On Friday, September 27, 2002, at 07:35 PM, Dennis W Zeuch wrote: > I can only say that EL AL serivce is reputed to be AWFUL for the last > 20 > years or so. Actually, I did several segments on El Al between UK/Europe/Israel in 1998 and it was just fine. I was in economy, on discount tix purchased through Travelocity, and was on a mix of 767s and 747s. Service was pleasant; the check-in times were 2+ hours, but once you got to the airport it was leisurely, not rushed. Seat pitch seemed normal for (say) U.S. airlines, food was OK but not spectacular. The A/C were middle-aged, but in good interior condition; everything worked and they were clean. I have flown to to/from/throughout Europe on KLM and Lufthansa and BA, and they're definitely better than El Al. No question about it. But El Al does get some handling priority at TLV. I have not been on one of their long-haul (trans-Atlantic) flights since I was a kid, though, so that might be different. My dad did JFK-AMS-TLV a few years ago on a 767 and he liked it, but he is not a frequent flyer. If you are paying for the ticket, and want to save money go with El Al; if you want more comfort and service, go with AC, KL, LH, or BA. -- Michael C. Berch mcb@postmodern.com