In light of the holidays, Yaneev Lanis, founder of the Facebook group "Secret Flights," spoke today (Sunday) with Anat Davidov on 103fm about a topic of great interest to many Israelis at this time—international flight prices.
He said: "In the coming days, anyone looking to save money and is available and spontaneous enough to do so—there are now two wonderful weeks with fantastic weather in Europe and last-minute prices. For up to $150, including baggage, most tourism wholesalers in Israel have many empty seats, which they release two or three days before the flight."
Regarding holiday flights, Lanis said: "For those who really want to fly with Israeli airlines—most flights are already fully booked. For those willing to take a risk, if we’re talking about Rosh Hashanah, you can reach Romania for $280, Cyprus for $360, or Athens for $550. These are not cheap prices, but relatively reasonable."
"In El Al, there isn’t a single seat available for Athens almost a whole month in advance. If we insist on flying with El Al in economy class, you can get to Paris for $800, or Barcelona and Dubai for $700. For most destinations, there isn’t a single seat available for tourists; they immediately jump to higher classes, and we’re talking about thousands of dollars per person," he added.
"The situation during Sukkot is even worse because many of us have more vacation days during Sukkot, and El Al's availability is terrible. For those willing to gamble on a foreign airline, I just remind you—the money is refunded, but you’re still stuck in the country, which is also a considerable disappointment. Many people got burned in August," he concluded.