How to get a good deal for flight from NY to Israel?

Senior Member Joined: Dec 12 2011 Posts: 130

I feel like some people are really lucky and get great deals when traveling. I almost always pay top dollar because I'm not savvy like that.

I would like to find tickets to Israel for Sukkos. Does anyone know the best way to get a good deal?

Do you go through a travel agent or a particular site?

Please help me save some money so this trip can happen!

TIA

Platinum Member Joined: Aug 12 2007 Posts: 20485

What do you consider to be a good deal? It's a good place to start...
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Platinum Member Joined: Nov 17 2008 Posts: 5047

If you're talking about this Sukkos, there aren't likely to be good deals still available (if there were to start with).

We booked tickets over a month ago and had to pay a lot even though we are very savvy when it comes to this.

We needed to go after YK and weren't willing to arrive past late morning on Friday. We couldn't even book the combination we needed online.

We had to use a travel agent who got us the flights we wanted, but we had to pay close to $2,000 each from Chicago.
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Platinum Member Joined: Aug 12 2007 Posts: 20485

O.M.G. That's a LOT of money. But, I've heard that even from the NY/NJ area it's close to that at the Chagim, even with pre-purchase!

Someone just posted on Facebook there is a crazy deal from JFK to TLV via Zurich, between the dates of Oct. 28 - March 19 for $360-$400!! TAX INCLUDED.
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Platinum Member Joined: Nov 17 2008 Posts: 5047

Silver Member Joined: Aug 24 2010 Posts: 694

someone just told me this great deal: expedia.com has a sale. roundtrip from jfk to telaviv (1 stop) for 400. november thru march

Executive Member Joined: Oct 04 2009 Posts: 323

Moderator Joined: Dec 04 2005 Posts: 6166 Location: israel

it's already gone.

I called my mother, and my father also tried to book online, but they hesitated enough, and had trouble getting the dates down, that it was gone before they got through to the part you pay...

Platinum Member Joined: Nov 17 2008 Posts: 5047

Senior Member Joined: Sep 12 2008 Posts: 232

It was a computer glitch- they didn't include the fuel charge, but they will honor all tickets purchased then. It was a 2 hour window of time.
Many of my friends got great tickets!!

Senior Member Joined: Jan 01 2012 Posts: 119

It was a great deal if you were lucky enough to catch it! Someone I know who is planning on getting married in Israel later this year snapped up her ticket for pennies! Nice of El Al to honor the deal ($700 RT for TWO people to Israel?! Unbelievable).

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/breaking-news/dirt-cheap-tickets-el-al-be-honored

On a more practical note, OP, I've had luck when I search multiple sites: Kayak is nice because it searches three or four other sites for you at once, which eliminates some of the hassle, but you really have to be both diligent and ready to act at a moment's notice if you find a good deal.

Succot is not really the time of the year when airlines are inclined to offer low prices...
Having said that, have you considered flying in a few days early and returning a few days later? Is flying in/out during chol ha moed an option? You may want to check and compare price differences in flying direct vs flights with a stop-over. Try different european airlines, Turkish Airlines, CSA (Czech) or Malev (Hungarian) used to offer good prices. Sometimes Austrian or Swiss have promo.

It also pays to check the flights from different airports. My son is flying from Philadelphia to newark to Israel. If he flew straight from newark it would cost us over $800 more-same flight! For us, its equidistant to drive to either airport.
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