I stood in line for two hours חודא to drop off my suitcase. When I arrived just before the gate closed and asked to drink the water I bought a minute before boarding, the flight attendant rushed me to throw away the bottle and get on the plane. She spoke rudely, even though I had been standing in different lines for 3 hours; I felt bad and needed water. The delay was the airline's fault, not my fault. I expected understanding, not rudeness.
The space between my knees and the chair in front of me was the smallest I’ve ever seen. I could not reach the blanket that was on the floor. The entertainment included very many Israeli movies and tv shows. The El Al app did not update to tell me the gate. The most important thing you should know is that El Al is very security conscious. Prepare to go through a security check at the gate. They look through the passport and boarding pass, through your carry on bags, ask questions, etc. Then they give you a sticker and only then can you board. So get to the gate about half an hour before you would otherwise.
Flight was super full. I had to check in my carry on bag. They didn’t give me a seat until the very last minute - during boarding.
Poor service! If I can I will never fly with them again.
Great except that seats were delivered only at the gate
crownded flihgt, use the self check in and bag drop service it saves 80% of waiting time!
We were 3 people together and they seated us apart. My wife and I were both in middle seats which were very tight
El AL has vastly improved its overall experince in the last several years. Nicer place, nicer flight attendants, food, comfort etc
I paid $1050 for this flight. I paid an additional $99 for a "comfort" seat that was nothing by comfort. The "extra leg room" was fake, made up by making the seat slightly recline at the most upright position. That alone, killed my back! In addition, it was so narrow, fitting a Barbie not an average size human (me). I asked for white wine, when beverage were offered, they had only red which I cannot tolerate, so I had to skip, even though I really needed some wine to relax. Cheap! Again, for the price I paid, I should have had a selection of white wines, even in economy. The food, supposedly by Shai Granot- made me want to avoid Granot's restaurants. The beef meatballs were nice and tender. the rice w hairline noodles were so soggy and soft it was disgusting. The so called bread was half dry when reached my tray. I love eggplant, but the mayo killed it. From the country of Tahini & olive oil you offer mayo w eggplant? As I said, I am likely to avoid Granot's restaurants. The exterteinamnet was full with old boring movies, limited and old TV shows and free intrenet only for texting? Again, for a premium price seat and for addition $99 I should have had a fukll internet access. Likely the last time I travel ELAL.
They apparently misplaced by window seat assignment, so I ended up getting a middle seat. However, once on board, the window seat passenger wanted to swap seats with me, so it all worked out. Otherwise, a very good flight.
The crew was business like and not very friendly. It was very disappointing in that they handed out the meal at the beginning of our journey. Eight hours later, they handed a sandwich and a drink. During their eight hour break all they did was sit in the back, looked at their phone and read. They never came down the aisle during those eight hours and offered another beverage or to See if there was anything they could do for the passengers.
This airplane is much better. Not worn out like the one we flew with fr NY to Rome. Flight attendants were ok.
The seats are very tight and uncomfortable. The recline position did not work.
Everything. Boarding, service, food, seats, crew I'd increase the air pressure to avoid dry sinuses and after effects
I don't like anything in this flight the food was bad the service was bad the flight was old and not connected to the screen no intertainments at all and it was long trip was bad intertainments the crew not helping
The flight was great, smooth and even a little ahead of time.
We booked and purchase our seats in February for a September flight. We choose seats then also, did the online check in on the app the day before and all was fine. At the airline check in they charged our seats and we were not even sitting together after paying for business class seats. They separated us with no explanation and would not change them back. I was very upset. On the return flight, they tried to put us on standby! When again, we purchased seats in February for this flight. The plane was old and smaller and the business class seats were not comfortable like the flight from NYC. Flight attendants were hard to find once the first meal was served, luckily the flights were smooth.
Old flight. very smaller seats. screen small.. food was mediocre
A better organized line of passengers at the boarding gate. Quite disorganized, with multiple queues of economy class passengers
The programming in the entertainment features was very out of date.
Awful. Got charged full price for bags at the airport because there is no way to pay in advance even though it says you can. Plane wasn’t loaded with enough paper cups for the whole flight to even have water.
From New York to Tel Aviv, the flight was horrible unfortunately we were delayed standing in the aircraft for four hours, when we got off Tel Aviv, the belt was broken and we had to wait additional two hours for our suitcases. Finally, when I received my suitcases one of them was broken and when I got home the entire content all of my clothes and gifts were soaked in water, since they broke my suitcase and due to the fact that the suitcase was outside in the rain, I tried to contact arkia, but couldn’t get in touch. Also my suitcases was returned however they made me pay additional 100 shekel for a replacement and the suitcase that they broke was much more expensive than the one they replaced overall the experience from JFK to Tel Aviv was horrible, not comfortable by all means and to top it all up all of my gifts and content was soaked. I had to dry clean all of it.
As a low-cost flight, I understood that not all amenities would be included. However, booking through a Kayak agent rather than directly with the airline created significant issues. We were unable to add checked bags in advance and had to pay $140 per bag at check-in. We also couldn't select seats and were assigned to the last row. Most frustratingly, there was no customer support available—neither Arkia (who didn't answer phone calls or emails) nor AirfareAssist (who also didn't respond to emails) could help resolve these issues. Once aboard, the flight experience met expectations for a low-cost carrier. No complaints there. Recommendation: Book directly with the airline to avoid these third-party booking complications.
The flight was 3 hours late. No notice in advance. The plane was not clean.
I wasn’t registered for the Flight Took them long time to approve Thanks god, the flight wasn’t full. After they approved to let me fly, they fight with me about luggage ( I paid in advance for 2) It was a nightmare The airplane was very dirty and I was very disappointed I will never fly with Arkia
This airline is known for shifting flights timetable, cancelling them altogether and overall you feel that you are in a charter flight (oh they do that too quite often). Rates aren't so cheap to make up for the overall experience so it is advised to mind the alternatives before booking.
The flight was cancelled. I'm still waiting for a refund from the agent from which I made the order on Kayak app
Crew was super nice, boarding was fast (all trolleys were asked to be checked in), no entertainment at all, food - well, better if one brings ones own, and, surprisingly, they kept the schedule. This time around - 2 thumbs up.
I liked: Helpful, informative, pleasant crew. Could be Better: Check in. Stowage space General cleanliness especially toilets. Ugh!
It became a standard of this company to delay it's scheduled flights by hours! One to two days in advance, a notice of one hour delay is issued, then - at the airport, another 2 to 3 hours are occurring, at our outbound as well on our incoming flights. Be advised that this is to be expected. Furthermore - do not expect any transparency or explanation or just pure information from the company's reps on location, nor any other compensation or just a coupon for a snack or drink. It's probably just not part of the company's relation with it's clients.
