hit a few bumpy patches so the captain turned on the Fasten Seatbelt sign, but everyone ignored it and nodody tried to enforce it. The food and service were good and the wine was free. I am now a big fan of Israeli merlot.

On the down side, El Al's security procedures are pretty bizarre, especially for me as a woman traveling alone. I gave a detailed description of what I went through in my trip report.

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

Happy flying, wally. :-) ((d))

Note to self, once again:

Do not travel with Pamela.

;)

LOL!! Maybe this is why I always seem to travel alone.... 8-|

:-))

I had an interesting discussion with someone who felt that the U.S. airlines are trying to go into bankruptcy because they can come back stronger. This means no benefits to employees, no wine, no bathroom, no frequent flyer flights, no food, etc. I hope it is not true, but it is a possibility.

That's for the comments. I've heard that everyone is standing by the door during the landing on those flights. Call me conservative, but I do believe that if the landing gear is down and the plane is in the air, people should be wearing their seatbelt.

Hi wally, I'm glad you tuned in. Actually they did enforce the seatbelts during take-off and landing, but while in flight, everyone was up and around. Despite all of the craziness with security (on my trip report thread) I was very impressed with El Al and I would fly with them again.

El Al crew knows it's almost impossible to enforce the seal-belt sign when everyone is schmoozing with everyone who's eventually related or going to the same wedding/bar mitzvah/ see the grandchildren/grandparents etc etc. (or catching up with someone you haven't seen for 25 years who had the same bunk with summer camp in the Catskills, in case of my DH).

Another bonus is free warmed up pitas or bagels, and wine selection at the Ben Gurion duty-free.

As for security interrogation, it's just something you get accustomed to. Once when I was travelling by myself, they asked me the purpose of my trip. When I said it was to attend the wedding, they insisted in seeing the invitation letter and the dress I'm going to be wearing (!)

Hi W9London. Actually the interrogation wasn't the bad part, it was what came after that. If you have some time, please click the link above and read about it in my trip report.

So, you had a FREE escort? How do I get one :))

Hahaha...

Yes, Pamela! Can you relate to your "escort" that I am easily seduced by Palestinian women. Tell them to send a Israeli girl to chat with me on my flights! :D