EasyJet remains my favorite European budget airline, though it is essential to prepare yourself for longer flights. How is service to Israel on EasyJet?
We “chose” EasyJet for my trip to Israel, though it was hardly a difficult choice. Not only was EasyJet the only carrier that offered nonstop flights between Basel and Tel Aviv, it was also (by far) the cheapest. We paid about $130 round-trip per ticket, which is just amazing. The price would have been 3x higher had we gone to Zurich and flew EL-AL or SWISS.
In Basel, there was a special check-in desk for the Tel Aviv flight, though the “security interview” took only a few moments. We were traveling only with hand baggage, at my insistence. Not only did this save us money, but my goodness, who needs more than a large carry-on bag on a short vacation?
After visiting the EuroAirport Skyview Lounge (for about five minutes…), we passed through passport control and joined the boarding line. The overhead bins were apparently full because we were told immediately we would need to check our bags (for free). That was annoying because we did not bring any personal items, just our three bags. But after gathering some items to keep Augustine occupied, some books, and my computer we boarded via stairs.
It was a very nippy morning, though Israel would not be that much warmer.
EasyJet 1191
Basel (BSL) — Tel Aviv (TLV)
Sunday, January 05
Depart: 07:20AM
Arrive: 12:25PM
Duration: 04hr, 05min
Aircraft: A320
Seats: 28A,B,C
Onboard, we found our seats in row 28 and settled in. I always give my wife Heidi the window seat when we travel, but little Augustine claimed it immediately and my wife graciously let him take it. She took the middle seat and I took the aisle.
Even before takeoff Augustine fell asleep and slept for about two hours…
As the sun rose, service began. In my Meal of the Week post I already outlined my breakfast onboard, but we ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, some porridge, coffee, water, and potato chips. In total, the meal cost 15EUR.
The tray tables on EasyJet are small and legroom is tight. As a result, I just could not get in a comfortable position to work. As an upside, I did use the time to catch up on some reading, which was enjoyable. When Augustine woke up, he enjoyed his porridge.
EasyJet squeezes two lavatories in the back where other airlines would normally place just one in. One is directly behind the crew seat and quite narrow.
The lady in front of me decided to take a nap with her head sticking out in the aisle. As you might guess, flight attendants conducted another beverage/snack run before landing and smacked her head. She screamed loudly then glared angrily at the flight attendants. They apologized, but clearly did not care.
I passed the remainder of the flight by practicing vocabulary with Augustine from the in-flight menu.
We landed on-time in Tel Aviv, were bussed to the terminal (passing decommissioned EL-AL 747s), then faced huge immigration lines (so annoying with a young child…).
All things considered, no complaints about the flight. Power plugs, wi-fi, and more space would be nice, but for $65 I feel I received a great deal.
* * *
After a great week in Israel, It was time to head back.
EasyJet uses Terminal 1 in Tel Aviv, the budget terminal which offers limited amenities and no lounge. After our security interview and long queue for metal detector screening, we had a cup of coffee before boarding the flight home to Basel.
EasyJet 1192
Tel Aviv (TLV) — Basel (BSL)
Sunday, January 12
Depart: 01:20PM
Arrive: 04:55PM
Duration: 04hr, 35min
Aircraft: A320
Seats: 26A,B,C
As always, the flight departed from a remote stand, which required descending stairs, boarding a bus, then climbing stairs again.
The “IFE” was a constant temptation for Augustine:
Heidi did not enjoy this flight. She found the cabin staff to be “extremely rude”. I should let her explain why, because my limited interactions with the crew were not negative. Apparently some terse words were exchanged while I was in the lavatory about overhead bin space.
Anyway, Augustine fell asleep again, though only slept for about an hour. Like last time, the space was just too constrained to work effectively so I passed the time reading myself then reading to Augustine.
Heidi had a cup of coffee, but we did not eat anything else on this flight (still full from the amazing breakfast spread at The Jaffa).
As we approached Basel, we were treated to beautiful views of the Alps and the early winter sunset.
We were delayed about 40 minutes out of Tel Aviv and did not make up any time enroute, driving into Basel around 5:40PM.
CONCLUSION
EasyJet was clean, reliable (despite the delay), and a great value. I would not hesitate to fly EasyJet to Israel again, though I would have preferred SWISS or EL-AL had the flights priced in a similar range.
Have you taken EasyJet to Israel before? Share your experience below.
In reality, Swiss offers no more space, is no cleaner and is slowly removing all freebies except water from its flights so, apart from mileage earning and, for me, lounge access, I’m not sure it’s worth any more than EZ.
Unless you like sleeping with your head in the aisle and don’t want your head smacked, of course.
Assuming Matthew traveled in economy…had he traveled in business class, it would have been marginally better (free food and more space for him and his family). And El Al would have had a better business class as well, with real business class seats, no?
That’s not entirely accurate in this particular instance. Swiss operates wide-body aircraft to Tel Aviv (along with an A321 here and there), which has a real business class, wifi, meal service, and inflight entertainment. Plus, from TLV you depart from Terminal 3, a vastly superior pre-flight experience.
Terminal 3 is a big difference, indeed. Terminal 1 is really…limited…in terms of amenities.
Swiss flies widebodies to Tel Aviv on one and sometimes both daily flights.
Even with the higher costs it would have been a no brainer for me.
With some advance planning it is actually possible to get the ZRH-TLV flights as cheap as 300-400 CHF in Business.
Furthermore, in Business it is possible to snag the F seats if you know how. (I’ll give you a hint: It has something to do with asking nicely).
Good report as ever Matthew but that is a longer flight than I would choose easyJet for.
One point though, no citizen of the US is allowed to utter a word of complaint about immigration queues in other countries until you sort out the mess which is US immigration for people from countries who are supposed to be your friends and partners!
Phil, your comment strikes me as a bit silly — people are free to complain as they please. Also, if there’s one country with more absurd and authoritarian security/passport screening than the U.S., it’s Israel/Palestine. With Israel/Palestine, the “fun” begins before you even board your flight.
James, you need your irony sensor mending, it’s clearly as defective as a 7M8 airspeed indicator.
Which countries would those be? I agree the U.S. customs and TSA is very abusive and harassing of legitimate tourists and citizens unnecessarily, yet the government fails to stop illegal immigration from the southern border and deport all the people from groups who commit a disproportionately high amount of violence everywhere they are in the world. Israel though takes the customs nonsense much further with harassing and abusing white tourists who are clearly not the people who are going to be engaging in violence. I have an easier time as a white American visiting Jordan, a rich Arab country, than Israel. That makes no sense but of course governments make no sense. Of course people won’t call for jordan, the UAE, Oman, China or Japan to allow in dangerous migrants yet Europe and the U.S. are.
Jordan is not a rich country…
https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/israel/jordan
@ Phil Duncan +1
Agree on the disaster of US immigration for people on ESTA.
My limit on budget airlines is about 2 hours max. Beyond that I prefer a normal airline.
Those curls are SO CUTE!!!
I have been forced gate check so much that I always carry a tote bag in my carry on to be able to pull out the basics with me. Always super annoying, but the gate agents are always surprised by the tote.
Pay for Speedy Boarding or if you’re a regular, EasyJet Plus. Your trolly bag plus one smaller bag are sure to get on board with you. It seriously upgrades the low cost experience.
I am shocked that they served a meat+cheese sandwich on a flight to Israel! NOT kosher!
They had a full menu of options. Not sure if anything was designated Kosher.
The priority boarding charge is modest: about €7 IIRC, and probably worth it if traveling with family ( although it would be nice if they offered it gratis to those with infants).
The very cheap HLO fares make people try to get away with as much carry-on as they can: although that often backfires and they get stung for excess.