How was your experience with EL AL? Also follow me on instagram.com/gotravelyourway for daily updates!

on your first flight you got "Sam Chui'ed". Meaning they saw you coming and pampered you to the max. Thank you for this honest review. People respect it when reviwers are fair and impartial.

this just shows that you can't judge an airline solely by just riding on one of their flights, this is what I like about Josh Cahill's content since he returns like some maintenance manager to check if the airline is efficient enough to carry out their service or not

'I put my camera away so i wouldn't get punched in the face' 😂😂

I far prefer these regular, normal passenger reviews that are realistic for 99% of us.

There are two main reasons why airport terminals use fritted glass: To reduce solar heat gain: The dots on the glass block some of the sun's rays, which helps to keep the terminal cooler in the summer. This can save energy and money on air conditioning costs. To provide privacy: The dots on the glass also make it difficult to see inside the terminal from the outside. This can help to protect the privacy of passengers and employees.

This is the problem with reviewers like Josh who show their faces and allow their name to be known. Eventually, the airlines start to recognise them, and they get better treatment. Especially when they fly in Business or First. But it was good they didn't catch on this time and he got what seemed like a more normal experience

I had severe problems believing the original video's treatment. It's one reason why I grew tired of Chui's videos almost immediately, knowing they'd absolutely have nothing to do with the reality of flying. Good job on the second video!

What the hell? You asked for a headphone in a 6 hour international flight and they said “NO” !!! And no coffee, tea or any other drink was served !!! 😲 Unbelievable! Disgusting! That is ridiculous 😤

This kind of reminds me of Air Canada. I remember one time I ended up being upgraded to first class (business class now). And the crew was super friendly waited on you hand and foot smiles all around. But when I fly economy with them, it’s like I get the angriest bunch of flight attendants in the world, you’re almost afraid to ask them anything. Maybe it’s a you get what you pay for a moment, but I don’t think it’s right, especially as I have never had that type of treatment with the competition WestJet

“Having a bad day” they are not paid to have a bad day. I hope their pilots don’t have a bad day.

You gave EL AL a glowing review previously...and it's ' job done' from their perspective. Now, join the real-world flight experience.

Good thing the mother of my brother's girlfriend chose to fly with Air Canada, instead of El Al, between Tel Aviv and Denver via Toronto Being 75-year-old deaf passenger, she had the most delightful time flying with Air Canada; both ground staff and cabin crew were very courteous and helpful, looking after her and bringing her from one to next at the airports. The best part was the cheaper fare offered by Air Canada.

This is why I take all travel reviews with a grain of salt if they know who you are you’re going to be treated differently. Period

Thank you for doing a review in economy! As a budget traveler economy is my reality. Bummed to see most airline reviews in business/first these days.

Oh yes. El Al. Everyone needs to experience them at least once. I've done two trips (both economy) with them and they truly do have the rudest crews in the industry. On my first trip from VIE-TLV, I asked the flight attendant if beer was available. One would have thought I was asking for her first born! She went off into a tantrum telling me what a stupid question it was when I could clearly have read the inflight magazine. It only went down from there. I was speechless. I then spent a week in Israel and literally every person I met was so friendly, helpful and hospitable, it made me wonder where El Al could be finding their personnel. I assumed I must have just hit them on a bad day. Several years later I tried them again; this time from WAW. Same type of service from the surly flight attendants. Don't look at them, don't talk to them and PLEASE, don't you dare ask them any questions or they will make your flight a living Hell. Really a shame and definitely not representative of Israel at all!

I like how Josh is straight to the point and honest about his reviews.

As an Israeli i unfortunately have to agree.Service has always been a problem with El Al.I avoid them whenever possible.I left school decades ago and dont expect to go back everu time i fly.

Well at least you got food on board. I recently moved to the US from EU and just realised no one is offering food unless you pay extra for it. It is unbelievable you fly 5+ hours and no snacks nor food are offered for free when the ticket is at least 500-600 USD. One exceptions are Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian from what I have experienced.

El-Al can be hit and miss. Once I flew from TLV to LA, a very long flight, and there was no drinks service. Flight from Toronto to TLV in Economy a few years later was great. Generally the service on flights INBOUND to TLV is better than outbound. But the real reason I try to avoid flying El-Al is the ultraorthodox croud. They often don't use deodorants and take A LOT of HUGE items into the cabin (I totally don't understand how come they're permitted to do so???) El-Al flight safety and security are quite unparallel. Unfortunately, it is not enough.

Thanks! At last you did the review I asked for in 2019 and yes their service attention drops from platinum class down to nothing at economy class which is rather sad!

I can relate. I fly from Newark to Heathrow twice a year (usually) on United in Basic Economy. On my last trip the food was simply inedible. I know airline meals are nothing special when you're in the back of the plane, but I wouldn't even consider this food. On the return leg they had the same menu and I passed on the meal. Nobody asked if I wanted to try something else or showed any concern that I had no food on an eight-hour flight. That's just the way it is in the back of the plane.

"I put my camera away so I wouldn't get punched in the face" LOL

I haven't travelled ElAl since before covid. All I can say is standards must've slipped. I've always found them to be very hospitable and the food good.

"Given the Sam Chui treatment", it's crazy how much that guy's disliked amongst AvGeeks.😂 Side note: On top of all the crappy service you get, you still have space in your heart to support Schalke. Bless your heart.😂

Detroit has the window "dots" as well. It's to keep the terminal cool. Disappointing experience on EL AL. It's a shame since Delta will be starting a code share early next year.

I hope El Al management see this and seriously work on improving

I have flown hundreds of times on ELAL and the crew have never ever been rude

In May of 2019, I was taking a picture of a Korean Air A380-800 and I needed to charge my phone due to low battery life and I charged on the wall outlet. A female staff member kept walking passed me looking my way to see what I was doing. I looked at her and she ran back to the ticket counter. Then two guys from EL AL asked me to move and they saw that I was charging my phone and left. Then I realized I was by the EL AL gate. That had never happened to me before and Ive never been seen with suspicion. I had heard rumors of possible racial profiling as their security practice. However, I understand their need for security. It was just unexpected I guess.

The dots are meant to prevent the heat from the sun, and the reflection of the tarmac, from getting inside the terminal. It works!

Well done Josh i flew on this same flight in economy 4 years ago. Ground staff at Heathrow on the way out were worse than Tel Aviv but but both outward and return flights were awful. Crew ice cold and rude ans food inedible

Thanks for the honest flight reviews as always and keep up the amazing work.

Hey Josh As an Israeli I feel shame. You've experienced the real ELAL Economy class. I took a flight from Madrid to Tel aviv and the service was really bad. Also It was my first time flying with them and unfortunately also the last. The company needs to learn a lot from the foreign companies such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic they flies the same route with a better service and food and the total experience is really different. ELAL is super expensive and the price is not worth it at all.

My first time flying ever was with El Al. It left a lasting negative impression on me. Not only was the security extremely violating, but none of the flight attendants spoke English and they were extremely rude. Big-time mean girl energy. It was very shocking being confronted with such rudeness. They seemed to be annoyed with the fact I only spoke English and decided to just dismiss and avoid me. I have no blanket, no water etc because of this. It was absolutely horrible

You are my hero! This is exactly my personal experience with ElAl and I flew with them many times in the past, the crew is almost always rude, treat passengers not like humans, not like clients but like stuff. ElAl and BTW Iberia are two companies that will be my last resort to fly with. And yes Business class is different experience for sure. Thank you so much

I have flew El Al from New York to South Africa for a total of 3 flights. Everyone was great.I flew in tourists. It was 1984. SO ITS BEEN awhile

I fly between Tel Aviv and London regularly and mainly use Wizz, sometimes Easyjet. As things stand, the only reason I can see for using El Al are if one prefers the times of its arrivals/departures (Wizz and Easy get to London in the middle of the night and to Israel around 9 pm). I last flew El Al in 2021 when they were the only airline still flying due to the resurgence of the pandemic.

My experience on El Al (probably 20 times in my life) has been mixed. They have been friendly with me, but can lose patience with rude passengers faster than on other airlines. I've always gotten tea/coffee service with them. Thanks for your review, and hopefully it'll hold them accountable for making improvements!

Out of thousands of flights you will always find someone that did not enjoy their trip, I know numerous people that flew on El Al and absolutely loved it from service to food.

I flew with El Al LGW-TLV in 1989. It looks like things have really changed since. Service was friendly and efficient; food was of decent airline quality. I was in Economy, on a B707 with not very many pax, so there was plenty room. From what this video shows, I wonder if there is a long-standing industrial dispute between El Al cabin crew and their bosses. Whatever the cause, it's not doing the airline or Israel any good.

That's why I never fly El Al no more. I remember taking a trans-atlantic flight with them a few years ago. it was a terrible experience. the seat rows were squeezed too close to one another so there was not enough room for my knees (and I'm only 5'11), no single-tv screens per seat so I had to focus my view at a small screen located 10 feet away from me which resulted in a huge migrane, the food was awful and no drinks were served. crew was rude and inconsiderate, passangers had to individually go to the kitchen and serve OURSELVES with water and some bread(!) Mind you - we are talking about a 12 hours flight. Yikes!

As an Israeli who fly al least once a year I've never flown with EL AL, they just so expensive compared to other companies. For the crew, I can actually understand why they were so unwelcoming😅. Israelis tend to be very rude to the flight crew (we actually have a term for it- "A chocolate flight")

Israeli here, flew a lot with El Al and not a single time the crew was rude or misbeheaved, this is why I was really surprised to see that. Maybe you give El Al another chance?

Thanks for sharing!

I actually never had a terrible experience with El Al and was flying with them from 2007 - 2019 regularly from Toronto to Tel Aviv. The food was always OK, were actually provided warmed up pastry with breakfast. It never happened that coffee or tea were not served. I also liked their choice of duty free products on board. Water and snacks were available during the whole flight. I am honestly very sorry they stopped flying to Canada and the Air Canada is the only alternative for the non-stop flight.

I’ve been on many el al flights. Not sure if it’s because I’m Israeli myself but the crew was always nice for the most part. Even leaving a bottle of water in the flight attendant area letting anyone drink as much water as they want for example, and allowing certain things other airlines won’t.

thank you for trying out this airlines so that we don't need to go through the same bad experience.. :)

0:21 - Thank you for your honesty saying that you had the SamChui treatment on that flight. And supper appreciate that you try to show real experience that usually the normal traveller get it. Big Like.

Thanks, Josh. I wish you had filmed your interaction with the cabin crew just like you did on the flight last year, to back up your remarks and to give the viewers a better perspective.

I flew yesterday, Tel Aviv-Rome, 3 hours 40 minutes flight, my rating is 2 out of 5. They gave me dirty blankets, only a small bottle of water for the flight, I didn’t even eat their food. they save a lot on everything, and a two-way ticket with luggage is $ 450 Israel urgently needs to improve the service. prices in the country are high, tourists do not even choose this direction. ps. I am Israeli

El al is like a lottery when I flew from TLV-JFK the crew were quite rude but when I flew back to TLV they were nice

Its weird how when people know who you are, they'll go out of their way to do the best, but when youre just a "regular" customer, their true colors come out boldly. This is the problem with most carriers in the USA. Great video Josh. Thank You!!!❤❤❤❤💯💯 P.S.--(sorry) I LMAO when I watched you eat that omelet.

As Israelis we know not to fly El Al unless there is no choice.

I'd like to say that I had a wonderful flight with El Al last year from New York to Tel Aviv and back from Tel Aviv to Boston in El Al's premium economy cabin.

"The Sam Chui treatment" That's hilarious but so true.😂😂😂

If I'm not mistaken, I think El AL spends more on airline security than any other airline relative to their fleet size. This might explain why other parts of their service are lacking.. maybe they just don't have the budget to offer the level of service and customer experience that you would expect on middle eastern carriers. Everyone I know who flies to Israel from London avoids EL AL like the plague.

Im surprised this doesn't happen more often, recognition by airlines or their staff. Glad you do double dips and cross checks (oh pun).

Love your videos when you're in the back, seated in Cattle Car Class, to "experience" the awfulness that has become a fairly typical Economy Cabin journey.

Best videos, I do relate to this videos and much less by the other where the airlines was expecting Mister Cahill on Business Class. Thanks for the great content

SAFEST AIRLINE ON THE PLANET AND BEST PILOTS IN THE WORLD

Josh it will be intresting to see if the airlines management watches this and if they make changes.

It´s Economy, one meal, this is normal - the experience with the bad drink service ist not good, but you can´t compare the buiseness class with the ecenomy class...

Paid $300.00 more to fly on Singapore airlines from here in Copenhagen because everyone said it was the best. That was a real waste of money. They served the wrong meals to the wrong passengers and it just snowballed from that. I even saw the business class or first class flight attendants helping out in economy. That was the longest 13+ hour flight I ever took. Won’t do that again.

I appreciate the honesty

It's proof that poor service can ruin a trip. In my case, it was Jet Blue, and only one crew member. There were issues outside of that that I didn't want (no sound from the IFE, they gate-checked bags, but there wasn't anybody in the jetway to take the bags). I interacted with only 2 crew members (It was a full A321- I should have dealt with more). One was helpful, and the other treated me like the gum you scrape from your shoe. For me- it moved Jet Blue to the same spot as American and United, and below Southwest and Delta. They still rank ahead of Spirit and Frontier.

Reading peoples' comments and complaints here about the "service" in the various classes reminds me of why I so much prefer the egaliterian model of low cost airlines. I use Wizz and Easy between TLV and London and the staff are consistently professional and reasonably friendly. The old airline model of including services (such as meal, tea or coffee) stemmed from the fact that the first air travellers were mostly just the wealthy. Admittedly I don't usually need to fly for longer than 5 hours.

My respect for this review, I saw them back to back and thought it was strange how they accompanied you to your seat in business.

I'm glad to see you're trying to fly in the manner that the vast majority of people travel by air. It's a far cry from you previous flight with El Al where they were going out of their way to serve you. While it doesn't compare well with that previous experience, it seems quite in line with most economy class service.

Josh I’ve often wondered what it’s like to travel in Y class with EL AL . Oh dear it looked a pretty miserable experience. Thanks for the review.😃

i totally agree with how you feel about the service of El AL. as an Israeli i have experienced bad service and attitude from EL AL crew! from that point i have stopped CHOOSING EL AL. there are other flight companies way better that EL AL!

Does anyone know why EL611 fly over whole East Europe from Tel Aviv to Moscow??? More cheapest and faster way is from south, over Georgia and Volgograd city...

These vids are awesome keep up the good work

I was an ElAl flight attendant from 2007 - 2012 and worked for another airline after that. When I came back to work for ElAl after a few years I could already see changes. I think Covid really made a difference also. Back in my days there was a coffee/tea service after every meal and the food was good passengers would point it out. I also had great colleagues who were nice and made an effort to make the passengers happy. Hope things will get better for them.

I always wondered why my Israeli friends always fly Lufthansa in and out of TLV. I am flying LH a lot and must say they usually are the rudest crews in Europe. My Israeli friends always comment: "wait until you fly El Al and you will understand." It seems they have a point :)

Thank you Josh for your video, it gives me perspective of other airlines services that impossible for me to fly with. Keep up the great videos 👍

Thanks for revisiting EL Al Josh.

Thank you, a very useful trip report, however I miss a more detailed description of the seat. I find the 3-3-3 seating on 787 terrible (the window seat lacks shoulder room), but you were lucky again, as the middle seat was apparently empty for most of the time. Did you ever consider booking the middle seat, just to have an idea? Maybe on a shorter flight?

Hi, As an Israeli, I don't know why they used the dotted windows. It's very annoying. I don't think it's related to security or something, since the airport isn't a military base (although until 2006 there was some part of the IAF in TLV airport) and IAI still there, but IAI is close to terminal 1, and in terminal 1 as far as I remember, there are no black dots on the window.

Nice Josh. Reminds me of my single visit to Israel years ago although I was fortunate enough to get onboard the Queens of the Skies. Fingers crossed El Al start flying one of their 787s to Australia soon.

Awful airline, terrible service.

While EL Al is probably one of the safest Airlines in the world, it is very expensive, the economy passenger experience if compared to several other carriers is not great. I would say that if you like bread, then this is the airline for you as you will get a lot on the flight. Also if you want a true "Israeli" experience then this flight is the one for you. Truly gives you a taste of Israel before you even get there. Everybody is one big family!

The Sam Chui treatment. Yep. Thank you for not shying away from naming that guy.

interesting experience compared to the last one haha, thanks for the video and taking us along.

I would definitely love to see that Del-Tel Aviv AIR INDIA review

Dots on the window are for heat reduction. We have them on buses in Australia

When I worked in the service industry many years ago, it amazed me how much a tiny bit of kindness made customers happy and satisfied, and consequently made my day better.

we appreciate u trying to keep it real, which is probably not easy as u kinda well known now:)

@JoshCahill That film on the Windows is an "Anti-Shatter" Protective Coating. Ot stops the Glass becoming bits of Shrapnel in the event of an explosion. It basically holds the Glass together and mostly keeps it all in one piece.

I have flown them many times! Never ever eat the omelette! I speak of experience! Security is what it’s about with this airline.

The Wi-Fi on EL AL plains starts to work after the plane takes off.

In my experience it’s been mixed. My last flights not long ago were surprisingly good-much better than the service and food served in the past. The Dreamliner is a nice plane too.

I feel as if last time they knew you was coming on the flight after the security checked you personally and found out that you are a flight reviewer and before you boarded the plane they let everyone know.

Unfortanly Josh ELAL was never a good airline I flew with them many times and allways was disapontment

I like the video very much Josh keep up the good content

Sam Chui = airline's PR guy Noel Philips = budget king Josh Cahill = in depth evaluation

Hello Josh😊.How are you? I am Jonathan, and I have been following you and your many videos for a few years now . I love your videos and your honest opinions on the different airlines. As an Israeli, first I am sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience with ELAL. Second ,I have to admit that I used to love my national carrier airline. They are not what they used to be. They have really declined over the years, and are just getting worse. The only good thing about them, is that they have the best professional pilots,and are really one of the most secured airlines. I avoid flying with them whenever I travel. I hope you will have a better and more pleasant experience, the next time you choose to fly with ELAL. May all your future flights be pleasant and smooth. Keep posting your aviation videos, they are awesome!

Damn, it's almost as if their service is...non existent..

Every israeli who watch this isn't nearly surprised... That's why we prefer other airlines.

Having the same flight in 2 months. Ty for this!!

as an israeli our national airline is very bad for those who arent israelis and stuff which is very sad