Tourism thread

[ira]

Well I finally decided to come to Israel and will be arriving on Nov 13 and leaving on Dec 12. I'm not exactly a tourist and won't be doing much sight seeing. Mostly I'll be visiting friends and family but I will help with the statistics of visitors to Israel.
I was very lucky to find a cheap flight from Washington to Tel-Aviv $750. most of the flights are from $850-$1000+. To fly across the U.S which is more than 1/2 the distance to Israel only costs from $250-$300. Flights from the U.S. to Israel should be no more than $600.

[yuval]

well, u are welcome here ira! flights are totally overpriced, but if u fly via europe it's cheaper i think, elal just let themselves charge 1200$ for a flight from new york to tel aviv

[Livni]

the flights are nowcosting more because of oil prices, and NATBAG will also increase tax which it hasnt done now for some years and they said they are one of the cheapest terminals in the world in terms of departure taxes, so its time to update it after 5 years with no change.

[ira]

Flights to Israel are the price they are because there is very little competition.Contenental Airlines has a direct flight from New York to Tel-Aviv. This is their most profitable rout. Now that there will be more charter flights from Europe the price should come down.

A direct flight from the U.S should be cheaper than one that stopes in Europe but it isn't

[Frangipani]

One of the major problems is that Tel Aviv cannot be used as a hub, for security and other reasons. If it could be, then flights could go through Tel Aviv as they do through other cities - and like they used to do. In the 70s, for instance, Alitalia's flight from Melbourne to Rome stopped as a matter of course in Sydney, Singapore, Bombay and Tel Aviv - of course, planes can fly longer distances than that now, but it would definitely help us if Tel Aviv were a hub. Because now, flights into Israel are exclusively for people coming to Israel, and that also increases the cost.