Dirt Cheap Tickets to EY Causes Rejoicing in Frum World, El Al Says Deals Will Be Honored Despite Mistake

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elalThe velt says that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But not if you were purchasing tickets to Eretz Yisroel today from El Al Airlines, which was selling tickets, on Expedia, Priceline and elsewhere, for as little as $300 roundtrip.

Dan’s Deals tweeted a link about a sale at El Al, with round-trip tickets between New York and Tel Aviv being bought by some for under $400. One Twitter user claimed to have paid $178 for a roundtrip ticket.

The Jewish Week reports that a spokeswoman for El Al said it was by a third-party mistake and that all of the tickets would be honored, despite what some Facebook and Twitter users might claim.

El Al is expected to release a statement some time this week.

Dan of Dan’s Deals, which alerted consumers about the deal this morning, says,  “I’m not going to speculate on why the tickets were so cheap, though it does seem likely that they forgot to include a fuel surcharge. However the DOT has strict rules that prohibit airlines from charging additional fees after a ticket is issued or from cancelling paid tickets, so I do think that these tickets will be honored.”

{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}


12 COMMENTS

  1. Just curious if there is no Sheiloh here. If there was a mistake on Elal’s part and it was not their intention to issue such cheap tickets, is it yashrus to capitalize?

  2. 1) Al pi halocho, would El Al have to honor tickets mistakenly sold so cheaply due to mistake of a third party?

    2) Is it proper to take advantage of another Yid in the case of such a colossal error?

    Note: I am asking al pi Yiddishkeit, not getting involved with the DOT regulation mentioned above.

  3. somehow I dont think this is mutar. someone is losing $ here, either the Airline or the travel company. Everyone knows you cant fly el al that cheap so they knew it was a glitch. Tov v’Yashar?

  4. actually these dates are all off season so the money the airline makes is hakol revach, since they fly many times with an empty plane. Also, the tickets are so overpriced itys nice to know how much we overpay each time. And zicher “menias revach” on a mistake that they made is mutar. (and yashar)

  5. btw did any of you buy tickets or did you also miss the sale? 😉
    If they’re honoring it that means No one is losing money over here! Am I not allowed to buy on sale if the store loses money on the item? it’s a marketing thing.
    If anything it’s menias revach which if was not caused by you is 100% ok…. So have a safe trip!
    in any case there’s no reason that tickets should be so expensive as is, let the airlines sweat a little instead of laughing they’re way to the bank.

  6. if you think it is a sheilah go ask you rav do not just decide this is the halacha and i am going to make sure everybody knows so. maybe you are wrong so instead how about asking a rav than posting what he says

  7. Is this seriously the conversation we are having? They’re tickets to Eretz HaKodesh… And El Al is NOT hurting for money….

  8. Yes, really! It has nothing to do with whether or not El Al is hurting for money or how much they supposedly always rip you off. Gezel is gezel whether it is from a poor person or a rich company. You are not “entitled” to steal from them just because they are a business that has charged you a lot in the past. Halacha is halacha. So the question here is what is the halacha?

  9. I wanted to point out to you that ELAL has not exactly been there for the Jewish people for the past 60+ years. The way the travel to Israel works is as follows. ELAL is owned 51% by the Israeli government which means the Israeli government has full control of 100% of that company. The economic committee in the Knesset in Israel controls how many airlines can fly to Israel, how many flights can take place a day and even what size planes can land in Israel? This committee set a very low cap on the number of flights it allows into Israel this is called a “Quotta”. In addition the Knesset sets is so that within the Quotta ELAL is given the great majority of the flights and the rest of the few selected airlines get a small % of the flights. Now since there is a government controlled small supply of flights and a huge demand for tickets to Israel, this causes the price of a ticket to be sky high. Fuel charges & Security charges as you pointed out are an accounting gimmick ELAL created and they have nothing to do with the total price of a ticket. What Continental does not have fuel charges and security charges?
    ELAL is the airline that is the one that is not allowing this situation to change. ELAL does not care how many people fly to Israel in total. ELAL only wants to make sure their flights are full and passengers are paying as much as they squeeze out of them. The competing airlines like Delta or Continental are very happy with the one or 2 flights a day they are granted permission to fly to Israel because they can charge as much as they want on these few flights and still their plane will be full since the demand is very high and the supply can not possibly fill it.
    For 60 plus years people are fighting to have Israel comply with open skies and let more airlines and flights into Israel but to no avail to this date.
    Also wanted to add, most large groups traveling to Israel Fly ELAL (Yeshivas, federations, schools, camps are just a few examples of large groups flying to Israel) why? The group leader receives a free ELAL ticket and the rest of the group more than pays for the leader’s free ticket. I am sure the Ha’lach has what to say about this. I would think a group leader has the obligation to check that the total price the group will be paying is cheaper on ELAL than on a competing airline and make sure this is communicated to the group members before the group flies ELAL.
    My advice to anyone flying to Israel from the USA is do not fly ELAL rather fly any other airline.
    Also if in any way possible fly to Israel (but never ELA L) via a stop in Europe.
    IF we all follow the strategy listed above (not ELAL and via a stop in Europe) within one year all parties in control will realize that people in the USA have woken up, and that the business as usual model is broke. Only then will the limited supply regulations stop and fairs will become competitive.
    There is a lot more to say on how ELAL currently structures it’s self however it is much more constructive to focus on how we the people can change the structure of the flights system so that as many Jews as possible get to visit Israel for a fair rate to the airlines and for the passengers.
    Wishing you a Shanah Tova,
    Le’Shana Habah B’yershalim Ha’Benuyah,
    A Pushit a Yid.

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