<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div>To my fellow listers:</div><div><br></div><div>I just received the following and thought it worthwhile to forward. My letter to El Al is below the information below.</div><div><br></div><div>Shoshanna Schilit</div><div><br></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><div id="yiv556499849"><div><div style="" id="yiv556499849ygrp-mlmsg"><div style="" id="yiv556499849ygrp-msg"><div id="yiv556499849ygrp-text"><div>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>IF YOU FLY ABROAD AND LIKE ME, AND
PREFER EL-AL PLEASE READ THE BELOW MAIL AND FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE YOU
KNOW!<br><br>SHANA TOVA</div><div><br></div><div>ESTHER REVIVO<br><br>Date: Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 10:24 AM<br>Subject: VERY
IMPORTANT: Changes and "Improvements" in El Al Baggage - MUST PROTEST before
it's too late<br><br>Hi everyone,<br><br>I rarely if ever send out group e-mails
asking people to protest about something, but this is something that will
probably affect all or almost all of you at some point or another, so I'd very
much appreciate your taking the time to read this:<br><br>I just got an e-mail
from El Al announcing their "changes and improvements in baggage policy." If you
always fly business class or are a gold, platinum, or top flyer, then, yes,
there actually are improvements. For the rest of us, a sneaky little change they
inserted in their baggage chart (they didn't even write it up as a change
because they probably knew how much it would upset people) is that for economy
class tickets booked to or from North America from November 1 and on - only ONE
SUITCASE of 23 kg (50 lbs) is allowed (even for silver frequent flyers). Yup,
that's right - they've just chopped the baggage allowance in half under the very
innocuous heading of "changes and improvements." (Go to the bottom of the chart
on this link to confirm it for yourselves:</div><div><br></div><div><b> http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/MatmidFrequentFlyer/NewsAndDeals/DealsAndBenefits_items/EN_Baggage_Policy_260911)<br></b><br>In
case you figure that you'll just pay for an extra piece of luggage, each
ADDITIONAL 23-KG SUITCASE COSTS $240 in each direction! In other words, for most
normal flyers who need two pieces of luggage in at least one direction - El Al
is effectively raising all economy class ticket prices to North America by $240
- and for those who need two pieces of luggage in both directions - the price is
being raised by an astounding $480!!!<br><br>I know that charging for a second
suitcase has become somewhat of a trend among American airlines (why not milk
the passengers for all they're worth, if not more?), but I hope that if enough
of us protest loudly enough, we can get El Al to reverse the fee. Below is an
e-mail that I am sending to El Al (<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:customer%40elal.co.il" target="_blank" href="mailto:customer%40elal.co.il">customer@elal.co.il</a>) - feel free to copy
and paste or to make changes or to write your own - but PLEASE DO TAKE TWO
MINUTES to do so. It's only if they get a massive number of e-mails that we
might have a chance at this. And please FORWARD this to everyone you know who
may need to fly El Al to / from North America at any point in the future (and
the media as well). <br><br></div><div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><div style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">To Whom It May Concern:<br><br>I am a Matmid member of El Al since 1986, as are other members of my immediate family. I am shocked to discover that, starting November 1, the baggage allowance of those flying economy class to and from North America is being halved from two pieces of luggage to one.</span></div><div style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><br></span></div><div style="font-family: times, serif; font-size:
12pt; "><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">Since you will now charge $240 for an additional piece of luggage, you are, in effect, raising the prices of economy class tickets by as much as 50 percent! ($240 each way = $480 total, and tickets to <span class="yiv809893824yshortcuts" id="yiv809893824lw_1317495805_6">New York</span> are currently available for $999) </span></div><div style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><br></span></div><div style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">This is, of course, totally ridiculous and unacceptable, and
entirely out of line with the fees charged by other airlines. For example, KLM allows 2 pieces of luggage between <span class="yiv809893824yshortcuts" id="yiv809893824lw_1317495805_7">Israel</span> and North America, Ali<span class="yiv809893824yshortcuts" id="yiv809893824lw_1317495805_8">talia</span> charges $75 for a second piece of luggage to and from North America, and Delta either offers 2 free pieces of luggage, or a second piece at $60. <br><br>Until now, I have made it a point of flying El Al as much as possible, but from now on, I would first consider any airline whose baggage policies have remained reasonable, unlike yours. Therefore, I strongly urge you to rethink this new policy and continue allowing all passengers two free pieces of luggage on flights to and from North America. </span></div><div style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="color:
rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><br></span></div><div style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">While I do appreciate your excellent security, and I am quite in favor of supporting our national airline, I am NOT wealthy, and find this new policy totally unreasonable and unacceptable. Should this new policy come into effect, I shall have no choice but to seek out other flying options.</span></div><div><font class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" color="#454545" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></div><div><font class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" color="#454545" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Very truly
yours,</span></font></div><div><font class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" color="#454545" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></div><div><font class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" color="#454545" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Shoshanna Schilit</span></font></div><div><font class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" color="#454545" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="yiv809893824Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Beit Shemesh</span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>