For a long time, the best way to book award travel on El Al was with American miles. That relationship crumbled 4 years ago during the USAirways merger.
Luckily, Qantas added the ability to redeem points on their website for El Al flights earlier this year.
That’s good because El Al does have decent award availability to Israel, but their Matmid frequent flyer program is expensive to use.
To book with Qantas, just login on Qantas.com and select “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only.” Searching for JFK will include Newark in the results:
Best of all though, Qantas doesn’t charge any fuel surcharges on El Al flights:
You can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Qantas at a 1:1 ratio or you can transfer Marriott points to Qantas at a 60K:25K ratio.
You can earn Qantas points via the Citi Premier® Card Card. It also offers 3 points per dollar on travel and gas plus 2 points per dollar on dining and entertainment. Plus its annual fee is waived for the first year and $95/year afterward:
El Al Matmid points are hard to compare, so for simplicity sake, I’ll multiply their requirements by 50 to convert it into a number that is easily comparable with regular airline miles. You can transfer 50 AMEX points into 1 El Al point, so that ratio will make sense for a comparison.
Of course that doesn’t account for fuel surcharges that El Al adds onto their flights. Those are estimated in the chart below, though won’t always be exact.
The El Al rates in the chart below are for Executive members. A transfer of just 5,000 AMEX points from the US AMEX Membership Rewards program to El Al’s Matmid program will earn El Al executive status for a year. Points transfer instantly from AMEX to El Al, though it takes about a day after the transfer for the executive status to take effect on your El Al Matmid account.
El Al will devalue Matmid on 4/1/19, so I’ve included rates under the current program and the future program rates starting 4/1/19.
The chart below includes rates for round-trip travel, though both programs allow for one-way travel at half of the round-trip rate.
Not all routes offer a premium economy option, so those have been excluded from the chart below.
| Flying between Tel Aviv- | Citi points with 25% transfer bonus to Qantas for a round-trip.................... | Qantas points for a round-trip................ | Current El Al points for a round-trip for Executives, multiplied by 50............................ | Future El Al points for a round-trip for Executives, multiplied by 50............................ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYC winter | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 70K+$350 Economy 110K+$350 Premium 225K+$350 Business | 88K+$400 Economy 140K+$400 Premium 255K+$450 Business |
| NYC summer | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 80K+$350 Economy 130K+$350 Premium 225K+$350 Business | 104K+$400 Economy 180K+$400 Premium 255K+$450 Business |
| Boston winter | 67.2K Economy 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 156K Business | 70K+$350 Economy 200K+$350 Business | 64K+$400 Economy 212.5K+$450 Business |
| Boston summer | 67.2K Economy 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 156K Business | 80K+$350 Economy 200K+$350 Business | 104K+$400 Economy 212.5K+$450 Business |
| Toronto winter | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 70K+$170 Economy 105K+$170 Premium 200K+$170 Business | 88K+$270 Economy 140K+$270 Premium 178.5K+$320 Business |
| Toronto summer | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 80K+$170 Economy 125K+$170 Premium 200K+$170 Business | 104K+$270 Economy 180K+$270 Premium 178.5K+$320 Business |
| Miami winter | 80K Economy 120K Premium 147.2K Business | 100K Economy 150K Premium 184K Business | 80K+$350 Economy 142.5K+$350 Premium 260K+$350 Business | 88K+$400 Economy 184K+$400 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
| Miami summer | 80K Economy 120K Premium 147.2K Business | 100K Economy 150K Premium 184K Business | 95K+$350 Economy 172.5K+$350 Premium 260K+$350 Business | 104K+$400 Economy 200K+$350 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
| Los Angeles winter | 89.6K Economy 134.4K Premium 166.4K Business | 112K Economy 168K Premium 208K Business | 90K+$350 Economy 160K+$350 Premium 275K+$350 Business | 112K+$400 Economy 184K+$400 Premium 297.5K+$550 Business |
| Los Angeles summer | 89.6K Economy 134.4K Premium 166.4K Business | 112K Economy 168K Premium 208K Business | 100K+$350 Economy 180K+$350 Premium 275K+$350 Business | 128K+$400 Economy 220K+$400 Premium 297.5K+$550 Business |
| London winter | 32K Economy 48K Premium 60.8K Business | 40K Economy 60K Premium 76K Business | 35K+$255 Economy 50K+$255 Premium 95K+$255 Business | 32K+$300 Economy 56K+$300 Premium 93.5K+$300 Business |
| London summer | 32K Economy 48K Premium 60.8K Business | 40K Economy 60K Premium 76K Business | 40K+$255 Economy 50K+$255 Premium 95K+$255 Business | 40K+$300 Economy 72K+$300 Premium 93.5K+$300 Business |
| Johannesburg winter | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 70K+$320 Economy 150K+$320 Business | 64K+$370 Economy 178.5K+$370 Business |
| Johannesburg summer | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 70K+$320 Economy 150K+$320 Business | 80K+$370 Economy 178.5K+$370 Business |
| Hong Kong winter | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 90K+$160 Economy 105K+$160 Premium 230K+$160 Business | 88K+$210 Economy 140K+$210 Premium 212.5K+$210 Business |
| Hong Kong summer | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 90K+$160 Economy 120K+$160 Premium 230K+$160 Business | 80K+$210 Economy 180K+$210 Premium 212.5K+$210 Business |
| Bangkok winter | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 90K+$180 Economy 200K+$180 Business | 88K+$230 Economy 212.5K+$230 Business |
| Bangkok summer | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 90K+$180 Economy 200K+$180 Business | 80K+$230 Economy 212.5K+$230 Business |
Do you use El Al or Qantas points for travel to Israel?
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61 Comments On "Comparison Chart: Redeeming For El Al Flights With Qantas Points Versus El Al Matmid Points"
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Can you use Quanta for first class on Elal?
Not officially, but you may get lucky over the phone.
That being said, El Al First class is being discontinued.
Any idea on pricing?
Yes, see the Qantas award chart in this post:
https://www.dansdeals.com/airfare-deals/israel-flights/redeem-qantas-points-el-al-coach-premium-economy-business-without-fuel-surcharges-comparison-matmid-qantas-point-requirements/
Thanks.
When was the last time you tried booking F OTP?
Elal doesnt release space to them anymore, so no real way they can book.
Dont waist your points on that
This assumes you prefer El Al.
United and AA both seem to have direct flights for 80k
This is only for El Al flights of course.
AA doesn’t have any nonstop flights between North America and TLV with their miles.
and united?
Elal usually has much better availability for saver rewards. Also for economy plus, 63k is a bargain. United almost never has saver award availability in business (if there is, then is gets ‘breaking news’ status on DD.
Also, for people who spend lots of money on entertainment (sports tickets etc), the best card to use for points is the citi thank you card which gets 2 points per dollar spent, and ty points can transfer to Qantas, but not to United. (can transfer to Singapore or Air Canada, but less saver availability
One thing should be mentioned on the topic of spending large amounts on entertainment for double thank you points. There is a new Capital One card – The Savor card, (which can be found on the credit card tab above) which now offers 4% cash back on dining and entertainment. For those who spend a lot on tickets, its huge….
can i credit miles flown on paid elal flight to qantas?
Yes.
Only by calling in? On qatas’ website by the “add miles for missing flights”the airline tab does not include Elal.
Do you add it b4 the flight?
As always, thanks !
Now only need to figure out the million dollar question, how to earn Citi point fast ! 😉
Elal has a promo now where it’s 72500 for a non executive member from NYC.
dont forget the +$350 …
J class? and what points?
What about flights to Paris?
How come the chart doesn’t have CDG TLV? Do thy not offer awards on that flight?
Paris should be identical to London.
The chart is for selected cities, not all cities.
Hmmm…I see a special fare of 700 Matmid points +$220CAD from YYZ for random Dec. dates.
Using the 50X calculation shouldn’t that be 35,000?
This may
El Al does run promotions, but they don’t maintain a clear chart for them.
The table does not take into account the many times that Elal is offering promotional rates during off peak seasons. For exapmle, Toronto and Boston are half price now, 35k or 700 Matmid roundtrip.
Dan what is the best way to redeem business class from NYC to London non stop without real fuel charges ?
Probably United.
United and AA
Can someone point me to where on the site (cant find it) they have the promo’s listed?
Good luck.
Hi dan if im understanding correctly is the bottom line executive status is olny worth for economy and premium economy and the executive status olny hurts you for business according to your chart
Pls correct me if I’m wrong tnx
Why would executive status hurt you?
84K miles on Qantas fro Economy RT is still a lot to my opinion
i value points to be at least 1.2 cents/mile so that’s at least a $1000 RT …
not such a great value honestly
Coach is rarely a good use of miles unless you’re flying one-way or when tickets are expensive.
Dan: ״El Al does have good award availability to Israel״??? Misinformation!
Almost nothing on J For the next few months…
Thanks for this, Dan. I’m trying to redeem a classic award and I have enough Marriott points. But I’m seeing online that it takes six days (!) for the transfer to go through. Any tips to avoid transferring and then losing the availability???
qantas dont book miami tlv online and making a very hard time over the phone to book it. they say that officially the route is blocked
Just applied and got approved for the Citi Premier (with DD link!). Thanks Dan.
And just did the same for DW, and she was approved. We are very happy, Dan. Thank you very much. What a great way to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan.
Wanna use ur link… just fyi, the RED part isn’t linked to your offer. I thought it normally is.
Click on the banner ad in the post. You may have to disable ad blocker to see it.
Gotcha
Thanks Dan for the great post, as usually.
I have spoken to qantas reps many times
A few qantas reps told me that you can’t book the miami-tlv route using qantas points.
how can you book el al first if your lucky qantas doesn’t have access to it?
Any way to filter the search to only show direct (Elal)flights?
What are the change or cancellation fees for Qantas/Elal awards?
EL AL as a rule doesn’t like to be undercut by ANY type of deal or “discount”.They keep an eye on dansdeals posts and other websites for any glitches more than anyone else. Keeping the Qantas discounted award value quiet would have been a good idea. El Al flights are one of the only airlines that Qantas doesn’t charge mega fuel charges for. I won’t be surprised if Qantas will be forced by EL AL to raises fuel charges like JAL did with Emirates.
And yet here we are a year later and it’s still going strong.
How long did Jal go strong for? At the end of the day when it was the only reasonable redemption choice left they raised fuel charges without notice. You think airlines such as Emirates and EL AL don’t notice when partner redemptions go up by 400% or 500%! I have been using Qantas to book El Al flights for more than ten years. It will be a real pity to see them go the way AA devalued their awards from TLV to MEL.
AA cut off El Al, not vice versa.
Either way, nothing good lasts forever. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it that long while keeping it to yourself. Now it’s time not to be so selfish and share a little with others.
Tlv – yyz cheaper summer time in business than premium???!!!
yes
for 787 biz its AWESOME
whats the taxes per segment on elal booked via qantas
Dan, did you ever find out if it was possible to book elal business class from the U.S. with aeromexico miles (which is an Amex transfer partner)?
Qantas keeps telling me that taxes and fees are $232 one way and $457 round trip (plus 42,000 points one way or 84,000 rt). Is there something I’m missing? I can’t continue checking out on the website because I don’t have the points transferred yet, but that is the information they are giving me on the phone.
Did it work out?
Does capital one business miles transfer to qantas?
Yes. At a rate of 1: to .75
The quantis rates seem really good ! Do they have descent availablity , can it be booked online?