Update: American has released the schedule for their new JFK-Tel Aviv year-round flight starting 5/7 and for their new JFK-Athens seasonal flight, which will run from 6/2-10/30. Both flights will go on sale 1/25 and be operated on a 777-200.
- JFK to Tel Aviv will depart daily at 11:10pm and arrive into Tel Aviv at 5:15pm the next day
- Tel Aviv to JFK will depart daily at 12:50am and arrive into JFK at 6am the same day
- JFK to Athens will depart daily at 4:20pm and arrive into Athens at 8:50am the next day
- Athens to JFK will depart daily at 11am and arrive into JFK at 3:05pm the same day
American has announced that they will launch daily nonstop service between JFK and Tel Aviv starting on May 7th. Flights will go on sale January 25th.
The flight will be operated by a 777-200 with 37 lie-flat business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, 24 premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration, 66 main cabin extra legroom seats in a 3-4-3 configuration, and 146 economy seats in a 3-4-3 configuration.
Kosher food and wine will be available in all cabins!
You can earn up to 65,000 AA miles by opening an American Airlines credit card and start saving up for a free trip to Israel!
AA is betting on a big recovery in traffic to Israel as that nation races to be the first to reach herd immunity thanks to their vaccination efforts.
JFK and Miami to Tel Aviv were seen as obvious route launches when American launched with USAirways. However they ended Philadelphia to Tel Aviv service in January 2016, decided to massively shrink their JFK hub operations, and they were beat by El Al in Miami.
United CEO Scott Kirby, who was President at USAirways before moving to American with the merger and then jumping ship to United, once called the Philadelphia to Tel Aviv route among the most lucrative in their system. However American said the route was not profitable and didn’t have any forecast of profitability when they shut it down.
The assumption at the time was that American couldn’t fly to Tel Aviv due to pension liabilities leftover from TWA. I had speculated when the USAirways merger was announced in 2013 that either American would launch JFK and Miami to Tel Aviv service or they would have to end all Tel Aviv service due to TWA issues. Presumably those issues have been resolved.
American was supposed to start flying between Dallas and Tel Aviv in September 2020. That route launch is now scheduled for 10/31 with 3 weekly 787-9 flights.
The real question now is when will American announce nonstop Miami-Tel Aviv service?
All 3 major US carriers will now have a presence on the NYC-Tel Aviv route. Hopefully it will also be a boon for consumers as the airlines jockey for market share, though it’s more bad news for El Al as they can hardly afford a bruising fare war on their flagship route.
Will you fly on American between JFK and Tel Aviv?
HT: yandmk and mijo, via DDF
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59 Comments On "[Updated With Schedule For JFK-Tel Aviv And JFK-Athens] American Will Launch JFK-Tel Aviv Nonstop Flights On May 7th!"
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Will JB miles be redeemable for that flight?
Eventually, but it’s unlikely that the rates or partner saver availability will be any good. AA keeps nearly all its award space for their own members these days with web special pricing.
How do we know if wine is kosher ?
Is it like some whisky that don’t need an actual hechsher symbol on the bottle? Or does it need to have a kosher symbol in order for it to be kosher ?
Wine needs a hechsher on the bottle. I’d assume it will be mevushal as well.
Thanks Dan, you answered the obvious quickly.
Just as an FYI, We flew SWISS business to TLV twice. The first time the meal was seemingly cheap, no fish and no wine. The second time we discovered that SWISS loads a separate tray of fish appetizer for each KSML and there is also a choice of sealed wine bottles (kosher) upon request.
The crew on the first trip did not know or were lazy.
Don’t assume. In the days when Elal gave wine in coach, theirs was not mevushal.
If you had to pay for economy flight from jfK to Tel Aviv (non stop) which airline would you choose Dan, El AL, Delta or AA?
Pay? Like with cash?
Never heard of such a concept 😉
Well definitely not ElAl, so that should make your decision easier.
Dan, as if you do know what economy class is?!
It is a balance of airframe and seatmap. Avoid any economy 777 with 10 across, a 330 with 8 across is much better, for example.
I have flown TLV-NY on United and Delta in the last few weeks, each has its pros and cons. For me it depends alot on the vibe the particular crew are giving and on what crowd happens to be on the flight, so it’s kind of a toss up.
when will these flights be available for purchase?
Read the post?
Any idea how many points it will take for reward tickets
By the AA chart, 40K miles in coach, 62.5K in premium, and 70K in business class each way.
American had web specials from Dallas to Tel Aviv for as low as 20K miles, so we’ll see if something like that may come up as well.
Availability in Business class will likely happen when the unicorn walks off the UFO that lands
Do they ever have web specials for J? what would the rate be?
They do. It’s highly variable, impossible to guess for a new route and it’s constantly changing.
So that’s means even cheaper the United??
Charts show 80k only with a stopover no direct flighs for that price
Just searched a couple dates but no direct flights came up..any idea when they will be searchable?
Read the post?
Read? Never heard of such concept
what about phil-tlv?
I doubt we’ll see that anytime soon. Miami would be higher up on the totem pole.
That’s never going to happen again. That was a weird route because that was a key USAIR focus city and supposedly carried a lot of TEVA cargo.
I wouldn’t say never, but it’s not a priority.
Well, with United failing with IAD-TLV, perhaps PHL can capture south of PA/DA markets/ northern Maryland. It’s a stretch to think that, but IAD’s demise can only help the potential cause of PHL-TLV. Who knows, maybe some would drive the 80-90 miles from the Balti suburbs in order to fly nonstop on AA at PHL.
Keep dreaming
With so many new options on the route can you do I write up on best seats in business premium and economy on this route ? I think Delta is the last in line without a350 suites on this route
delta has a350 suites scheduled to operate this route
When ? Huge upgrade
A330 suites:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/airlines/delta/delta-now-selling-business-class-suites-premium-economy-jfk-tel-aviv/
EL-AL could really use a JV, best for them would be UA with so much service to their hubs and can pressure the smaller ones to TLV, But of course that would not be too great for consumers
I am kind of thinking thee *A has so much service to Israel, they really do not want to stab their members with allowing LY to compete as a partner. Aside from United, just LOT, SWISS, LH, OS alone have about 10 flights a day into TLV.
Agree. And you didn’t even mention TK And AC
Do they have a time for the flight yet?
Updated with that info 🙂
Thanks!
How much will be the price using miles\reward points ?
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/israel/american-will-launch-jfk-tel-aviv-nonstop-flights-may-7th/#comment-1514187
If redeem with rewards is there around 400$ tax fee?
And would amex airline credit work for that?
Will there be 400$ tax fees
Unlikely — US airlines don’t usually charge those level of taxes. UA/DL charge $5.60 to TLV and $41 from TLV
Fascinating. There are AA status challenge offers available now to begin as late as February 8 for three months. Looks like they timed them to end the day before they start the new TLV route!!
Great News
I hope there prices will be great too.
Does this mean they know something about when israel will open up?
No. It means they’re making an educated guess based on Israel’s vaccination program.
Anyone know what Israel will require from a Covid standpoint to enter the country? Vaccine? Negative test? Clearly this will be changing by the week but just curious. Thank you!
I believe they don’t know themselves
I have about 400k AA points, so yes was waiting for this a long time, just hope they will have availability in j, or maybe come up with a plan b for AA 😉
Kosher wine? Didn’t know that was available on any airlines.
Is Kosher wine available on Delta flights to Israel?
Yes! I think United had too for a while until covid.
When including airlines with 1 stop service, SWISS did at one point offer Kosher wine. I was a bit concerned about a Cabin Attendant deciding it was Kosher but on examination it was Kosher/Mevushal to my standard. It was not a label that we would recognize and might also be offered to non Jews.
I have lots of AA miles sitting and collecting dust waiting for some meaningful usage. What are the chances this will be available on miles in coach?
Finally!
I mostly flew *A and found great deals buying miles from USAIR. Then they left *A when they were purchased, my miles ending up being AAAdvantage.
best seat or not, it has been a long wait.
Does American take Jet blue points
Tickets are available for purchase, both revenue and award