[RBS] Changes and "Improvements" in El Al Baggage - MUST PROTEST before it's too late!

[Schilit Shoshanna]

To my fellow listers:

I just received the following and thought it worthwhile to forward.  My letter to El Al is below the information below.

Shoshanna Schilit

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IF YOU FLY ABROAD AND LIKE ME, AND 
PREFER EL-AL PLEASE READ THE BELOW MAIL AND FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE YOU 
KNOW!

SHANA TOVA

ESTHER REVIVO

Date: Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 10:24 AM
Subject: VERY 
IMPORTANT: Changes and "Improvements" in El Al Baggage - MUST PROTEST before 
it's too late

Hi everyone,

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:

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:

 http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/MatmidFrequentFlyer/NewsAndDeals/DealsAndBenefits_items/EN_Baggage_Policy_260911)

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!!!

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 (customer at elal.co.il) - 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). 


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To Whom It May Concern:

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.

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 New York are currently available for $999) 

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 Israel and North America, Alitalia 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. 

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. 

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.

Very truly yours,

Shoshanna Schilit
Beit Shemesh
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