Not everyone wants to connect in Turkey…but a nonstop flight to Israel currently runs at least $1,208 for this winter.
If you’re creative though you can manufacture a cheaper ticket, though the airlines may not like it and they may punish people who abuse hidden city ticketing repeatedly, so don’t do this every month.
There are currently flights from Chicago and Houston to Tel Aviv from November-March for under $650 on United.
You can use the Travelocity multi-destination search page and search for NYC-TLV (in flight #1) on 11/24/13 and then TLV-IAH or TLV-ORD (in flight #2) on 12/05/13. That puts you in the holy land for Chanukah.
You can choose a nonstop on United from Newark to Tel Aviv. For the return on 12/05 you can select a United flight from Tel Aviv to Chicago or Houston connecting in Newark. Your bags will be tagged to Chicago or Houston but everyone, whether their destination is NYC or anywhere else in the world, must pickup their luggage in Newark on the return and bring it through customs. At that point you can either recheck your bags or just leave the airport.
In the red square is a flight that nobody is going to force you to board.
The price using this “hack” is $895.97, a $312 savings off the regular nonstop fare. Now the price for Chicago-Tel Aviv via NYC is another $287 less than that, but this allows you to fly nonstop both ways and realize part of that fare differential without flying to Chicago to start the trip. Of course you can always just fly to Chicago for 7,500 Avios to save yourself another $287 per person.
Or of course you can just go to Chicago, enjoy a fantastic dinner at Shallot’s Bistro or Milt’s BBQ and then use 7,500 Avios to fly back to NYC.
Of course this will work for other dates as well. For example 01/26-02/03 or 02/16-02/24 or dozens of other dates. The key to finding valid dates is searching for cheap flights from Chicago or Houston to Tel Aviv with flexible dates. The outbound flight date doesn’t need to be cheap from Chicago but the return flight date does need to be on a cheap date. Once you find a cheap return date just use the Travelocity multi-destination search and plugin any outbound date and any of the cheap return dates to Chicago or Houston. Read about using ITA Software here and use the following advanced routing code to limit the calendar search to United flights that connect in Newark: UA, UA
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11 Comments On "“Hacking” A Newark To Tel Aviv Nonstop For $895.97 Round-Trip…"
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@dan u dont have some deals for now? (not in the winter)
Can you please explain how I get those rates? I tried and was unsuccessful. I want to go from 12/22 evening or 12/23-12/29. Please help.
Thx
Following up on Mir’s comment- any luck finding flights from anywhere in U.S. leaving late December? Thank you
@ dan. i am iy”h going to eretz yisroel for yeshiva. what is the cheapest way to find airfare? i need to be able to bring at least two pieces of luggage and the ticket has to be open ended
thx
Looking for a reasonable non stop priced flight from ny end of july for two weeks any suggestions
If you are doing the Chicago roundtrip option, one way fares from NYC are as low as $121. Or if you are going as Dan suggested for a meal first, and are in NJ for example, then have someone drop you off at Trenton Airport and take Frontier nonstop for under $60. Even with a $30 dinner per person, you still are saving $200 each.
This deal is also available out of Washington, DC (either DCA or IAD) on Delta. You can take Amtrak from NYC to Washington and then the metro to the airport. Easier than going through Chicago!
Has anyone flown United to Israel in Economy?
How bad is it?
@Dan: Is United a decent flight to Israel?
To do this “hack” do you need to book with Travelocity, or can I book through united.com?
Is this option still available? can I book a ticket now for September to get this price?