WOW started flying from North America last September and they have had sale fares to Tel Aviv for as little as $220 round-trip.
As an ultra-low-cost carrier, they work better for some than others. If you can hop on a plane and don’t need a lot of luggage, don’t need a specific seat, and are OK if you wind up delayed overnight in Iceland then it’s fantastic. If that’s not how you travel, then the model becomes less attractive.
WOW got in some hot water earlier this year when they were busted advertising food from Tel Aviv as being kosher under the OK when in fact it was not OK certified.
Iceland based Viðskiptablaðið, a local business magazine, reports that Wow is considering dropping the Tel Aviv route. They say that “the flight has been successful, but landing charges at Tel Aviv Airport are high and the flight, which takes seven hours, is costly.”
The flight also sits on the ground in Tel Aviv from 4:55pm until 8:55am the next morning as flights have to be timed for connections in Reykjavik. That means the plane does a lot of sitting in Tel Aviv where it’s not earning flight revenue.
Wow Air is selling tickets from Newark to Reykjavik through April 2019, but they have no flights for sale from Reykjavik to Tel Aviv past October 25, 2018.
WOW also has no flights for sale from JFK to Reykjavik after October 27, 2018. They started flying from JFK to Reykjavik just a few months ago.
It’s still possible that Tel Aviv flights will continue or that the route will be available in the summer time only going forward. Or it’s possible that they will pull out of the Israel market entirely.
Have you flown WOW to Tel Aviv? Share your experience in the comments!
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49 Comments On "WOW! Will The Cheapest Flight Option Between The US And Israel End In October?"
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So according to your research they’re also pulling the plug on jfk-kef?
It seems that way.
Did you ask WOW before publishing this…….?
Yes, no response.
terrible….not worth the cheapness…I did it one time..and NEVER again
Was there any surprises, or was it as advertised?
Reminds me when I once landed on a cramped Spirit flight and someone next me said loudly “I can tell you one thing, this WAS a cheap flight”
My wife and I flew to Israel on Chanuka with WOW. costed a fraction of a regular flight on a large airliner, and service was still somewhat professional. They don’t offer water for free though. What you have to do is ask for hot water (which is free bc it’s not from a bottle; don’t ask) and then ask for a cup of ice (which is also free) than mix them together and drink
AALOL!
There should be a class in the jewish day schools called “How to not be cheap”
Lesson 1: Don’t do the above
*Hobby
That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read in the comments on this site! Either pay the $4 for a bottle of water or travel through security with empty bottles and fill them in the airport. Don’t get ice and put it in a cup of hot water. Thrifty but sad *sigh
(I hope you weren’t wearing a kippa when you did this bc that takes “cheap yid” to whole new level!!!!)
thosh who pay $4 for a bottle of water dont fly WOW. its connected…………
lol, take $4 from the $700 you saved buying your WOW! ticket and drink your water in luxury! 🙂
that makes it only $694 of savings!as for what dfromny was saying anyone on that flight is trying to be as cheap as possible not matter what they are or are not wearing. maybe they should wear all your clothing so you don’t look like you are to cheap to buy clothing?
I understand that most people on these flights are trying to save money but my point is that there should be/is a limit. That’s not a healthy way to live. (it’s also a major chilul hashem)
I have no idea what you mean with the clothing comment…
There is nothing wrong with doing that.
I can promise you that this cup of water had a “special taste”!!! Some people like to get things for free, it’s a hubby.
Especially people who visit DansDeals.
Yes, most people like to get deals especially those who frequent sites like DD. However there are also some who have a sickness…
Research the difference between frugal and cheap.
(some would call their husband their hubby, some have a hobby of finding good deals, some are ill and can’t spend money)
A yid always gives him self an eitzeh
How do other LCC thrive in the TLV market?
Will WOW possibly shift flights to VDA?
Most ULCCs/LCCs have short-haul point to point operations.
WOW is an exception with their focus on connections in KEF. The combo of a longer than average flight time to TLV along with the poor airplane utilization due to the long overnight in TLV makes this hard to run profitably.
i flew wow to tlv with just a backpack. awesome experience, would definitely do it again. with that being said, once your paying for luggage and whatnot it may not be worth it.
sad to see them go.
I just flew WOW from KEF-ORD. Everything was great except their boarding process was chaotic, no process at all.
We flew WOW from TLV to BOS after Pesach. Staff was professional. We got the fare with the included carry on and checked bag. We had exit row seats on the TLV-KEF leg, so I had more than six feet of legroom (my wife had only two or three feet of legroom). KEF-BOS was a little more cramped, but not bad. We had no problem filling our water bottles in both TLV and KEF. Of course we brought our own food. I was amused by the in-flight magazine. On the page with the menu, the OK by the Tel Aviv sandwiches had been manually blacked out with a marker. Imagine doing that in hundreds of magazines!
We love WOW.
No screens ++
No food carts in the isles ++
Short 2 hour stop over ++
Straight into bwi instead of dc ++
Will let you know next week after we land! Hoping it won’t be as bad as we think. But for ~500 a ticket (with baggage, one way) we’re saving close to 1k per ticket against all the other airlines.
We noticed that they also tend to only fly that route on Mondays, Wednesday and I think Fridays. That also probably limits their business or making it more profitable no?
Very good
What about Norwegian airlines, how do they manage to fly to Tell Aviv?
https://www.dansdeals.com/airfare-deals/israel-flights/wow-will-cheapest-flight-option-us-israel-end-october/#comment-1362268
My kids took WOW EWR to TLV in January. $398.00 round trip each plus one suitcase that they managed to share. Even invested in two of Dan’s Deals boarding bags. They had absolutely no problems in either direction and said they would absolutely do it again and were looking forward to doing so. I was hoping to grab a seat for December, now I know why I couldn’t find anything beyond October on their site.
Now I’m stuck with two boarding bags….used for one round trip. 🙁
i flew WOW twice to israel. perfect. no problems.
both i and my wife were able to bring a weeks worth of clothing in their minimum size free luggage.
clean new planes, service was fine. bring your own food and drink was easy. like any other nofrills airline.
i would fly with them again anytime.
I was interested in buying tickets from them a few times, but the 13-hour wait between the flights made me reluctant to do so. the waiting time was too long even for that price. In particular that cheap places usually ran out immediately and most of the available tickets were priced at about $ 600-700 for round trip. At this price you can fly with any other flights.
I believe this is the reason for the sparse volume of passengers on this route, they had to offer reasonable follow-up flights.
thanks for everything,
BTW, are there good deals flying nyc-tlv using BA Avios ??
The airline didn’t work out for my lifestyle with a spouse and children, but this would have especially rocked for a student wanting to come home for a Pesach or winter break and already has enough clothes at his US home to not pack anything.
wasn’t worth it while the staff were very nice the cushions seat you sit on eventually hurt the seats are cramped when a full flight .We ordered seats but they changed aircraft they did send us a refund we would not fly wow again its for younger people
We flew wow from Toronto this pesach with entire family. Got a great price, including luggage and seat selection. Friendly service, nice planes. Brought our own food. Only 2 negatives :
Deplaning in Iceland is via a staircase onto tarmac to waiting bus. Weather in Iceland was rainy and quite windy. Our hands were full of carryons and little ones, so kippahs and hats blew off onto tarmac (people were helpful getting them for us)
On way back from Israel, you have to go through security again in Iceland (EU regulations?) and they confiscate any liquids that you had on your flight from tel aviv. Bye bye waters, yogurts, cream cheese, jam, etc.!
But you’re saving a bundle, so if you plan accordingly, it’s worth it.
That security thing when you land at KEF is very weird. One of the passengers on my flight was an Israeli who works in Iceland. He had to go through security even though he wasn’t flying anywhere.
We flew WOW at the end of January from Toronto to Tel-Aviv via Reykjavik. We decide to fly Wow’s business class which we figured would be like premium economy on other carriers and it was cheaper than El Al economy. Flying “business” allowed us a suitcase each, a carry on, personal item–just like a normal carrier. There even was food, although we are kosher so we couldn’t partake. We brought sandwiches with us. Free water. Excellent, cheerful stewardesses and stewards. Seats were comfortable. My only gripe was having to go through security a second time when landing in Reykavik from Tel Aviv on the way home. Apparently the EU does not think Israeli security is good enough! Or they are picking on flights that originate there, because we did not have to go through security when we landed on the leg from Toronto.
I booked tickets on WOW AIR for Pesach of 2018 for myself, my wife and daughter. I called a couple weeks in advance to confirm the reservation and assign seats to the reservation. We flew from Denver to Newark to board their flight to Israel via Iceland. They informed us in Newark (after making us stand around for 4 hours and missing our flight) that they cancelled our reservation by mistake (meaning their agent screwed up). I am still fighting with them months later to get compensation for all the monetary damages they cost me. They are abusive and irresponsible. I would strongly advise everyone to stay far away from them.
What did you do for pesach then?
I flew LA to Tel Aviv, I paid $369 R/T and extra for a carryon. The flight to Iceland had a lot of legroom, from Iceland to Tel Aviv less but not cramped. I overnighted at a hotel near the airport and took a rental car and explored the peninsula. One thing that surprised me was WOW wasn’t strict about the luggage, some people had oversized bags, but the staff didn’t seem to care on all flights. Also there was plenty of space to put the under the seat bag in the overhead bin for everyone. I would fly them again, and chance not paying the extra fee for the carryon.
One thing that no one has mentioned: a checked bag on WOW isn’t the same as on most airlines. It’s 20 kg rather than 23 kg.
we flew from tel aviv to iceland for vacation in june. great direct flight
1100 dollars including seat choice with extra room and ALL luggage and insurance. i it was a great deal. the plane and stewardesses were very nice
We’ll be flying WOW in the summer now with kids and infant. Any good tips from those who traveled? Any lounges we can access?
Every time you post about WOW! I think it is another great deal like HOT! or HURRY! Does it really need to be all caps?
Does wow go from tlv to Newark or jfk or its only to tlv and what are their rates
Does wow go Fromm tlv to jfk or Newark
is there any flights from jfk to Israel april 14 till 30
WOW from Toronto to Tel Aviv was a great flight for my son and I. No complaints and only cost us $480.00 round trip for us both. PS if you want water 1) bring an empty plastic bottle and fill it in Iceland or 2) appreciate the cheap tickets and buy a bottle or two.