The Marker is reporting that El Al will offer travelers the option of accepting a travel voucher equal to 120% of the ticket price if they agree to forgo a cash refund for their cancelled flights. In other words if you spent $1,000 on a cancelled ticket you would get a $1,200 voucher that will be valid for 2 years.
So far, El Al has only refunded select passengers on US flights who complained to the DoT about not receiving a refund.
I’ve been recommending that El Al make an offer like this for months, so it’s good to see them finally come around to it.
The risks are that El Al could go under, which would render the voucher worthless. But it seems unlikely that the Israeli government will allow that to happen.
The other risk is that we still have no idea when travel will return to normal, though 2 years is a decent amount of time to use the voucher.
Plus, cash is king, especially with an uncertain economic outlook.
However it’s not every day that you can get a 20% bonus on your airfare dollars, so if you know you’ll fly to Israel in the next couple years, it’s a pretty sweet offer.
Loading ...
Leave a Reply
34 Comments On "Will You Accept A 120% Future Travel Voucher From El Al In Lieu Of A Cash Refund?"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
What if they just hike up the pricing by 20 percent (or more)? That’s a real possibility.
Not really, they have competition that will keep them honest. Otherwise they wouldn’t sell any tickets.
That’s good to hear. However, I’m skeptical of the prices for the direct flights from ord because they are the only ones offering it. I paid a premium for my tickets for the convenience. I don’t trust that they won’t raise those ticket prices.
Sad to say, but I’d fly just about any other airline over elal if they flew direct.
I think it’s unlikely that we’ll see ORD-TLV nonstop in the next 2 years.
I don’t trust them… it’s that simple
i have no skin in this, but as a leisure traveler i would want to go to Israel on a deal, and not necessarily will elal 20% off be cheaper. secondly i am locking in my money for at least another year (i would only travel in the summer when school is closed) with an expiration date with an airline that may go bankrupt by the time i would travel next summer.
Someone who already bought a ticket on El Al is more likely looking to fly nonstop than looking for a deal with a connection.
Many people (including myself) bought direct tickets with Elal only after their stopover flights were cancelled.
The risks are that El Al could go under, which would render the voucher worthless. But it seems unlikely that the Israeli government will allow that to happen. NOT CONVINCED ABOUT THAT !! THEY WILL LET S/O ELSE OPEN INSTEAD OF THE BIGSHOT GUYS NOW RUNNING ELAL!! just to show them that they cannot do whatever they want !!!
AND besides i would NOT trust elal for anything anymore they are bunch of thieves and they dont care about us at all!!!
DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY BUSINESS AND LET THEM GO UNDER!!! MECHALEL SHABBOS AS WELL!!!
Only if the state of Israel guaranteed it somehow Then yes.
That’s not going to happen, but the state clearly wants El Al to stay alive.
20% surcharge to use the voucher?
“Fuel surcharge”
😉
Exactly!
After the way they betrayed those who didn’t file DOT, and lied a dozen times to TA’s that refunds would be processed “within the next 48 hours”, I wouldn’t trust them with $5!
Be smart! Don’t accept a 20% bonus after they ignored you for the past 3 months!
(If they made this offer in April, maybe I would trust them. But this is just too little, too late…)
And let’s just remember, they STILL haven’t refunded any passengers who haven’t filed with the DOT.
What have you done with the Yandmk that bashed me whenever I said something negative about El Al?!?
Wink twice if you’re being held captive by United.
Lol.
כאן לפני הקורונה וכאן לאחר הקורונה…
The peak was Erev Shavuos… I believe you know the details of that story….
This seems like the wisest position.
As he says: Too little, too late.
Is this like the 20% price raise a few weeks before black Friday?
Dang. They did that, huh.
Btw, for all those who voted yes, I have a bridge I’m looking to sell at an AMAZING price! PM for more details…
Does someone who paid with points get 20% more points?
I would assume no.. any readacross from other airlines?
Thanks for all the info. Any news on reimbursements for flights cancelled by the El Al customer? Had a roundtrip TLV-NY for Mar 24 which we cancelled for safety concerns. Expecting a penalty, but the tickets were a fortune after Alitalia flight cancelled.
Is it possible to dispute an Elal ticket bought with Chase Ultimate rewards points? Had anyone successfully done it?
Chase keeps on transferring me to different departments.
Yes! I got points back
How? Chase keeps on giving me the run-around, transferring me to the disputes department that can only dispute normal charges, then back to the travel people who say they can’t dispute.
Even if Israel won’t let el al go under what’s to stop them from declaring bankruptcy to void any debts (e.g. flight credits) first and then starting over?
Dan. I disagree. I believe that the State of Israel will not let “El Al” disappear, but they could allow the company to go bankrupt and reorganize under a new entity and get a fresh restart, wiping out their shareholders and putting in a brand new management team.
Elal will find a way to exit this mess by clearing its debts and screwing all their passengers and saying if you attack EL AL you are anti Israel. Personally I think the Israeli government will end up footing the refunds to make sure there isn’t a government relations disaster. This means someone like Sheldon Adelson will probably end up footing the bill.
so if i got a ticket for 1k and ill buy the new ticket for 1k what do i do with the extra 200??
I can only speak for tickets purchased through Travelocity, but any extra amount is forfeited if unused in the next purchase. vouchers are non- transferable and can only be used for the destinations of the previously cancelled flight.
I made a DOT complaint with bi kick. Screw you elal
THIS SITUATION, WE ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER. WHICH MEANS, THE ONLY OUT, IS TOGETHER!
WHATEVER WE MAY THINK, WE NEED ELAL TO BE THERE FOR US, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. FOR THE LAST 22 YEARS I AM FLYING 8-10 TIMES A YEAR. I KNOW THE COMPLAINTS.I ALSO KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE DONE FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE JEWISH NATION. I FOUND IT SAD MORE THAN 60% SAID NO, ON YOUR SURVEY, THIS TELLS ME THAT OVER 50% OF THE PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT ISRAEL MEANS, AS A JEW, AS PART OF THE SURVIVAL OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. ELAL IS A SYMBOL OF JEWISH SOVEREIGNTY, WHICH IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE FIRST TEMPLE. AFTER COVID, RIOTS, SOCIAL JUSTICE, ISRAEL IS ABOUT THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS ONE, AGAIN WE ARE ALL CAUGHT IN DIFFICULT SITUATION, HOW WE CHOSE TO REACT IS OUR ONLY CHOICE, EVERYTHING ELSE WE CAN’T CONTROL . TO ALL THAT SAID NO, THINK LONG AND HARD WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!!!
How likely to succeed dispute $2000 extra charge for seat at airport ?
Was delayed by boarder control
On time check in
Others w same story boarded free on later flight
They charged me
Needed to get home for chag
Wrote to them others boarded no fee
They asked me for names which I had !!
After that they wrote @sorry”
No refund
Would chase help ?
Ouch
Bad experience w chase flight insurance
Since ran by third party
Chase rep agreed it was bad news w third party
I personally just want my tickets refunded. We had tickets to fly for Pesach and obviously could not go. I cannot get El Al to respond to anything. We are in for about $1,000 per ticket from NWK to TLV. How do I contact the DoT?