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- Part 3 in a series on award booking rates:
Earlier today, I wrote about Alaska Airlines’ newly lowered award pricing for travel on El Al to Israel.
How does that compare to other booking options?
Here’s a comparison chart for flights between NYC and Tel Aviv on El Al:
| Mileage program | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | Booking method | Mileage transfer options | Award Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 35K one-way 70K round-trip | 45K one-way 90K round-trip | 70K one-way 140K round-trip | Online | Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $12.50 each way Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| Delta | 82K-110K one-way 68K-108K round-trip | 150K-205K one-way 180K-230K round-trip | 320K-405K one-way 420K round-trip | Online | AMEX 1:1 instantly Marriott 60K:20K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $0 |
| El Al | Winter: 40K one-way 80K round-trip 32K one-way Executive 64K round-trip Executive Summer: 60K one-way 120K round-trip 48K one-way Executive 96K round-trip Executive | Year-round: 108.5K one-way 217K round-trip 86.8K one-way Executive 173.6K round-trip Executive | Year-round: 150K one-way 300K round-trip 120K one-way Executive 240K round-trip Executive | Online | None | Booking fee: $31 Change fee: $0 Cancel fee: $150 |
| Etihad | 67K one-way 134K round-trip | 74K one-way 148K round-trip | 120K one-way 240K round-trip | Phone | AMEX, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $14-$24 each way Change fee: $27 Cancel fee: 25% >21 days, 50% 8-21 days, 75% 1-7 days before departure. |
| Qantas *Limited availability compared to other airlines | 37.8K one-way 75.6K round-trip | 70.8K one-way 141.6K round-trip | 90K one-way 180K round-trip | Online | AMEX, Capital One, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $25 Change fee: 5,000 points Cancel fee: 6,000 points |
| Virgin Atlantic | 62K one-way 124K round-trip | 84K one-way 168K round-trip | 150K one-way 300K round-trip | Online | AMEX, Capital One, Chase, or Citi 1:1 instantly. Marriott 60K:25K | Booking fee: $0 Change fee: Lesser of taxes paid or $50 Cancel fee: Lesser of taxes paid or $50 |
Here are some more details on those booking options:
Alaska clocks in at just 35K miles in coach, 45K in premium, and 70K in business, each way:
Ending soon, you can get 70,000 bonus miles plus Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™ ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) by spending $3,000 or more in purchases within 90 days of opening the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card. You can read more here.
Sadly, due to El Al’s new partnership with Delta, the Alaska partnership will end on 7/31, so you’ll want to take advantage of booking awards by that date.
Delta charges a whopping 86K Skypesos in coach, 145K in premium, and 320K in business, each way:
However, it’s worth noting that the Delta price drops significantly if you book a round-trip. That price will be 96K in coach, 188K in premium, and 410K in business round-trip:
Qantas charges 37.8K points in coach, 70.8K in premium, and 90K in business, each way.
However, they block most El Al availability and only had 1 flight available from Newark, versus the 4 NYC flights that Alaska and Delta can book:
Etihad can book El Al flights between NYC and Tel Aviv for 67K miles in coach, 74K in premium, or 120K in business, each way.
However, you have to call Etihad to book this at 877-690-0767. Availability should mirror what Alaska and Delta can book.
If you want to book directly with El Al, the price will vary based on whether you want to fly in the summer or winter season, and based on whether you have status. Discounted rates are available to all FlyCard members in Israel, or Executive members abroad, but it’s a lot more challenging to earn those discounts if you’re not an Israeli. To become an Executive member you need to live abroad and earn Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Top Platinum status. Alternatively, you need to earn 2,000 Diamonds within 12 consecutive months or earn 5,000 Matmid points from non-Israeli cards within 12 consecutive months.
For winter travel as a status member, it would cost 32K points in coach, 66K in premium, or 120K in business, each way. The rates go up from there, as can be seen in the chart above.
In the future, expect to be able to use miles from programs like ANA, Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, and more to book El Al flights.
Of course, you can always use points from banks like AMEX, Chase, Citi, and Capital One to book paid travel on El Al.
Currently, there’s even a workaround to use AMEX points and get the 35% points rebate offered by the AMEX Business Platinum Card for travel on El Al in any class of service.
How do you book travel on El Al?
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27 Comments On "Master List Of The Best Ways To Book El Al Award Flights Between NYC And Tel Aviv!"
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Interesting that on my Alaska Account only shows elal Economy & Business not Premium, but whenever I booked economy for 35k prior it was always ticketed in Premium Economy
Not sure what to make of this and feel bad elal will be splitting off from Alaska in July
What happens if we transfer from Marriott to Alaska, then book ELAL with Alaska points and then cancel ELAL ticket after July 31 for any reason, even if Alaska refunds points, are we stuck with Alaska p0ints with no ability to ever use these points again with ELAL?
Yes. Plenty of good uses for Alaska miles. Especially with the new chart.
Understood however no way to ever use those points for another ELAL trip.. .(Dan, Thanks so for this ELAL and points report…please try to continue to update this whenever you have new ideas to use points for ELAL tickets, as you have many, many readers that are looking for this info….thanks again)
Keep in mind that although Alaska’s agreement with El Al ends July 31, you can book flights further out. If you cancel, you’ll get a refund, but if you want to change your flight, good luck.
I know people find transferring points to the airlines to be better. But chase portal (when having a chase reserve card and points) is 80k points round trip for the summer. Wouldn’t this make more sense? Am I missing something?
Yes, that’s often the way to go for coach, which is why I mentioned it at the end of the post.
Though if you just need one-way that’s less useful.
Would be nice if there was decent availability. Seems to be sparse.
Plenty of space in the fall/winter and some in the summer, though people are booking it up since I posted.
In the future, expect to be able to use miles from programs like ANA, Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic to book El Al flights.
Can please explain? What information you have? That your saying that?
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/airlines/el-al/el-al-takes-one-step-closer-skyteam-air-france-codeshare-agreement-news-mileage-reciprocity-delta-lounge-access-skyteam-ana-alaska-jetblue/
I have gotten Etihad this past year for 50,000 points one way to TLV & a one way back.,
What’s the best way from Amex platinum points into Alaska? Can we book through and travel and get the 35% back?
“To become an Executive member you need to live abroad and earn Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Top Platinum status.”
You will always earn executive status before you reach another level because to reach silver you need 300o diamonds or 2000 and 4 flight segments.
Just booked 1 way on LY TLV-JFK was charged 70.31$, why? (chart says 14-24)
Booked via Etihad
The chart is for the booking fees on top of mandated taxes.
Taxes from TLV to JFK are $46.
Thanks!
I thought you would include United in this nyc-tlv post?
If i book an elal ticket with Alaska points before 7/31 and I want to change the date after 7/31 for the Elal ticket, will I be able to do so or I’ll have to cancel the ticket or change airlines?
You can’t make changes after 7/31, only cancellations.
which citi cards allow me to transfer to Quantas?
https://www.dansdeals.com/credit-cards/earn-60000-thankyou-points-citi-premier-card-enough-4-round-trips-hawaii-awesome-redemptions/
Would love if dan can post on how to book with points for dummies i have chase points but dont know how to use them the best way to book so i usually just sell them and use the money to pay for my tickets. This post is for ppl that know how to use and transfer already didnt feel like it helped me gain more knowledge
Why don’t you book the tickets through Chase travel?
I’m looking to open a credit card that transfers to EL AL Matmid points/miles.
Are there any partners? Or are there other airlines miles that transfer to El Al? We are looking for Sept. 2024 travel via Newark. Only want to fly El Al. Any help would be appreciated. Preferably a business card.
How can I transfer Amex points to el Al?
I wish someone would make a YouTube video on it. It’s driving me crazy I can’t figure it out.