Israel should be on every traveler’s list. The country has beautiful white sand beaches, stunning desert, lush green hills and, of course, so much history. Israel is also a perfect destination for a foodie or a wine lover. Finding award tickets to Israel is not an easy feat, however. The demand is strong, routings are limited and thus airlines don’t release a lot of seats for use with credit card points and frequent flyer miles.
Cable Car to Masada. Photo courtesy of Debbie Hudson on Upslash.
Cash prices are usually high from most of the U.S., so using your miles to book an award ticket will give you an excellent value if you can figure it out. Finding award space or reasonable cash fares around major Jewish holiday is especially challenging, so if you need to travel close to Rosh Hashana or Passover, book your award ticket early!
Beautiful Bahai Gardens in Haifa | Images Courtesy of Pexels
United Airlines
I’ve had good luck finding award availability on nonstop flights booking nine to 11 months out. My favorite way to fly to Israel is on United-operated flights out of Newark.
One of the biggest pain points with United is finding domestic saver level award availability to connect to a major international gateway like Newark or San Francisco. I fly out of Cleveland, and while United is the dominant airline here, finding saver award space to connect to my international flights is often a problem. If you can’t find an award ticket out of your city, try to get a positioning flight. Even with booking a separate domestic flight, you will save a lot of money.
United operates nonstop flights from Newark, San Francisco and, starting in May 2019, from Washington D.C.
To fly from the US to Israel on United-operated flight you will need:
- 42,500 United miles in economy one-way
- 75,000 in United miles in business one-way
United operates Polaris Business class out of Newark Liberty (EWR) and San Francisco (SFO), but as of August 2018, they are flying either Boeing 777-200 or 787-9 airplanes to Tel Aviv that have not been equipped with the new Polaris seats.
The configuration in business is 2-2-2, formerly the Continental Airlines BusinessFirst set up. These are not their updated Polaris seats but the seats are wide and very comfortable. You get all the amenities of Polaris, including improved food and beverage service and Saks Fifth Avenue bedding. I have flown the old BusinessFirst service and the new Polaris service on that route a few times and I’ve always been happy with the seats and the service on board.
You can enjoy United’s B/E Diamond business class seats, on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, on your way to Tel Aviv. Image by United Airlines
And now there is a new Polaris lounge in Newark airport. I happened to be flying in business class on Star Alliance in June and had an opportunity to spend a few hours there. It is a very nice lounge and a huge improvement over the old United Club. I am flying Polaris to Israel in April of 2019, again, and I am looking forward to visiting the lounge again.
Spend some time at the Polaris lounge while you wait. Image by Anna Zaks | Point Me To The Plane
If you are on the west coast or can get to San Francisco, the direct SFO-TLV flight is a great option. If you are flying Polaris business class, SFO also has a fabulous Polaris lounge.
I like using United miles for award travel because United doesn’t pass on fuel surcharges. You will pay $5.60 cents for one way award ticket.
You can earn extra United MileagePlus miles and even a sizeable introductory bonus by opening a Chase United Explorer card or transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to your United MileagePlus account.
Using KrisFlyer to Book United-Operated Flights
You can also book United-operated flights using Singapore KrisFlyer miles. You will need:
- 45,000 KrisFlyer miles in economy one way
- 69,000 KrisFlyer miles in business class one way
It is fairly easy to earn Singapore miles; you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou points to your KrisFlyer account. Don’t redeem your KrisFlyer miles on United economy flight, as you will need 2,500 more KrisFlyer miles, unless you don’t have any United miles or Ultimate Rewards points, but have a surplus of Amex or Citi points.
El Al
Israeli carrier El Al operates nonstop flights from Boston Logan (BOS), New York Kennedy (JFK), Newark Liberty (EWR), Miami International (MIA) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The airline operates a fleet of Boeing 747-400s that have business class seats that look like something out of last century and a first-class cabin to match.
El Al’s First Class product on the Boeing 747-400 looks more like American Airlines’ mid-2000s business class seats (just a little flatter). Image by El Al
Fortunately, El Al’s new Boeing 787 Dreamliners come equipped with some of the best business class and premium economy class seats out there. This aircraft is being increasingly incorporated on flights from Newark Liberty to Tel Aviv, San Francisco to Tel Aviv and Los Angeles to Tel Aviv and will replace the old 747s increasingly in the future.
EL AL is the first airline to install these Recaro business class seats. Image by PriestmanGoode. Image by El Al
El Al has no practical relationship with a U.S. frequent flyer programs, so you’ll need to use credit card rewards if you want to secure a free flight on El Al. American Express Membership Rewards can be transferred directly to El Al’s frequent flyer program. These points are earned through the Amex EveryDay Credit Card, The American Express® Gold Card and The Platinum Card from American Express.
American Express OPEN also has similar Membership Rewards cards for small business owners and self-proprietors.
Citi ThankYou Rewards, earned through the Citi ThankYou Premier Mastercard, can be transferred to Qantas Frequent Flyer, which began a partnership with El Al in the past year.
Using American Express Points
You can transfer Membership Rewards points to El Al’s frequent flyer Matmid program. 1000 Membership Rewards points will get you 20 Matmid points. Platinum cardholders in Israel get a significantly better deal on this transfer — 6 Membership Rewards Points to 1 Matmid point. If you have an address in Israel and plan to regularly redeem points for El Al flights, the Amex Platinum Card is truly the way to go.
To fly round trip fly in economy, awards cost:
- 1,800-2,000 Matmid points to fly from Boston, JFK, Newark and Miami
- 2,000-2,200 Matmid points to fly from Los Angeles
To fly round-trip, business class, you will need
- 4,500-5,000 Matmid points to fly from Boston, JFK, Newark and Miami
- 5,200-5,700 Matmid points to fly from Miami
- 5,500-6,000 Matmid points to fly from Los Angeles
Unless you have an Israel address to apply for a Platinum Card, this is not the best use of your Membership Rewards points. As a U.S. cardholder, you’d need a staggering 300,000 Membership Rewards points to fly from Miami to Tel Aviv during what Matmid defines as the summer season. Not the best use of your Amex points!
If you do live in Israel, on the other hand, flying round-trip from Israel to the East Coast of the U.S. in business class would cost 30,000 Membership Rewards points with the Platinum Card. That’s cheaper than many U.S. domestic economy tickets — a truly incredible value.
To find availability on El Al flights there are a few options. For those with an El Al Matmid account already set up, there is a Frequent Flyer search bar available on the El Al website. It’s also possible to view El Al’s award inventory on Expert Flyer. For the truly analog out there, it’s possible to call El Al and have phone representative perform an award search.
I was able to find a smattering of business class seats near the far edge of the award calendar — July 2019, and some economy and premium economy seats available closer in.
Using Qantas Frequent Flyer (Citi ThankYou Points)
All of the above flights are also available for bookings via Qantas Frequent Flyer. Once you’ve created a Qantas Frequent Flyer account, you can log-in and perform “Classic Rewards” searches through the Qantas Frequent Flyer website.
Searching for Tel Aviv flights using the Qantas Frequent Flyer website.
El Al now appears among all of Qantas other partners, and can even be booked as connections with Qantas and other OneWorld flights.
As with the ExpertFlyer search, both economy and premium economy seating appears from Newark to Tel Aviv on Sept. 11 and economy seating is available on the New York Kennedy (JFK) to Tel Aviv flight.
One caveat here: it can take up to two days for Citi ThankYou Rewards points to transfer to Qantas Frequent Flyer. Qantas hasn’t published a hold policy for partner award tickets on its website, but it may be worth it to call Qantas and ask to place these awards on hold before the points transfer. In this case, we see through ExpertFlyer that there is plenty of available inventory for both of these flights, so it would be unlikely that you’d lose the ability to book one or two seats within 48 hours, but in other situations where inventory is limited, this delay might present some risk unless an award can be held.
El Al flights are priced according to Qantas’ distance-based frequent flyer award chart.
To fly from the U.S. East Coast to Tel Aviv using Citi ThankYou Points, via Qantas, will cost:
- Economy: 42,000 points
- Premium Economy: 63,000 points
- Business: 78,000 points
- First: 114,000 points
To fly from the U.S. West Coast to Tel Aviv using Citi ThankYou Points, via Qantas Frequent Flyer, will cost:
- Economy: 56,000 points
- Premium Economy: 84,000 points
- Business: 104,000 points
- First: 152,000 points
Delta Air Lines
Delta operates nonstop flights from New York JFK. Because Delta doesn’t have an award chart anymore, the price to use Delta SkyMiles will vary widely, from 43,000 to 130,000 and more in economy one-way. To fly in DeltaOne, saver-level awards will cost 85,000 one-way and are about as common as a jackalope.
Finding an award seat for 85,000 miles is a huge challenge, to say the least. When I was writing this article I was only able to find a few random dates throughout the calendar when saver-level business awards were available. Ironically, one of the dates was the next day, so if you are a truly spontaneous person, that’s an option to fly to Israel in business class for just 85,000 SkyMiles.
Slim pickings for saver awards
You can earn Delta SkyMiles by opening one or more of American Express co-branded Delta credit cards. Delta is also a transfer partner of American Express. You can transfer your Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio.
American Airlines
American Airlines doesn’t have direct flights to Israel. You can use AAdvantage miles to book connecting flights on one of American’s partners – British Airways, Finnair, Iberia or Royal Jordanian.
You will need
- 40,000 AAdvantage miles in economy one-way
- 70,000 in AAdvantage miles in business one-way
If you are flying on British Airways and routing through London Heathrow, be aware of high fare surcharges ($300-$700) that BA tacks on to mileage award tickets.
Air France Flying Blue (American Express, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou)
It is fairly easy to earn Air France miles, it is a transfer partner of Chase, Amex and Citi. Flying Blue eliminated their award chart some time ago, but values are good when mileage prices are low.
It is possible to book economy award flights for as low as 25,000 FlyingBlue miles and business for as low as 53,000 miles. Air France considers Israel to be a part of Europe, so if you can find saver-level awards, it is a pretty good deal. Surcharges can be steep, as much as 500 euro for a return itinerary, far more than you’d pay using United or Delta.
I’ve searched for random dates in February 2019 for ORD-TLV one way ticket and found a few dates with available low-level awards in business.
When I clicked through to the next screen and could see the actual flights, the total flight time was almost 26 hours with 13 hour connection time in Amsterdam. This can be either good or bad, depending on how you like to travel.
I ran a few searches for economy flights and found fares as low as 29,000, one-way. Compared to other programs, 29,000 miles is a steal, assuming you can find connections that work for you and don’t mind higher surcharges.
Star Alliance Partners
Another great way to get to Israel from the US is to fly on Star Alliance partners. You will have to connect somewhere in Europe, usually Vienna, Zurich, Frankfurt, Brussels, Warsaw or Istanbul. Your options will be flying on United or a Star Alliance carrier to a major European city and connecting to Israel from there.
I have flown on Austrian Airlines and Swiss Airlines in business class and both are excellent. These airlines have a reputation for great service even in economy. Lufthansa doesn’t release a lot of business class award space to partners so it is harder to find itineraries connecting in Frankfurt. Turkish Airlines, LOT and Brussels Airlines are hit or miss.
Austrian Airlines has a chef on board to prepare food for business class passengers
My favorite way to book these flights is via United MileagePlus, as United doesn’t pass on fuel surcharges. You will have to pay slightly more in taxes than if you were flying on a non-stop Israel flight — between $25 and $80, depending on the itinerary.
Awards cost:
- 42,500 United miles in economy one-way
- 85,000 United miles in business one-way
You will find much better award availability to Israel if you are willing to connect in Europe. Austrian Airlines seems to have the most award space bookable via United MileagePlus or Aeroplan.
You can also book a Star Alliance award via
- Aeroplan – 40,000 miles in economy, 67,500 in premium economy or 82,500 in business. You will have to pay fuel surcharges if you book via Aeroplan, unless you are flying on United and a small handful of European carriers. Aeroplan is Marriott and Amex Membership Rewards transfer partner. If you don’t have United Miles or Ultimate Rewards, then it might make sense to consider Aeroplan but watch out for those fuel surcharges, they can easily be over $200.
- KrisFlyer – 45,000 in economy and 69,000 in business. Watch out for fuel surcharges if flying on one of the European carriers, they can add up
Read about more tricks on avoiding surcharges on Star Alliance awards here.
Upshot
As you can see, there are a few options you can explore if you want to travel to Israel. It’s important to book ahead of time, especially if you are going to be traveling around major Jewish holidays, like Passover and Rosh Hashanah. The key to success is to have a good stash of different credit card currencies and airline miles. Be prepared to be flexible with your dates and the routes and airlines you are willing to fly.
No matter how you get there, you are going to have a great time in Israel! And if you have one of the credit cards that include access to Priority Pass lounges, stop by one of the recently added restaurants, Schmoozy Bar, at Ben Gurion Airport.
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11 comments
The best price for business (or coach) to Israel from the US is with Aegean. It is 30K for economy and only 45K for business. This works for all Star Alliance flights (including United, of course) but you are limited to a single connection. You will pay fuel surcharges but United and LOT are non-existent and Turkish is rather low.
Aegean is a transfer partner of SPG.
Thanks for this nice breakdown!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you can book flights to Israel on Etihad nor Qatar unless you book it to an intermediary airport like AMM/CAI/IST or something and get to Israel on a separate reservation.
Also, I’m surprised to see that you didn’t say anything about Air Canada’s flights through YYZ or YUL. There’s Air Transat from YUL as well, but I don’t think you can book them with miles or points.
One last thing – there are seasonal flights to Eilat operated by Finnair (and a few other carriersas well). One could build an amazing itinerary in Israel flying into Israel through Eilat and out of Israel through Tel-Aviv.
Survey says……. wrong……
El Al is bookable with Qantas…. Thus thank you points!
Thanks for the note Rufus! This is a relatively new partnership, and I added the details.
Keen eye!
Best,
John
My understanding with the Israeli Amex Platinum is that it has no signup bonus and earning is very hard (rate of 1 point per 60 ILS or approximately $18 per point!!) Since other cards earn at 1 point/mile per dollar 30000 MR is the same as 540,000 miles in other programs. Not cheap at all
If you book a business class seat using points on United, check if you have access to the Polaris lounges.
All international business class passengers on Star Alliance flights have access to the Polaris lounges.
I am a bit confused about the value of the Israeli Platinum Amex. You get one point for each 60 Seqel (NIS) spent on the card. This converts to roughly $16.5 per AmEx point. The AmEx points transfer to El Al at a 6:1 ratio, so you need to spend 16.5 x 6 US$ (about $100) to get one Matmid point. To purchase an LAX – TLV biz ticket you would therefore need to spend 6000 x $100 on the card. Having to spend $600,000 on the card for one biz ticket is not as bad as Delta, but it is not a bargain either. Am I not calculating it correctly?
What about Royal Jordanian with AA miles? No fuels surcharges and 70k one way in biz.
You should really remove the information about the Israeli Platinum card – it is both incorrect and irrelevant to nearly all readers.
6 Israeli MR per Matmid point is no better deal at all: the Israeli Platinum card can earn at either 1MR:40 shekels or 1MR:60 shekels depending on the earning plan selected by the cardholder (the 40 plan does not earn at all for government/tax/insurance/utility bills).
So that means 1 Matmid is, at best, earned after 240 shekels in spend (about $69 at a 3.5 ILS/USD FX rate) – a categorically worse deal.
(Written by someone who has an Israeli Amex Platinum and has had an American one)
This is important.
I am Israeli but currently living in the US. I got excited reading this article, only to become very confused when I read the actual Hebrew terms for the Israeli Amex Plat. It’s nowhere near a good idea for someone living in the US to be putting any spend on this card. Please remove this recommendation – it’s misleading.