Israel FAA downgrade – Fire Shaul Mofaz!

Unfortunately, I was wrong in my November, 2008
post. I am shocked that Israel was, in fact, downgraded to a category 2 country. And there is no category 3 – we are as bad as it can get. Here is the FAA’s press release. And some discussion in the blogosphere.

I am further shocked this has been getting almost no press in Israel (small article in Sunday’s Calcalist on page 6 by Yasmin Gil – compared to a page 4-5 spread about a cleaning company that is going bust!). The Wall Street Journal did think it was important, though. No mention in Jerusalem Post.

And, I am further shocked that the FAA gave Israel enough warning to avoid this and did not succeed. I guess Transportation minister Shaul Mofaz is convinced that his re-election is much more important to Israel than the future of Israel aviation and tourism, not to mention our safety.

In Israel, we do have a tendency to underestimate threats to our safety (crazy drivers, Iranian dictators, Missile shooting fanatics and Amira Hess), and this one is quite serious. Israel is now a full fledged member of this club:

Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Nauru, Philippines, Serbia and Ukraine.

What does it mean on a practical level? It means that Israeli carriers cannot expand service to the US. Its unclear what this does to codeshares. Of course, it means much more – it means that the FAA feels that the day-to-day oversight by the Israel government regulatory agencies are not enough to monitor safety.

What this is not:

• Not political like the annual UN condemnation of Zionism
• Not some silly bureaucratic issue – like ISO 9000
• Not a minor issue blown up by the press
• Not a statement about Israel’s airline security, still considered best in the world
• Not a condemnation of any specific airline
• Not a reason to skip your next meeting in Palo Alto or a romantic getaway in Southern California

But it is a very serious error made by the transportation ministry (among others), which citizens of Israel should know about. And, by the way, Mofaz is also in charge of Israel Road safety. Fire him!!!

Europe Family Vacation in 4 Hours

Readers complained that I got political with my gaza post. Sorry, but we did have a war. Back to the spirit of this blog – tips for the frequent flyer to the US.

Looking around for the best airfare to the States often results in a stopover in Europe. If the stopover is more than 5 hours you can “Do Europe” (or at least one city). This is aimed at families – business people should stay in the airport and polish up the PPT and couples might get more out of Paris by spending a whole weekend. Four basic rules:

• Check bags all the way (and get boarding passes)
• Take almost no carryons
• Figure out in advance (down to the level of the train schedule and stops) how you will get in and out of the airport
• Bring Euros

If you tried this in the past and it didn’t work, try again. Because:

• Airport Transportation is really good in many European cities (but expensive)
• Europe is too expensive for a real trip
• Kids will remember 3 hours in Paris as if they were there for a week
• Not enough time to buy gifts for everyone – a four hour trip might yield as much as a 4 day trip with shopping
• Its really not much fun waiting in the airport for 6 hours
• What used to be considered a primitive American style of “Doing” Europe is now quite cool.

I have tested two of these trips on my own family in the past year. We Did Paris (6 hr) and Rome (3 hr).

We arrived in Paris at midnight and grabbed a rented car (no good late night public transport). Took a nighttime tour of the Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triomphe, The Louvre, Notre Dame, The Sienne. The highlight was Ice Cream at McDonalds on the Champs Elysees. Everything else was closed (saved loads on admission). Back to the airport and after a short nap – ready for the 7am flight.

Rome was public transport. 30 minute train to the city followed by a walk past the Coliseum, Forum, the Synagogue and lots of monuments. Highlight was Ice Cream at the Trevi Fountain. We had planned on hitting a second country in the 4 allotted hours – but there was a train strike which caused us to lose some time – so we cut the Vatican.

Anyone interested in the detailed plans, contact me. Or tell me some of your “4 hour Europe” experiences. And by the way, Google now has walking directions. Here is how one might walk from Rome to Paris.

Off Topic – Gaza

Our readers are frequent flyers, living in New York and Israel whose daily lives are impacted by terrorism, so I am taking the liberty of addressing the war in Gaza. Just a few non-original thoughts for our readers and friends and enemies or just those confused and troubled:

1. Given the choice of targeting soldiers or civilians, Hamas chooses the latter. There are large Israel army encampments close to the Gaza border, yet Hamas aims it rockets over the head of the soldiers to bomb the civilian centers much further away.
2. For months we have been fed stories of lack of food and basic supplies in Gaza. Now we find out they had hundreds of tunnels connected to the outside world. If they could get a Grad though the tunnel, surely they could get some Baby Formula and flour through.
3. Up until 2005, we kept on hearing about the injustice of Israel using 20% (not sure if that is the correct #) of the land for 0.5% of the population. In the 3 years since we left I do not think Hamas turned that prime real estate into housing for their people. The infrastructure is still there, even though they destroyed many of the hothouses and public buildings that were handed over intact. Not to mention the $200M annual exports Israel managed to extract from the Gaza land.
4. And finally – the word that keep on popping up is “disproportional“. By its very nature, terrorism requires a disproportional response. Consider the BILLIONS of shoes that have been removed at airport security due to a single attempted terrorist act.

And when hearing stories of “innocent” adults being hurt, bear in mind that 440,409 people voted for Hamas in 2006. When you vote for an internationally-recognized terrorist organization (sworn to destroy its neighbor) to run your country (or town or city) expect the worst.

US Air Crashes into Hudson River NY

Breaking news:

US Air 1549 just crash landed in the Hudson River and it seems that everyone survived. This is really a miracle – only other time it happened was in 1970 -

ALM Flight 980 (DC9) – 40 out of 63 survived.

NOW – AIR CANADA – WILL YOU PUT BACK THE LIFE VESTS YOU TOOK OFF TO SAVE MONEY!!!!! – see my post.

And all my readers – listen to the safety instructions and know where the life vest is!

“3 Day” Hotel Layover in New York

Contributed by one of our readers (like most of our posts):

I fly the redeye Thursday night from SFO. 6 AM in NY. I fly Saturday night to TLV. Order hotel online and you will find out that its a 3 day event:

Day 1 is previous day for early check in
Day 2 is actual day
Day 3 is next day for late checkout

Synopsys/Cadence/Mentor/Intel may not really like seeing a 3 day charge for you to enjoy a fall foliage afternoon in Central Park.

The solution – by a leading Israeli Semiconductor Wiz is simple:

Get to New York at 6am with no reservation (Yekke readers please skip to next post).
Hit the bank of phones at the baggage claim. Thats dozens of hotels begging for your business.
After a few calls you will certainly find one ready to give you early check in and late check out at no extra charge. 3 “days” for the price of one. Most of the hotels are at the airport. Take the shuttle to New York.

Avis – we try harder (to scam you!)

Avis & friends have this great racket going. $19.95/day and you get a nice fully loaded car. Fully loaded with extra costs, as it turns out. And if you are an “Avis Preferred” customer – you get to skip the lines – and not notice the extra charges.

Todays scam has been reported by a conscientious employee of a large Israeli company (whose Name I Don’t Say). Its pretty simple (below is his receipt from a rental in New York):

If you use an International Israel Visa you get to choose – bill me in (a) Dollars or in (b) Shekels. The answer has no effect on your accounting with the bank – in any case its a foreign transaction and show up in dollars. The right answer is (a) Dollars. If you choose Shekels they convert at a bad rate (about 3% worse). In the example above – they calculated the charge at 3.7111 NIS/$ when the rate was around 3.58. Again – its not a matter of paying in $ or NIS, in which case a conversion premium might be justified. It is just a trick in the calculation – one way our Avis Preferred customer pays $290, the other way $300.

More scam:

1. The default is Shekels. You have to explicitly ask at the counter for Dollars. Only problem is that Avis Preferred customers don’t go to the counter.

2. When you discover it when returning your car there is nothing they can do. You can write a letter. Or argue, miss your flight and then write a letter.

See other posts about Renting cars with priceline, Using Zipcar, Car Rental Refueling Charges, Car Rental Dropoff charges and general scams.

We have clearance Clarence. Roger, Roger. What’s our vector Victor?

There is no doubt that Airplane! is one of the funniest movies ever made. Ask the flight crew on your next trip. 28 years later, the cast got together on the Today show in New York.

Yes, this blog is very serious but some humor on – airline food, lost luggage, new york trees, fat flyers, security, cost savings and ElAl.

Click to play:

The Rabbi, The Goat and the ElAl Fuel / Frequent Flyer Surcharge

The Rabbi, The Goat and the ElAl Fuel / Frequent Flyer Surcharge

Yes folks, it has happened again. A Yiddish folk tale from 19th century Europe has been reenacted in 21st century Israel. Its the story of the Rabbi and the Goat. ElAl, after tacking on $500 to a “bonus” ticket on their Matmid Frequent flyer program in the form of taxes, fees and fuel surcharges has issued a self-congratulatory email to its important friars flyers announcing a $35 reduction in the cost of a flight to New York, due to the declining price of oil.

In case you are not familiar with the tale, here it is, as described by Max Fischer (In Yiddish, this is usually drawn out into a 30 minute story):

“A Yiddish folk tale tells of a man who visits his rabbi to complain about his wife and seek pity about his household’s condition. The wise rabbi counsels the man to take a goat, some chickens, and a cow into his home. Upon seeing the rabbi a day or two later, the man is distraught about the mess and commotion the animals have made. The rabbi advises the man to remove the animals, whereupon the man views his home life as absolute bliss.”

There is even a book about this and now a whole airline is using this strategy.

See other posts about ElAl prices going up and down – ,the airfare increase due to $147 oil , special business class deals, some general tips for finding cheap airfare and more. This post even has some hope that the American Airlines and ELAL codeshare willl change pricing.

If you read this blog for the frequent flyer info – there are some good posts about free travel on British, Continental leaving Delta for United and the Star Alliance, yet another AA change, and more. And, representing days of research – a guide to free tickets on all the airlines on the TLV – JFK route.

Kids are in School, Airfare is Down – Fly to US for Fall Foliage

After 50+ posts about how to fly to the States and back, focusing on preserving your sanity and getting a good deal, I decided (based on reader demand) to write a blog post on what to do in the States. Today is Labor Day and the fall season officially kicks off, at least in the Northeast, so here are some suggestions for Fall Foliage Trips from now until November.

• Hudson Valley and Catskills Fall Foliage – Could be as simple as a window seat on the Metro-North Hudson Line to Poughkeepsie or as unique as a vintage 1929 biplane ride in Rhinebeck.
• Heading from NY to DC? Stop by and enjoy Pennsylvania Fall Foliage near Lancaster, which is part of the colorful Amish country harvest scene. Or along the Potomac for DC and Maryland Fall Foliage.
  
• Staying in the City? Visit Central Park for New York City Fall Foliage or combine a visit to relatives in Great Neck with a tour of some of the historic North Shore mansions and Gardens for some Long Island Fall Foliage
• Visiting the Boston area with not enough time to get to Vermont? Massachusetts Fall Foliage is presented in a historic setting at Concord, MA.
• And to our friends in Colorado, who won’t even acknowledge that Vermont exists (as far as skiing is concerned, at least) – the Colorado Fall Foliage is different. Vintage Train Rides, 14,000 ft snow covered peaks as backdrop for the Colorado Rockies Fall colors and even some Gold mining ghost towns south into New Mexico.
  
• My personal favorite is near Pittsburgh. Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece is at its best when the nearby trees are showing the brilliant colors of Southwest Pennsylvania Fall Foliage. Let me know if anyone actually makes it there.
  

And good news for frequent flyers with busy schedules – the Fall Foliage season is 2 months long – go up or down in elevation (UP = Adirondack Fall Foliage, DOWN = Maine Coast Fall Foliage) or go North (Vermont Fall Foliage) to South (Virginia Fall Foliage). Just make sure to go.

Splurge for a One Day Lounge Pass

Executive summary – if your plans involve waiting time at the airport, access to the airport lounges is relatively inexpensive. Plan ahead – there is some research involved.

There are six ways to get access to the airport lounge:

1. Fly business class
2. Have the right kind of credit card (e.g. Amex Platinum, Citi Chairman)
3. Have super elite status on some Frequent flyer programs (like ElAl) or Gold on Star Alliance/OneWorld and have a boarding pass for the same day from the right (or partner) airline.
4. Buy an annual pass ($250 – $400 and be ready to be very loyal to one carrier)
5. Be 82 years old and tell them you are flying for the first time in 20 years for your Grandson’s Bar Mitzvah
6. Read the rest of this post

What you get in a lounge – Food, Drinks, Coffee, Wifi, quiet place to sit, more food, more drinks and in a select few – showers. In Dubai, you get a swimming pool. FYI.

What you avoid:

Convinced?

Its actually pretty simple and inexpensive. Buy a day pass. There are a few ways to do that (follow the links to turn this into a full fledged research project):

1. Buy a day pass from one of the airlines – AA ($50), UA ($50) or DL ($30). All have lounges at LAX, SFO, JFK, EWR. Continental does not offer a day pass.
2. Buy a day pass from loungepass.com for 20 GBP. But no lounge at JFK!
3. Join Priority Pass. There is a $99 annual fee and $27 per visit. Access to lounges of multiple carriers.

Now it gets complicated – there are lots of differences. Here goes:

• Kids under 18 are free at some lounges and under 21 are not allowed at others
• Some allow a single entry, others allow entry at all lounges while in transit (a very good idea if you are flying to Hawaii)
• Some lounges in Europe are after passport control – so you will not be able to use them if you are an arriving passenger
• Only AA has a lounge at SJC

And in general:

• Best to research and buy online
• Make sure lounge is in or near terminal you want to be in. You don’t have to fly their airline to use a day pass but you may end up spending your time hiking around the airport (not to mention multiple security checks)
• Airlines are closing down lounges as part of the “Very bad time to be in the airline industry” program.

And now the bad news - the situation at Ben Gurion is bleak. The King David (ElAl) lounge does not offer day passes and does not work with any of the above partners. The Dan Lounges offer day passes (100 NIS) – but are very crowded (as in – standing room only – whats the point?). Members can bring friends and one should not miss the spectacle of the masses congregating outside the doors “making friends”. Hang out at McDonalds, instead.

Treat yourself to a splurge and let me know what you discovered and where I steered you wrong. I will be in the Carmel Forest Spa at the King David Lounge.

TLV2JFK covers the issue of what to do in the airport before flights – we like lounges and we discuss how codeshares turn into lounge shares. In SFO, there is enough to do at the airport and you might just find yourself sleeping on a floor at JFK.