Since 10/7/23, El Al has been a lifeline for keeping Israel connected to the outside world.
But it has also taken flak from some critics for alleged price gouging, and there is now a class action suit against it. The suit claims that El Al has used its de-facto monopoly to raise prices.
The suit cites research by Professor David Gilo showing that the price hikes weren’t justified by a rise in operational costs, which have generated record profits for the airline.
The problem with that analysis is that airfares worldwide have little to do with operational costs and everything to do with what the market will bear. Airlines have sophisticated pricing algorithms designed to maximize the revenue generated by every plane. Short routes can cost more than much longer routes, based on the competition in the market and what passengers will pay.
Israel’s flag carrier is in a catch-22 situation. If El Al were to lower the cost of flights below what the pricing algorithms calculate to be optimal for the market to bear, it would create artificial scarcity and make finding available seats even more difficult than it is today.
Indeed, El Al has capped many fares since 10/7 at artificially low prices and continues to do so, which has led to competing complaints about seat availability and the inability to book a flight for extended periods of time. Capping prices is a nice gesture, but that free market distortion leads to artificial scarcity. And it means that there won’t be seats available for those who need them the most.
That explains why El Al finds itself in a no-win situation, even as it reports record profits. Sure, it could technically lower all prices below the market rate, but doing so would create an artificial scarcity of available seats, which would be trading one problem for another. It has tried capping fares on some routes while maintaining more availability on other routes to thread that needle, but that has just caused criticism from both sides of the argument on high prices vs lack of available seats.
Notably, El Al’s profits are not just due to higher pricing. They are also flying at nearly 100% capacity, which is a highly unusual situation for any airline. While US airlines typically sell about 78% of their seats, El Al has been filling about 95% of their seats. As airlines operate on a fixed cost model, the extra load factor is nearly pure profit.
Increasing cargo rates have also helped pad El Al’s bottom line. But these are all supply and demand-based pricing issues that happen in every country. There is simply no good artificial solution for that other than increased competition, which has arrived and is still forthcoming.
Arkia became the 2nd Israeli carrier offering nonstop service to the US, and Israir hopes to do the same. Carriers like Delta are adding more flights to the market.
Price-sensitive customers trying to fly between Israel and the US have also been able to fly El Al or other Israeli carriers to Europe, and book cheaper flights on any airline between Europe and the US.
In the near future, we will see 6 Israeli carriers, which will help shield the nation from the whims of foreign carriers. It may also create a bubble that drives down pricing to a level that is too low to be sustainable, but you won’t see any lawsuits if that happens.
Do you think El Al is price-gouging? Or should they be commended for continuing to ensure uninterrupted connectivity to the Holy Land?
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158 Comments On "El Al Is Being Sued For Price Gouging, Is That Fair?"
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No.
I just want to say that for many readers here, this is a Halachic question (oina’ah), and should be treated as such. Meaning it should be presented to competent Rabbis.
Not sure it’s the greatest exercise (education), for regular laymen to give their opinions, regarding questions that are beyond their knowledge of Halacha.
Not really because their algos dictate market price so theres no oinah
Correct, no ona’ah on airfare:
https://www.dansdeals.com/go/yated/
They should definitely be commended for keeping their flights going nearly 100% off the time but I did find their pricing to be unaffordable for me to personally fly on. I don’t expect them to go down to the prices from before the war but they could have offered lower prices than they did to make it somewhat more affordable and feasible for the majority of us to buy.
Lower prices = no seats altogether. As noted above. And then it would be you fighting versus someone else to book the seat first (hint: it wouldn’t be you getting the seat).
How about some gratitude for being the only airline to consistently provide critically needed service to Israel even when the going gets tough
Elal is doing their best, and if you book early the prices are fair, that has been my experience over the last 3 years. As Dan wrote, there’s no win in this situation, either way some would not be happy. But to file a lawsuit against fellow jews who only helped us in tough times?! Absurd!
How did they help us? By raising prices? All they did in my view was generate profits.
Regarding the lawsuit, if it would be by frumme yidden it should be in bes din.
Bais Din, which siman in Shulchan Aruch ?
Really, that’s your question? You think this is a new question, Oinah?
You are not showing too much familiarity with basic halachic knowledge.
No onaah on airline tickets. Did you learn the sugyah lmaaseh?
Also, lower prices = no seats altogether. As noted above. And then it would be you fighting versus someone else to book the seat first (hint: it wouldn’t be you getting the seat).
Chosen Mishpat 26
Common please you never heard of “מייקרי השער” (increasing pricing high)
By continuing to fly and bring thousand of thousand to our holy land!! I personally have flown with Elal 5-6 times since the war started, and i plan to continue and always fly Elal.
They helped like all the guys selling toilet paper during Covid. That guys also helped with providing stuff in low supply. Thay just overcharged.
They helped us by flying. Other airlines canceled.
Doesn’t justify price gouging. Let’s not forget that they were insured, so what’s the risk?
Socialism for me, not for thee. The El Al way. They got bailed out how many times, then when closed all fair classes when it mattered most to people trying to fly to/from IL?
bailed out by the current owner, who bought all the newly issued stock when no one else wanted to.
all loans from the govt have been repaid with interest
Leave them alone
Fight the travel agents that hold seats and resale for higher
Ye it stinks that prices are high but only makes sense
100% they should sue the travel agents that hold all the seats and resell them for crazy profits. you check online and there are zero seats available even if you want to pay but then you reach out to a travel agent and they have seats for $1400 one way.
your looking for a solution? block travel agents until everything is back to normal.
elal will sell out either way. this would be a win for end users and would make Elal look better.
this is underrated
I am one of many who wish I could afford to fly ELAL, But BE”H I will have to settle for flying United.
If I am not traveling for a simcha or emergency, I am glad to pay a little less while not interfering with the travel of those who need it most.
The biggest shame of the whole thing is that there seems to be no feasible way for ELAL to significantly increase capacity at an affordable/semi-affordable price point.
Thanks for this analysis!
It does indeed sounds like a catch-22 situation. Not sure how that gets fixed without additional competition (which, as you said, is coming).
everyone is entitled to make money. Since October 7 I have been flying solely El Al to Israel and LOVE their service and that I feel safe with El Al. I do not plan to join the class action, even though their prices are way up there.
No- totally legitimate as you wrote
No, what’s fair pricing is what market will bare based on overall demand. Imagine if they did an auction on the seats, than only the rich could afford to fly to israel. This lawsuit is bogus.
You can fly anywhere else in the world for far less. The high price is based on lack of competition.
and therefore lack of seats.
Obviously they’re price gouging, perhaps the better phrasing would be “do you think their price gouging is justified?” Not sure I buy the argument that raising the prices during war to ensure that tickets are available for those with more means is the most moral choice. Then again ElAl as a private business is entitled to focus on shareholders profiting. The bigger issue is various ways the government gives ElAl a competitive advantage over competitors.
No, No, NO! Please leave them alone! They’re the only (!) reliable ones! Don’t sue Jews for no reason! Prices? Seriously, just deal with it! It will get better!
How do you advise someone who can’t afford to drop over $2k for an economy seat (which El Al has at times been charging) but needs to get to Israel for whatever reason (bar mitzvah, death in the family, wedding etc.) “deal with it”?
What route and date do you see a $2K economy seat?
6/25/25 TLV-MIA $2,710 One Way
That flight is already sold out in coach, so that’s not the price for a coach ticket.
Try again.
But I thought the point of high ticket prices is for tickets to be available for those who need it most? If coach is sold out, doesn’t that undermine your main argument?
Over 2k at the end of July on El Al In premium economy b/c economy is sold out evidently (July 21 – July 28) from NYC-TLV:
https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhpHEgoyMDI1LTA3LTIxIh0KA0pGSxIKMjAyNS0wNy0yMRoDVExWKgJMWTIBNDICTFlqDQgCEgkvbS8wMl8yODZyBwgBEgNUTFYaKBIKMjAyNS0wNy0yODICTFlqBwgBEgNUTFZyDQgCEgkvbS8wMl8yODZAAUgBcAGCAQsI____________AZgBAQ&tfu=CmhDalJJUkVGa2VFaDBXbmRMYTFGQlFVOUlSV2RDUnkwdExTMHRMUzB0TFhaMFltSnpOVUZCUVVGQlIyaEtOMlEwVG1GclprbEJFZ05NV1RRYUN3alhwZ3dRQWhvRFZWTkVPQnh3MTZZTRICCAAiAA
And then over 3K in August (17-25) in Premium economy, again b/c economy is seemingly sold out, again from NYC-JFK:
https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhooEgoyMDI1LTA4LTE3MgJMWWoNCAISCS9tLzAyXzI4NnIHCAESA1RMVhooEgoyMDI1LTA4LTI1MgJMWWoHCAESA1RMVnINCAISCS9tLzAyXzI4NkABSAFwAYIBCwj___________8BmAEB
So it doesn’t seem like the high prices are saving seats for those who need it most as flights are still selling out months in advance
You obviously don’t remember the days of capped tickets. Then, you couldn’t get a flight for ANY money.
@mevinyavin The El Al capped fares to the USA only extend to NYC and yet commentor Shaya (3 comments above) can’t find economy tickets from Miami to TLV in a few weeks and I couldn’t find economy tickets from NYC to TLV in late August (the 800 dollars one way fares from NYC to TLV end on July 31st)
If the argument is that high fares keep at least some tickets available, someone should bring evidence that that is what’s happening on a fairly consistent basis
That two random commentors here (myself and commentor Shaya) could collectively find multiple examples with ease of no seats available, does not exactly lend itself to the notion that the high prices are in fact keeping seats available for those who need it most
Artificially lower prices would cause an even greater seat shortage. This is basic economics.
And if there was clear evidence that El Al’s higher prices were in fact keeping some seats open to any meaningful extent/preventing “an even great shortage”, you’d have a great point. Except I have yet to see any evidence that that is in fact what is happening.
To that end, can you quantify your claims here? You keep making a very broad basic supply and demand argument without any specifics. At present, on average, what % of seats are actually still available on El Al says 60 and 30 days before flights. When you say that decreasing prices will create an even greater shortage, how many seats are we actually talking about here?
There are seats but they are not economy. When flights were capped, we didn’t have those either. In fact, when flights were capped, there weren’t any El Al flights to ANYWHERE – even stopovers. Econ direct is still more of a luxury than a stopover flight. How high should econ seats go to keep direct flights open before they eclipse premium economy pricing? There is no easy answer but there are seats. You don’t like them, that’s all.
Dan justified the high prices by saying it keeps at least some seats available for those who need them most. However, if economy class is sold out then your justification for high prices in economy class falls flat.
Sure, let El Al keep their current prices for premium economy. No issues there. But if El Al is going to sell out their economy class anyways, then justifying very high economy class fares by saying it keeps seats available for those who need it most makes no sense.
Whether I like it or not has nothing to do with this.
He should send a card with a nice note and a check instead. The wedding, bar mitzvah or levaya will happen without him. That’s how it worked for the first 5600 years of the world’s existence.
We are our own worst enemy, entitlement and ingratitude at its finest.
I would note that the ONLY ppl that may even have any rational justification to feel used are ISRAELI tax payers, the rest need to grow up. Same time, even the Israelis need to dig deeper in to the numbers and history and timing of what was subsidized by the Israeli govt, when, who owned the airline at the time and what benefit the state got. Screaming and yelling about bailouts as if that makes them owners is also off the mark. As a US tax payer my money bailed out lots of industries, didnt get me an owners discount either.
Shame. Bad attitude. Impossible situation.
My heart breaks for anyone that missed a wedding or funeral due to pricing but… thats life.
My heart does NOT break for someone that spent 65k to take their family to Israel for sukkos but wanted to save $300 a ticket on the flights and booked Lufthansa (speaking of ppl that “OWE” us something) i’d rather my money support a yid and the Jewish state.
How about those that need to bury a family member and can’t afford the exorbitant prices El Al sets. The entitlement and generalizations in your post is completely showing.
Entitlement is assuming that it is your RIGHT to bury a love one in Israel, to attend that funeral, and to have a seat available with sometimes just a few hours notice on the only carrier consistently flying to Israel during a war when demand is at 300%.
BH we live in a world where the dream of being buried in EY is available (And it aint cheap btw…) but forget pricing for a second. You expect them to remove someone from a full flight? Kick off the boy going for Hanachas Tefillin? The couple that saved up for a trip to EY and took time off of work? The business traveler heading home from 2 weeks on the road? What’s your proposal? I have flown Elal several time since the war started and with advance timing i’ve always paid a reasonable amount. They should give you a business or premium seat at economy rates? I don’t understand your logic.
I noted my heart break for those in those situations, but what would you have them do? Keep 10 open seats, at a discount, available at all times for the many needs of Klal Yisroel?
I understand your challenge, I don’t hear a solution, I hear you looking to blame someone for a difficult situation because you dont know what else to do.
PS: They provide bereavement discounts, and make special arrangements for our needs (Kohanim).
Elal has special fares for bereavment passengers
Well said. For the record when the US carriers are flying, they aren’t really any cheaper and are less reliable because they might cancel at any moment.
ElAl is not a chesed organization, they owe nothing to anyone but their shareholders – not even Israeli tax payers, they have donated cargo space for donations of equipment and flights for soldiers and if they are the only ones flying direct they can charge whatever they want and as consumers we have a choice of what to do with our money.
Lots of word salad here. Prices jumped up significantly and they had record profits. nothing more is needed.
Not word salad. Clear refutations of record profits equaling price gouging.
Is nvidia price gauging?
No. Next question?
If i don’t understand, it’s a word salad 😉
Is it true that you stopped stealing yesterday? Yes or no?
(Anything more than a straight yes/no is a word salad and I don’t want to hear.)
I don’t get the math, please help.
El Al flew almost $1.6M people in Q1 2025. Profit was on average $60 per ticket. I understand that it includes short hauls as well but it also includes the super expensive business class. So they made a profit of $60 per person they flew. if they decided to forego all profits and discount $60 per ticket, would that make all the difference?
I just don’t understand the math, how much profit is too much? You can’t just take an absolute dollar amount and say it’s too much.
If the lawsuit is won, the only people that will be satisfied will be the lawyers.
This should be pinned to the top, if true!
“In Q1 2025 the airline made a net profit of $96M on revenues of $774M, a new record for Q1.” (Not sure if that is net of taxes or not.)
96/774 = 12.4%.
Last quarter, roughly 12.4¢ of every dollar you paid for a ticket is profit to the airline. Not quite Apple numbers (which are generally 30%+), but way above the industry average of 3-4%. And several of the 2024 quarters they did a lot better (15-20%).
Maybe a reasonable approach to determining if they are price gouging is simply to compare the price per seat in 2023 and 2024. If it went up an unreasonable amount (10%? 20%?), then they are price gouging. If not, and the vastly increased profits are due to other factors (like load factor), then not.
My comment is not to question if the airline is making too much money. The question is the benefit to the consumer. If you’re buying eggs at $2 and the price goes up to $2.10, it’s a neglible difference to the consumer but the vendor may be increasing his profits by 100%.
What is your cutoff point? 5%? 10%? Is it a dollar amount?
Assuming they are charging $1,500 per ticket, and that is 8-9% above what is reasonable, that means every ticket is (let’s call it) $120 more expensive than it “should” be. For a family of 5, that is $600 more than they “should” be paying. That’s a decent chunk for the average Joe.
I am not saying they are or are not price gouging. But I do like to quote the saying attributed to Senator Dirksen – “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”
Commended
You bring up obvious good points BUT they didn’t keep the service to be nice, they did it to make lots of money…. if they wanted to be a real mentsch they wouldn’t have charged (or attempted) extra for suitcases etc especially for organizations, they could have let ppl go back to the old days of a 2nd bag free… They could have given soldiers free flights to go back home to fight, They could have spent some of the hundreds of millions on making their call center open more hours, have more people answering the phones, have more agents answering the whatsapps on USA hours etc…. They were (are) very happy with how this played out and are not interested in making the people happy even though we are paying crazy money for the rights to fly to our homeland and in my opinion they profited more then necessary and if they wanted to they could have found(and still can find) a middle ground to at least make it a better experience if they HAVE to charge more….
Lots to unload here.
-Free extra suitcase? Second bag free? Do you have any idea how full they are flying under the plane?
-Soldiers free flights? They did that.
I hear the call center haaros but it very well could be that they did get more people.
Not sure how you don’t think that they aren’t trying to find a middle ground and make it a better experience.
I am not commenting in regards to whether Elal deserves gratuity or not, but if what Dan says is accurate, I do not see any basis for a lawsuit.
Every airline has some flights on some dates that are overbooked and therefore prices skyrocket on those flights. Elal was fortunate that ALL flight to ALL destination on ALL dates were fully booked, and therefore got top dollar for those flights. But that’s not price gauging. That’s following the same basic rule, as flight fill up prices go up.
If however the prices were increased even before the flights filled up, and the increase was only because they knew that they will be able to get it, that’s a different story.
The fact that they controlled supply by increasing the price, is an argument that can be used for any price gouging situation, but it’s not an acceptable excuse. If there is an emergency and there is a limited quantity of bottled water, should it be allowed to increase pricing to control supply and demand so that there is enough for everyone? I’m afraid not; that would be a typical case of price gauging.
“While US airlines typically sell about 78% of their seats, El Al has been filling about 95% of their seats. As airlines operate on a fixed cost model, the extra 18% load factor is nearly entirely pure profit.”
Math teacher here.
While 95% is about 18 percentage points higher than 75% (actually 17 points), it is about an extra 23% load factor than typical. (If a plane can hold 100 passengers and it usually flies 78 passengers but now it is flying 95 passengers, that’s an increase of about 23%).
Class over.
You missed the point. It’s an extra 18 passengers not 23 passengers.
Elal planes fly only 6 days a week compared to us airlines….
I’m a big UA guy. GS for many years. I wouldn’t touch Elal with a 10 foot pole. I couldn’t stand the Israeli attitude of “the customer is always wrong until proven right”, their lack of a decent loyalty program etc.
That being said, I flew them to Israel twice in the past month and I’m super impressed. Their service was impeccable. Their sensitivity to the religious passenger is extremely commendable. A very drastic change from the past. Your article makes a whole lot of sense and I think you did a fantastic job expanding the issue.
There was absolutely no availability for 2 weeks and I was willing to pay any price to get here urgently.
Kudos to you Dan. Spot on.
Yes, it is price gouging.
Explain
Was there a time that you had a NEED to fly and couldn’t? Hey man its called supply and demand and no one else was flying…
What about the cost for them to keep running in a war zone? The other airlines couldn’t get insurance, so they stopped flying.
Maybe it is price gouging maybe I’m just selfish and want to fly at a reasonable price. The best thing is to go to court and prove that they are doing the right thing.
The best thing to do is to force them to spend ridiculous money in court to prove that they didn’t do anything wrong?
Competition exists to prevent price abuse. In a normal market, if one airline charges too much, customers go elsewhere. But when El Al was the only reliable option flying to Israel, they effectively had a monopoly—and used it to charge whatever they wanted. It’s disingenuous to frame their price hikes as doing passengers a “favor” by managing demand. The scarcity was real, yes, but it wasn’t El Al’s doing—nor does that justify excessive pricing during a time of crisis when people had no alternatives.
as a TA i can tell you its hard to find coach seats on EL-AL , many flights only have premium economy and not even B cls only Q , so yes i think pricing is sky hi (pun intended) theirs a place for a class action suit , let el-al explain to the public why seats are sold out and priced to the extreme
That should be easy for you to figure out. They’re full. Sold out.
They should be commended for continuing to operate in turbulent times.
They are a business. Raising prices based on demand is normal business practices.
They are providing a vital service that others won’t, I don’t think it’s fair or mentchlich to sue.
@Dan what do you mean by “artificial scarcity”? Where El-Al prices their flights do not create any more scarcity in the economy, it just creates more demand, but as a function of the rule of supply and demand relative to pricing.
If a flight to Israel is offered at $1,200 or $2,400 per ticket, the demand is still relatively high, the lower price just allows more consumers the chance to purchase.
While the US-Israel nonstops have operated at nearly 100% capacity, there have been more seats available to Europe.
Price-sensitive customers trying to fly between Israel and the US have been able to fly El Al or other Israeli carriers to Europe, and book cheaper flights on any airline between Europe and the US.
What I don’t understand is why has there been so little reasonably priced connections with European airlines where the European airline flies from the US to Europe and then lol flies the leg to and from tel Aviv? I thought they used to always see a lot of these connections at reasonable prices (cheaper than non-stops). Did El Al stop code shares with a lot of European airlines? I feel like this would be good for both El Al and European airlines as well as US airlines like United and Delta because there would be no risk of cancellations as allowed would keep flying and it would provide a reasonably priced ticket to customers and they would have the security knowing that the flight will likely not be canceled.
Just book it yourself as 2 tickets. El Al will check your bag through.
supply and demand
and time is money. if you want to book another airline and worry about the flight cancellation endlessly, go right ahead.
yeah – the prices stings. but, sue the other airlines for not flying!!
I respect your analysis, but you should be careful with what you write, see meseches k’suvos daf 105b
Buddy, I have yet to see anyone accused of what you are referring to that isn’t guilty of it themselves. And I guess that now includes me. But it also includes the people who filed the lawsuit.
Economics 101. Rule of supply and demand. Something they teach in college (chas vesholom) but not in schools
That is why Succos rentals in Israel are more expensive than during the week
That is why many transit systems have peak and non-peak fares
That’s why car prices are higher.
etc etc.
I appreciate the eye opening explanation. I have been expressing my anger at ElAl for raking in insane profits while the consumer suffers. But I do get it that airline pricing is usually a predictable program based on availability. And there was a definite shortage and Elal happened to be in the right place at the right time apparently. I still think prices could have been slightly more reasonable, and possibly the Israeli government is to blame for not involving itself sooner to figure out better ways for people to get to Israel reliably during this extended war. My travel agent would not book anything except Elal even to save me money- she insisted it was the only reliable airline that didn’t keep pausing flights- and she was right.
I don’t believe scarcity applies here. There are little to no open seats as it is.
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/news/airline-news/el-al-is-being-sued-for-price-gouging-is-that-fair/#comment-1780226
Without getting into all the back and forth if El Al should they be treated as a private company or are they were supported by the government and therefore should be regulated. However, if their prices would be regulated and capped at a lower price, there would be no available seats for probably at least six months. This would resultWith people who really need to fly for pressing / urgent issues would not have any way of flying.
It’s basic economics.
Not true.
You show up to the airport, and offer to pay 5x the amount someone paid for the flight, and they will gladly get bumped or cancel their travel.
In this environment? Not necessarily. Bumped to what?
Among Iran and all of the enemies of the Jewish people, it turns out el-al was the true enemy of the Jews.
In case anyone hasn’t been paying attention, this post may not be sarcasm.
Considering the demand, I think they’ve been fair compared to what other airlines might have done. BH, I’ve just booked late fall dates, as I did last year at around this time, for under $1k round trip per ticket. They still do sell at least 1/2 the seats on the flight at very reasonable fares. The problem is, those seats are long gone within a month of any flight. That’s not their fault. Try to book even a domestic flight on a US carrier during high demand dates and you’ll see much worse gouging.
You state that if they lower their rates then people who need the flights the most won’t get them- who says the people with the deeper pockets need the seats the most? While I appreciate that they are still flying I find it disgraceful that they have raised their prices so much that the regular guy can’t afford to fly. The prices should be regulated.
1. It’s not always about deeper pockets. Someone who is middle class but needing to go for a wedding is more likely to pay more than someone in the upper class looking for a vacation.
2. Price-sensitive customers trying to fly between Israel and the US have also been able to fly El Al or other Israeli carriers to Europe, and book cheaper flights on any airline between Europe and the US. Flying nonstop is a luxury.
3. The US regulated airfare pricing for decades. It was an unmitigated disaster that constrained industry growth and limited flying to the wealthy.
The only effective solution is increased competition.
I’ve found booking ahead prices to be totally reasonable and much less than what they have could have charged. People are booking a week before the flight when there is one seat available in economy between 15 flights and 3 days and they’re wondering why it’s expensive.
#PeopleAreStupid
It is difficult to fly with a stopover when you have to travel for a simcha or a funeral, which are the only occasions I have flown for with the prices the way that they are, when you are concerned about missing the least amount of days of work.
I am not suggesting regulated airfare pricing. I am suggesting that Elal not charge the astronomical prices that they have been charging, even when booking the seats in advance which I do when I can.
Yes, they should be sued. I know Dan that you believe that they are angels but honestly although they do never stop flying which is a great thing they pricing is not in line with standard high season tickets. Around october 7 they were charging a bloody fortune for TLV – US destinations. It isn’t about supply in demand but rather gauging. Take a high season and calculate that if they fill every seat they would never come even close to the profits they made so yes its time for payback.
I myself am deeply disappointed I cannot afford to fly with ELAL so I sympathize. Can you provide any facts, logic, or reason to support your diatribe?
Fair pricing does not equate to what the market will bear.
what do arkia fligths credit to? thank you
They don’t.
The owner of ElAl is a major baal tzedaka and has a heart of gold. He would never take advantage of another yid. Any price hike was justified for the extra risks involved ie. (Paying staff more for working in high risk situations). Hkbh should give him hatzlocho rabba umeruba.
Amen!!! Very true
I have a bridge to sell you. Ken selling off his Centers Plan for Healthy Living, and the layoffs- is that Baal tzedaka? Business is business, there’s no tzedaka
I had ElAl tix to Israel, booked months prior, for October 16, 2023. I cancelled a day or 2 before. Then, at some point, I rebooked for March 2024, arriving a few days before Purim.
Unbelievably, my tix for the March trip cost, purchased when no other airline was flying to Israel, cost LESS than the original October tix purchased why all regular airlines were still functioning. FWIW, I ‘lost’ the difference in price, but was elated that I could fly. (I even was on same Chabad tour to the Gaza envelope as Dan. )
To my mind, that definitely does not indicate price gouging.
That El Al had to involuntarily bump a passenger to get Edan Alexander’s mom to Israel (despite probably having at least 7-8 daily flights from NYC to TLV) when he was released doesn’t exactly scream that the current system is making seats “available for those who need them most.” Beyond that, I can think of more than a few examples where people I know have struggled to get tickets on El AL, even when not booking last second.
But even if the current pricing strategy does keep seats open for those who need them most, that argument ignores the fact that many people are priced out of those remaining seats which can go for over $2k at times. So in reality, the seats are available for “those who need them most” and can afford to drop whatever El Al is charging at the time.
So for your argument to hold up, you’d have to come up with evidence that there are reasonable number of seats available on El Al flights for “those who need them most” and then also justify why pricing many people out of those seats (which would imply that a good chunk of people who need them most still wouldn’t have access to the seats) is still in the best interest of consumers.
As I wrote in the post, US-TLV prices are capped, and that has created scarcity:
https://www.elal.com/eng/about-elal/news/recent-updates
Before I respond, I just want to make sure I’m understanding the offer from El Al as I am finding the link confusing:
In the US-TLV market:
-it’s only one-way from FROM NYC to Israel
-Only valid on departures until July 31, 2025
-Fares are capped at $800
-Classic class (so not economy Lite)
Is that correct? Just want to make sure I have the facts straight before I respond and make sure I’m not missing anything
If this is right, and I am not missing anything, I’m just not understanding how this addresses anything I said as most passengers traveling between the US and Israel are booking round trip tickets.
Additionally, this offer only goes until the end of July, and is of limited value if you are not originating/terminating in NYC (as many traveling to Israel from the US are not).
Additionally, as shown in this series of comments (link below), there does not seem to be economy seats on El Al in markets other than NYC (Miami at the end of June) and after this offer expires (NYC – TLV in late August)
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/news/airline-news/el-al-is-being-sued-for-price-gouging-is-that-fair/#comment-1780193
So if the argument is that the high prices keep some seats available for those who need it most, you should provide evidence that that is actually what is happening.
While Elal is definitely charging more than normal times, I think a very important fact is being overlooked.
Airlines always price their seats based on the current percentage of seats sold (for example: economy seats are $900 until 50% of the economy seats are sold, and then $1100 for the next 25% of seats……and the last 5-10% of seats are extremely expensive at $2500). Now, in normal times, the 0-50% portion of the plane probably sells out about 3 weeks before departure, 50-75% portion of seats sell out about 1 week before departure…….and the last 5-10% sells out almost until departure time. So in normal times, 3 days before departure could easily see a hefty price tag being that’s it’s the last couple of seats. In short, the airline has different price brackets based on current availability
I believe that Elal hasn’t altered much from the normal pricing plan (they did go up a little), but rather due to the lack of seats available (from other carriers not flying), there has been much more demand. When there is more demand, the flights get booked much quicker. So while in normal times, the 0-50% portion of the plane sells out 3 weeks in advance, now it’s selling out 2 MONTHS in advance, and the 50-75% portion which usually sells out 1 week before departure, is now selling out 1 MONTH before. And the last couple of seats which are normally available close to departure, are selling out 1-2 weeks before departure. The effect this has on the consumer causes is simple: When we search a flight for 3 weeks from now, your getting the results equivalent to the last few seats in normal times, and the prices are not so far off from that. We are not used to seeing these prices in these time frames, but we can’t expect Elal to sell their last few seats cheaper than what they do in normal times just because they are up to their last few seats with 3 weeks left to departure (as opposed to selling their last seats all the way up until departure)
So really what’s happening is the time frames are changing, not so much the price (search flights for a few months from now, and the prices aren’t so crazy). I do agree that their prices for each percentage of the cabin did go up somewhat, but not to the extent that they are crazy. I think they have the right to charge a bit more due to the fact that at this point, you are also purchasing the fact that it’s highly reliable that they will fly, and not make you scramble last minute. Let’s stop bad mouthing them, because they have the ability to charge more (as you see, the supply runs out a week before departure, which means they have the ability to charge more, and still fill the flight)
They should be commended
i dont know what you’lltalking about i need a one way ticket back to america nothin doin under $1300 guaging or not i need to get back
even with a stop?
that was pretty standard for a one way direct ticket before the war too
ELAL i on the better side of the issue, I am sure they will be able to prove the truth in court that they have not been price gauging and they will win the case.
I wish them Hatzlacha because they really have done everything better than one would expect.
El Al made $650m profit last year. I think that says it all.
Do you know anything about airlines?
On this level Amazon and Tesla are also price gouging????
If their flights are mostly full and only a higher class seat is available, that’s what happens on every airline to anywhere and doesn’t seem unfair.
I am sad though bc I really really want to go to Israel this summer but most dates before the end of August are out of my price range. Literally most of what I make in a month so I am shut out of Eretz haKodesh. Hoping that changes soon! Except being in chinuch, I’m nit taking off during the school year for it.
ELAL is actually very generous with releasing award space. For this summer, you are likely too late as flights are very booked up. You were able to book flights on prime dates for 60,000 Delta points RT. I missed that, too, as I decided I’m going a week after the availability dried up.
I’ve even seen ELAL release award seats on flights with only one seat for sale.
any idea how to travel to Israel this summer? We’ve done European stopovers but will be with my elderly parent amd worried abt missed connections or getting stuck. Any ideas?
There is nothing like elal and they are doing nothing wrong.
No, not fair. Its; called supply and demand. There are very few times when someone has a legitimate NEED to fly to EY. Otherwise if its just a want, albeit a very strong want, don’t go. There’s also an option to fly stopover which isn’t fun but that’s why its cheaper (And no, flying for your nephews Bar Mitzvah is not a NEED especially your nephew actually live in the a states. Neither is going to make a BBQ for the soldiers on a base although commendable I wouldn’t call it a NEED).
What examples do you know of people that had a NEED to go?
Here’s one – someone flying with a niftar to the kevurah.
I’m confused.
“Based on the provided information, El Al Airlines flew 6.6 million passengers in 2024,” The lawsuit is saying that ELAL caused 600 Million shekel of damage by 2023 – why are they suing for 2.5 Million shekel? So that each persons gets 25 Agurot?
Some lawyers want to make money or someone who cant “fargin” ELAL wants to make a statement.
Price gauging No!!! but taking advantage Yes!!! because there is no one else to fly with so they are charging extra for 2nd suitcases switching lite fare luggage policy even if was booked before the policy change and changing whats needed to maintain status kicking off even their loyal customers (prob did this bec everyone was getting status due to the price tickets mind you) and as the saying goes “pigs get fat hogs get slaughtered”…
Elal is 100% right for higher prices.
Last year, I was stuck in Israel and ended up at Hadassah Hospital due to a medical emergency with my baby. Thankfully, I had Travel Guard insurance. After some back-and-forth with them, they eventually booked return flights for me, my wife, and our baby, along with a doctor — in El Al business class.
This happened right after airlines suddenly canceled flights due to the threat of Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. People were scrambling to get flights back home, and many were trying to get on to El Al.
Because El Al’s prices stayed high, I was still able to secure a direct flight home through them. That’s why I believe El Al should keep main route prices higher and allow cheaper pricing through nearby routes like Athens. That way, during emergencies, direct flights remain accessible to those who truly need them.
Gonna write a little to all those who think the prices were not fair. Here’s some of my bookings from the past almost 2 years. Paid $1,100 for a round trip EWR to TLV on very prime dates but booked early enough. I also booked 5 seats BOS to TLV for this past Succas for only $1,150 for prime dates – Also booked those a couple months in advance. Now I also paid almost 1.5k for a one way from CDG to TLV (took United from EWR to CDG in that case) but I booked those tix the day before and there was only premium left. I also booked bargains to Europe with points over the past 2 years. And got very cheap tix to diff cities in Europe when I booked 2 months in advance. Point being if you we’re around looking at the tickets for the past 2 years and your on top of your game you know this whole thing is bogus. You just had to plan and be a little flexible. but if you woke up one day and checked your perfect direct flight on prime summer/succas dates a month in advance then duh hey they are gonna be expensive. As a side point there has been many times 3-5 years ago when United during the summer months was over 3k for a roundtrip.
With all due respect i am grateful to ELAL that they continued flying while no one else did. However, i do believe that the term is a little judgemental and harsh. I would prefer using the term “monopolizing” on the situation. That said i feel that i do agree that tbey did take advantage of profitting instead of giving more opportunities to people to travel to israel at more affordable/reasonable rates.
I bought a 2 way ticket for entire family non-stop with EL Al and they cancelled the flight due to strike and I had to fly with a stop which is a much cheaper ticket however they didn’t refund the difference!!
It’s beyond me how they couldn’t figure themselves out to double their aircraft fleet and capacity. Is there a maximum of flights their technology can handle?
Buying widebody planes isn’t like buying a car. They ordered a bunch, but they will take years to come.
They did get the one Air China Dreamliner…
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/news/airline-news/el-al-receives-first-dreamliner-in-updated-livery-named-acheinu-kol-beit-yisrael-via-air-china/
I don’t know. A nice yiddishe kop from New York can get more then that.
Perhaps instead of bombing the yemenite planes the mossad should’ve just took them home?
There’s a worldwide shortage of aircraft.
Something to do with massive delays on multiple boeing production lines (737, 787, 777).
Also pilots both rated to pilot widebodies, and pass IL security clearances dont grow on trees
They’re penny pinchers, why would they refund you? Get back down to earth and be happy that you were able to go and afford the original more expensive price.
My question is who wins from this law suit?
Whether Elal wins or loses they will need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the lawsuit. Who will be paying for that? Either will be the customer or the government if they need to bail out elal. The only one who will win in this situation are the lawyers and possibly the people bringing the suit and if it is a class action suit, everyone else will get a pittance.
Personally, I think ElAl should be commended for flying. Though it is hard for those who can’t afford it to fly direct, you can still find reasonable tickets if you make a stopover.my friends family flew with a stopover, though was one ticket, so didn’t have issues with missed connections and bags, to Israel for Pesach with whole family for less then $900 a ticket.
You need to be a little more creative, best if you don’t go peak times, if you can book in advance I have found round trip direct on elal for $1200, not at peak time.
Though I would love it if prices were cheaper, I do understand the laws of economics and nothing good will come out of this lawsuit for most people.
Correct, the only winners of a class action are the lawyers.
Israeli here. I scroll the comments (I did not read all of them, but many) and see a huge divide between the (mostly) American, (mostly) wealthy clientele of Dansdeals – and Israelis. The difference between a $1200 and $1600 seat may not mean much to you, but for Israelis (who have lower salaries AND higher taxes in no small part to fund Tzahal) that’s a LOT (!!) of money. El Al has priced itself out of a huge percentage of Israeli’s ability to pay. And remember, El Al’s history is that it used to be a National (not privatized) airline. Add to that the fact that our government bailed them out during COVID (when United (!) was the airline keeping the skies open) and you can understand that the average Israeli is, frankly, pissed off at El Al. Now add to that the fact that we have been fighting a war for over 600 days, and many of us have sent our loved ones to the front lines, cooked meals for miluim families, paid Shiva visits to homes of people we know who were killed far too soon, and run to bomb shelters with our children in the middle of the night. Israelis need a break, Israelis love flying abroad, and now many of us can’t as pretty much the only airline consistently taking off from Tel Aviv has raised its prices and become unaffordable to its people. We appreciate American tourists, we truly do, and your political support is essential. But El Al is the national airline of *Israel*, not of wealthy American Jews.
-100
I am Israeli as well and I don’t believe that because I cooked some food for the soldiers I deserve to vacation in Orlando for $600…
El Al is owned by a religious orthodox man with what appears to be a very financially privileged background. The cost of flying El Al has been outrageously expensive since 10/07 and they have been very obviously exploiting people going to Israel in support of the country. To validate their prices simply reflects greed. This is not how you run a business morally. Shame on you all for expressed support of El Al’s business operations by citing Economics 101, market demand, “loyalty”, etc. It simply reflects on your own moral deficits while you hide behind your own RELIGIOUS ORTHODOX identity.
No hard feelings for RELIGIOUS ORTHODOX huh?
your comment comes across as extremely biased
It’s called honest perspective. It’s a criticism of many religious Orthodox Jews and an accurate one. You miss the most vital point because of your own refusal to take responsibility of your own moral character.
By the way, your username makes my point.
Can you please try to make a coherent argument?
How is charging less than market price (which is what ELAL is charging, otherwise they wouldn’t be sold out) immoral?
To All Israelis Upset About El Al Prices:
We Americans are just as frustrated. We also can’t afford El Al’s high fares and feel the impact just like you.
But lowering prices across the board won’t fix the problem — it’ll just cause flights to sell out even faster, leaving people with real emergencies unable to find a seat. Yes, everyone needs a vacation, but El Al must prioritize those flying for medical reasons, weddings, family emergencies, and other urgent needs.
Also, El Al hasn’t raised prices significantly for many European destinations. You still have budget-friendly options via cities like Rome or Athens — even for U.S. travel with self-transfer. Plus, Arkia and Israir offer competitive alternatives for vacations.
Don’t blame your vacation costs on El Al. It’s no longer a government-owned airline. It’s privately owned, and the Rosenberg family personally bailed it out during COVID. Like any business, they have the right to prioritize what’s important.
If anything, blame American airlines, United, & Delta which have cut flights mostly or entirely to and from Israel. El Al is trying to hold the line where others pulled back.
Here’s my take:
First of all, yes — El Al should absolutely be commended for continuing to fly when every other airline stopped. But let’s be clear: that doesn’t justify charging through the roof. Besides for selling out every flight, it’s business as usual in terms of the costs associated to be in business. If you’re telling me that they had to have a Air Force escort for each flight, or something, I understand, your prices went through the roof, because your costs did. But just for them to go through the roof, because they can… I have a problem with that.
If a flight used to cost $900, and now because you’re the only game in town you’re charging $4,000 — and people are calling that not price gouging, and even halachically fine — then let me ask: why stop at $4,000?
Why not $8,000? Or $16,000 a ticket?
Eventually you’ll price people out — but hey, “free market,” right? “Supply and demand,” right? Sorry, I’m not buying it. That’s not a market — that’s a monopoly. And what you’re calling a “market price” is really just a “monopoly price.”
Let’s make this real: Imagine eggs hit $12 a dozen because of some crisis. But one farm is still operating just fine, producing a million eggs a day. Should they start charging $22 per dozen because they can? Is that basic economics? Or is that taking advantage?
You tell me where you draw the line.
I’m sorry, but which ticket costs $4,000 in even $3,000 in coach?
Route and date please. Or are we just making up numbers?
Also, eggs did exactly that this year. And yes, it is economics.
The cost of an economy seat to fly on El Al to Israel from NY for Pesach 2025 was at about $3,500.
That was premium economy.
It was straight economy. I looked at the cost of seats way in advance of Pesach 2025 and the cost was at $3,500 to fly El Al.
@Dan,
Can you explain what exactly price gauging is? And why it’s illegal?
It sounds like price gauging is raising prices when the demand is high and supply is low, which basically means raising prices based on supply and demand.
If so, this situation would be no different.
Yea they took advantage of their fellow yidden when they could have lowered the prices and still made a lot of money, it’s very simple and straightforward what they did, which was not for a yid!
While competition seems like a great solution, El Al still could have increased routes and supply to take over for all the cancelled flights. If planes are the issue, then why can’t they operate Delta, United, or other cancelled flights? I think I’ve seen United flights operated by El Al in the past.
That is not how things work, and no, you have not.
You request evidence, but most of your argument seems based on arrogance. What’s your investment in it?
I have nothing invested in El Al, thanks for asking!