Security interview by El Al staff at NYC was deeply unpleasant. Apart from that everything was good.
The service, the crew, the cleanliness, and most of all, the comfort and space between seats in the economy class was excellent! The seat spacing was better than all my international flights in recent memory.
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.
The entertainment was mostly Israeli movies and tv shows. Food was good though. Flight was incredibly full with very religious Orthodox Jews. Maybe they had a convention.
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.
We got upgrade to premium It’s another way and feeling flying premium then economy…
Clearly an inexperienced cabin crew. Boarding took much longer than usual. Food took much longer to be distributed than usual.
Poor service! If I can I will never fly with them again.
Great quality food. clean cabin and bathrooms. Fast boarding and overall comfortable flight for the duration and times.
A no frills flight wet leased from Czech Smartwings on behalf of Israir. Comfortable seats, polite crew and non existent food and entertainment services. I had and entire row to myself and slept throughout the flight. I loved it.
Everything is good but there was no snacks, they only gave us water without any snacks, check-in online also didn’t work, we had to check-in in the airport
The crow was amazing It was an example of low cost flight.
Online booking is poor. Flight crew are excellent. Would use them again.
The close the front toilet this is not good . They arive not on time is been delay the dont clean the plain . Poor
flight delay there and back. rescheduled the flight a day earlier
The flight was smooth, the crew were pleasant, This plain had a reclining seats which made the flight comfortable
Very clean and modern, efficient checkin and boarding. Great airline
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
TERRIBLE. THE ONLINE CHECK-IN REQUIRED CHOOSING FROM A DROP-DOWN MENU THE AIRPORT OF DEPARTURE. PARIS WAS NOT A CHOICE AND COULD NOT BE ENTERED MANUALLY. THE WHEELCHAIR SERVICE RESPONSIBLE TO TAKE ME From My Arrival Delta three hours in advance refused to take me from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 without the Arkiya Boarding pass. I was helpless and missed the flight to TLV. I had to buy a separate ticket one way on Elal at 14:30 from Terminal 3 and PAY $715. ADDITIONAL MONEY. I DEMAND THAT ARKIYA REIMBURSE ME FOR THAT $715.00 DUE TO THEIR INOPERATIVE ONLINE CHECK IN THAT PREVENTED. ME FROM MAKING THE FLIGHT
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!
