We need to be very clear: we are in the middle of the fog of war. This uncertainty regarding one's own capability as well as the capability of our adversary resonates throughout the country.
Most of us understand this is our 9/11 and the questions that will be asked once we win the war are plentiful. I wanted to try to bring some clarity to the transportation challenges, be it by sea or by air that have enveloped us and will not lift until the war has ended.
Please know that the majority of foreign carriers have stopped flying to and from Israel. It's primarily due to insurance issues which forbids an airline flying into a country at war, which Israel has declared we are. The State of Israel has taken full responsibility for Arkia, Israir and El Al. Those 3 airlines have been trying to add on flights, to waive change fees and in many instances to authorize full cancellations.
My staff & I have been overwhelmed by passengers stranded both in Israel and abroad as they were holding tickets on airlines that have ceased flying. The reality though is most airlines are only cancelling flights 24 to 48 hours in advance. This creates a false scenario that they will resume flights in a short period of time.
This is wrong, false, and emotionally unfair if you're holding a ticket. IF Delta has announced they have cancelled their flights for the next 2 days; and Delta is in the same league as Swiss or American or Iberia, its only because they don't want to deal with the thousands of clients that will be affected.
IF any of those airlines aren't flying today, they will not be flying until the war is over
Perhaps those airlines are right. Perhaps the war will end in the next two days. Sadly, experts far brighter than I, do not see such a speedy end. Which means sooner or later if one is holding a ticket on a foreign carrier, one should make alternate arrangements.
Let's take a few scenarios:
1. You are holding a ticket that you have not started, whether you are in London or New York or Tel Aviv. Most of the airlines are very generous, allowing you to make changes to your existing ticket at no fee. Of course, they cannot tell you when they will be flying but by teasing you with no change fees, they hope you'll be lulled into submission.
As most of the tickets carry a cancellation fee you need to tread carefully. Only when the flight has been cancelled can you cancel your tickets sans any penalty. Until then you'll need to plan on flying with a different airline. And in most case that will be El AL. Which means you need to try to find space on El Al, and to know exactly what the cancellation fee is if by some miracle the war ends, and you can use your original ticket.
2. You have already started your ticket and your return leg has been or most likely will be cancelled. We have a dozen young people finishing up a group visit in San Francisco from a large Academic institution in Israel. They are scheduled to fly back this Saturday night on United. We have already told them that the odds that United will be flying are incredibly low and they must consider alternatives.
Their sponsor asked what refund they would get for the unused portion and was surprised to hear that they would get no refund. That the ticket could be used in the future, up to one year. That United would allow them to make changes for free, provided there was space in the same class.
What to do? We gave them two choices---use their existing United ticket to fly to Europe and then purchase a new ticket from Europe to Tel Aviv or to buy a new ticket from San Francisco to Tel Aviv. Surprisingly it was less expensive to purchase new tickets from the U.S rather than use the existing ticket.
When one has booked through a travel agent, running down all the options is fairly simple, and you should be able to communicate with them 24/7. If you bought online, then hopefully there's someone to speak to. As mentioned all the airlines will let you change for free but every request that we are getting is for those wishing to fly immediately.
We are at war, which means you need to stay calm, be patient and if you are not using a travel consultant, assist the airline with lot of options. Their systems are taught to move you to the next available flight, which may only be in one or two weeks. Learn to cajole them in thinking outside of the box. Consider flying with a stop or switching airlines. If you are staying in a hotel and want to avoid additional costs; getting you back as quickly as possible should be the first thing on your mind. Even if that means uncomfortable flights.
These are anxious times; I've stopped judging why someone must fly during a war. Sometimes it's because they got a call up, or their kids or grandkids are in the army. Or they have had trauma and do not want to stay in Israel one day more. We need you to stay calm, be rational and avoid listening to and watching the news 24/7. You will get on a flight; you will get to where you want to go. Bottom line, do not panic.