Update 5: Air Serbia is cancelling flights to/from Belgrade and Tel Aviv on March 12, 20, and 30. Changes can be made one time without penalty for travel through 10/24.
Update 4: Virgin Atlantic has confirmed that they will cancel all Tel Aviv flights from March 12 through at least March 31.
Update 3: Delta has confirmed that they will cancel all Tel Aviv flights from March 14 through at least March 24.
Update 2: United wrote to Israeli travel agents today they are committing to continue all of their flights to North America for at least 7 days from now.
Additionally, all previously unavailable United flights have now been restored for sale. This post will be updated when more information becomes available.
Update: Based on current flights for sale it tentatively appears that:
- All international Arkia flights are cancelled in March.
- All Wizz Air flights are cancelled from March 13-23
- Turkish Air flights from Istanbul to Tel Aviv are being reduced from 9 per day to 2-3 per day from now through March 31.
- All Delta flights between JFK and Tel Aviv are cancelled from March 14-24
- All Air France flights to Israel are cancelled through March 28
- All Lufthansa flights to Israel are cancelled through March 28
- All Iberia flights to Israel are cancelled through April 30
- All Alitalia flights to Israel are cancelled through March 28
- All Austrian flights to Israel are cancelled through March 28
- All Swiss flights to Israel are cancelled through March 28
This situation is highly fluid and this post will be updated as more information is released. If you are booked on a flight that may be cancelled, be sure to call your booking airline for reaccommodation.
On the heels of Israel announcing a mandatory quarantine on arrivals from abroad, United appears to be cancelling select flights between the US and Israel from March 11-31.
United.com is not showing any flights for sale between Newark, San Francisco, or Washington DC and Tel Aviv starting on March 11th through March 31st. That’s typically indicative that the flights will not operate. (Update: United has restored 1 daily Newark-Tel Aviv-Newark flight, see post update above)
United can still restore the flights, I’ve reached out to United for comment.
If you do want to fly to or from Tel Aviv you should call now to rebook on a flight today or tomorrow before seats fill up.
United flight 84 from Newark to Tel Aviv today is currently delayed as United seeks clarification from the Israeli government on the new quarantine restrictions.
I’d expect similar moves from other airlines as well, so be sure to call now to rebook your travel ASAP before flights are cancelled.
What about Pesach?
TBD, but don’t count on flights resuming.
I have a flight on Wednesday April 1, should I assume it will be canceled as well?
What should we do? My mom (US citizen, visiting me med student in Israel) is scheduled to fly out of Tel Aviv March 22 to LAX on United. Should we be trying to book with other airlines?
If it’s important to her to get back and not get stuck indefinitely, I would leave now
Agreed.
Wow Dan thanks for this information my father have a ticket to tel Aviv on Wednesday.
UA 91 is not zero’d on the 14th or the 15th
How does it help to rebook if everything will be cancelled?
Looks like TLV-EWR on 3/11-3/13 is still operating. Think that will get cancelled?
My in laws are booked to come back from Israel on March 17. Guess that’s not going to happen now.
Lucky you
I see what you did there
What other options are there for getting to the US with a United ticket? Lufthansa group isn’t flying right?
still see flights during those days
What about flights on march 11?
Dan ,
Any suggestion if you tickets booked Using Chase points with Air Canada for April 5th and 6th to TLV via YYZ If they would refund and give back the points ?
Talk about an early Peerim.
Everyone relax – I spoke to a UA Exec and I was told they are consolidating to one flight a day
What does that mean?
Shtusim. They are sold out. (Usually the morning flight since everyone was getting rebooked to that flight from stopover cancellations.)
I found flights when I searched united.com
i just spoke to an agent he says its not yet final
I wrote in the post that this isn’t final.
ok
this is only 84/85 not 90/91
I still see flights available both ways during that time period. Has anyone seen actual cancellations?
The flights are selling again.
HT: C
I booked a united round trip flight for next wed. march 18 from NYC to London. I then started a new round trip reservation with Elal from London to TLV for Thurs. the 19th and was supposed to arrive back in London the 25th & depart London the 26th on the way to NYC.
I booked the united reservation with ultimate rewards and the elal reservation with partial points and partial money.. Will I be able to get a refund on my united flight being that my united flight isn’t going to Israel? I have no use for one leg of the trip if i cancel going to Israel.
I doubt united will help you since the Israel rules have no effect on US-London flights, it is not the concern of United. They might save you the redeposit fee if delta’s action forces all airlines to allow cancelling.
Update- just Wednesday and Thursday are not showing up. The rest of the month is back up for sale
@Dan As others have pointed out, united is still selling flights for the whole march to TLV.
They zeroed everything out before, hence why I wrote “appears” in the title. Now they are restoring some flights for sale.
See post update above.
I have a United flight on April 1st to TLV, What do you suggest?
Dan this isn’t true. I just spoke to them and they told me the reason there are a lot of dates without flights is because they are all booked. If you go and search there are still some flightsvon many of the days. Search a Friday night flight and you’ll see it’s still available
They zeroed everything out before, hence why I wrote “appears” in the title. Now they are restoring some flights for sale.
See post update above.
Yup I guess the days showing unavailable are all fully booked. I have a flight the 12th from tlv-ewr and it’s still active as of now
Cuz the phone usually know a lot what’s going on and seriously care what’s flying
Hey Dan You are still able to book flights on March 11th on united.com
See the post update.
i still see 1 aday for sfo aswell.
We just booked for tomorrow night from the app. The app shows several available flights over the next 2 days while the website is not.
should i be ok on a turkish airlines thursday morning flight from tlv?
what will the crew do be quarantined from arrival till they leave ?
How about turkish. Airlines. ate they still flying.
On united.com if you go to booking it only shows one evening flight and not the regular morning flights for the next few weeks. Could mean that theyre only flying those and people with morning flights will have to switch. (Same with ewr to tlv.)
How come some people are serious about the virus and others seem to not care too much or think that people are overreacting?
BC nobody knows what will happen. Some people are laughing it off. I just cancelled a trip NYC-MIA for Purim since nothing good is likely to come of it, at best. There is the likelihood it gets serious and crazy here or, as some expect, this will blow over.
Will either blow over or as it becomes more familiar, it will become like flu that nobody bothers talking about and doesn’t disrupt the entire world.
Thank you for the replies. I know my wife is taking it very seriously, but my brother is not at all thinks people are overreacting. Hopefully we just are and this blows over soon!
I just checked United.com and they are still letting you book for those dates!
Just checked united first available flight out of tlv is April 1st
Delta seems to have followed and pulled inventory until 25 March. Meanwhile ELAL claims they will continue flying “based on demand”…
Any info what might happen to aircanada 1055am flight tlv to yyz?
If you’re talking about Tuesday, that flight probably is fine as the inbound is on the way. They don’t fly this Tue and we will have to see whether they end up flying out of Toronto Wed and on…
DL advised that they are still operating tlv-jfk on March 11,but sold out on seats
They didn’t magically sell out of seats from March 11-25 at the same second. They zeroed out inventory in all cabins.
That’s a step airlines take before officially cancelling a flight, which is why I’m using the language “appears”
We are on 85 from Israel on wed…no updates or news on website…60 minute plus hold time
It’s not looking good:
https://www.united.com/en/us/flightstatus/details/85/2020-03-11/TLV/EWR/UA
Showing “full” in all cabins, but there are only 38 out of 60 seats booked in business class. The seat map shows lots of available seats in all cabins, but United isn’t selling any of them.
That’s typically what airlines do before cancelling a flight. I’d advise trying to switch to another flight like UA91 that day or UA85 tomorrow.
I hope my delta flight Wednesday night is OK!
What’s the cc insurance policy on this situation?
Call to switch to tomorrow night.
Sold out.
I still see seats for sale for 3/10 in both directions on Delta.
Sorry was talking about 3/11 and 3/12. Both show availability on seat map with 40+ available for standby but if you try to book it says nothing available.
Correct, because they’re likely going to be cancelled.
I’m booked for 3/12 on the Delta to JFK flight, there are only 3 seats not yet assigned. Can that mean the flight is actually sold out and not going to be cancelled? Because with the 72 hour window it doesn’t make sense they would cancel till the 13th
Any idea of Aeroflot status?
If you’re on a canceled United flight, can you get a refund instead of rebooking?
Of course
Just spoke to United Premier Desk. They DID cancel UA85 TLV – EWR at least for March 23rd (confirming what Dan wrote about UA85 canceled for much of March).
That is why the flight is no longer for sale on United website. However they did NOT yet cancel /reboook those already on the flight, although they admit that the flight is NOT scheduled to fly. They therefore have not notified their customers of the cancellations.
Call now and make sure to talk to them – UA91 is still scheduled to fly on that day (later in the day) so you can pop on that or any other United flight with no fee for the change, regardless of when you originally made your booking -(just be polite to them despite their mess-up and failure to notice) and they will near certainly accommodate.
Dan, or anyone else……My flight was originally booked with austrian who put me on UA 85 march 25th…united cant switch my ticket because austrian “owns it” and Austrian says the flight isn’t officially cancelled so any changes is considered voluntary and will cost $380 PP. any advice?
had the same with swiss
If you go to United’s website you can still book. United has not made any statement about cancellations as of yet
You can still book what?
On united you can still book from tlv
Only 1 of their 4 flights between the US and Tel Aviv are currently bookable, as the post update says.
Thanks for the info. Typically, how close to the flight can they cancel?
They can cancel whenever they want even after the time is supposed to leave…
What happens it Delta cancels from TA will they put me on a Elal flight ?
What’s with areoflot, Tap, Uia leaving tel aviv after thursday?
TAP flights out of TLV are all cancelled as of 10:30 this morning. 🙁
I’m flying on the 12th from tlv -ewr in the morning. Why didn’t I get any cancellation email if this was happening?
what the status of UA90 march 18
if they cancel and there will be no flights back. on which flight will they Reebook me? whats the risk?
And what’s with El AL past thursday?
Also, why would they send flights to tlv and not send them back?
My whole school has a flight sat night delta March 14 tlv to nyc is it also getting cancelled it’s a fully booked flight
Even if it’s not cancelled you can’t enter if you don’t all have home quarentine so you ain’t going
TLV – NYC
What about flights to the UK?
What’s the best number/way to contact United?
The problem is that crews on flights from the US overnight in Tel Aviv. This becomes impossible if they have to be quarantined for 14 days. One solution would be for flights into Israel to carry two crews, but United won’t do that given that demand into Israel has most likely fallen dramatically. I’m on United # 85 on Sunday, and so far I have not been notified. One question Dan: If I have a confirmed upgrade to Polaris Business on March 15,and the flight is cancelled, will United re-book my flight also in business ?.
Crew flying back the next can fly back the next day of course
You mean crews will have quarantine waivers from the authorities to overnight in Tel Aviv to fly out next day ?
I have tickets for United 85 on 3/12
CS said it’s likely to fly, but I’m nervous.
If I book now on Turkish for tonight will I be able to get my ticket fair back from United if it’s not cancelled in the end? I booked with Chase Sapphire reserve, does that provide coverage?
This article only mentions cancellations from the US to TLV. Does that mean that TLV to US has no cancellations?
I’m booked on United March 23 TLV-EWR. What are your thoughts on this? Trying to avoid having to rebook for sooner.
Thank You!
They want a $250 fare difference to switch my flight to Thursday night even though they cancelled my original flight.
I was on the phone with a delta rep yesterday at 6:30 pm to change my flight on April 1 to an earlier date at first she said that there is no availability until march 27 it’s all overbooked then she called her supervisor to see if she can also put me on a flight somehow and he said that as of tomorrow they will be cancelling all flights departing from tlv to NYC and the flight on Tuesday night is the last flight before they cancel until march 27 they said that this is somewhat due to the fact that klm and air France and virgin have already started to cancel their flights so anyone with a delta flight should start looking at other options.
I was told by the Delta rep that my sons flight is still on but very possible he does not have the correct information. Israel needs to give the flight crews a waiver that they don’t have to self quarantine and can go right back on the next days flight. The new rules probably give them no choice but to cancel.
united is swearing up and down that UA 85 for wed at 1030 am from TLV to EWR is not cancelled. Thoughts? Advice?
It’s not correct information, my son is booked on a flight from tlv to ewr on March 12 10:30 am It does not show on the website, so I thought it was canceled like you said. I called United and they said that it is completely booked and that’s why it doesn’t show up, and it is not canceled
This is what United just wrote to me minutes ago (750am EST): Only select flights are being cancelled due to flight demands. These are between March 11-31. However, at the moment, March 11th [UA85] is scheduled to depart and we have no indication yet that it will be cancelled. You can reach out to us again and we can double-check that for you.” Do i trust that? Who knows? But thats what they said.
Anyone want to split a rowboat with me? If we leave now, we’ll probably make it for Pesach!
That’s a long way to row just to be turned around at the border.
Jews turned away at the border. I thought never again.
i am scheduled to fly united tlv sfo lax march 25 and was told by united the flight is still scheduled and they are not showing for purchase because “they are sold out”
It’s not sold out, it’s been “zeroed out” as United decides whether to cancel it.
Anything on tlv to london?
Just spoke to United they clame that till March 21 all flights from TLV to EWR are not cancelled yet.
As I wrote, this isn’t official yet. It’s United and Delta preparing for cancellations.
It’s taking one hour or longer on hold for someone from United reservations to answer the phone.
Hi Dan- is motzei Shabbos, March 14th delta 0469 still operating? It’s showing on their app that almost every seat is taken and that it’s running on time and when I spoke to delta this morning they said that it will still be running. Thank you!
I’m on the flight as well and was just notified by Delta that they will be canceling that flight
I’m seeing lots of supposedly “full” flights, but when I look at the seat map, there are lots and lots of seats available.
Correct, that’s typically a sign of a flight that will be cancelled.
TBD…
What about Turkish TLV to Istanbul?
Can you answer this question @Dan
What about air canada?
If I have a UA 91 flight booked for March 16, should I try to move it back?
What airlines do have tickets available March 12?
Delta currently has a 3 and a 1/2 hr wait on their phone line. however, unlike many other airlines they have a callback option. Good Luck!
Any update onELAL – LAX ?
Jost saying….. Jordan international airport is a 4 hour drive from Jerusalem, there you can get direct flights to Jfk, if anyone wants
Good luck getting teffilin into Jordan
I hope this is a troll
Does anyone have an AirCanada update?
Elal moved over their Toronto flight LY31 for Thursday 3/12 from 11:00 AM to 12:30 it’s earlier
ye but there will be a bunch of drunk buchrim
Currently on UA 85 tlv – ewr. Just spoke to flight attendant who told me all their schedules were cancelled for this route. She said original plan was to keep that one flight going but not anymore now all crew members and pilots schedules were cleared for tlv until April.
When did she say it would go into effect? Please let me know asap. Appreciate it
Tomorrow is the last day. The 11th
My flight is supposed to be on the 12th. Why wouldn’t they cancel it already? Not sure what to do now
I asked why they aren’t announcing yet she was unsure. Maybe try calling and finding out
Sorry for the double response, thought the first didn’t go through the WiFi’s not the best 🙂
Lol. When I call they tell me that theres no problem and the flight is as scheduled with no cancellations
She said tomorrow is the last. The 11th
Wait so what does she say about the update that Dan just added about continuing for 7days. Sorry for the bother just need to get home:)))
Dan any news on this?
Delta showing flights from Israel to nyc through Amsterdam all week. What can you read into that?
That’s on KLM.
Do you think KLM will cancel flights?
United day flight is available again on the whole March.
I am offering Pesach cooking lessons for all the Jap women who never made Pesach in their lives.
Who always went to a hotel and are forced to stay home with their families.
LOL
United has resumed selling tickets for their 10:30 AM TLV-EWR daily flight (UA 85). Good sign I suppose.
Dan, so the flights from TLV-EWR will be happening now that they send out this letter to the travel agents?
Virgin Atlantic now suspends TLV flights:
https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/news/coronavirus.html
Only jfk to Tel Aviv but flying tlv to nyc is it a prob ….. just got off the phone with delta
What about British Airways?
Wondering the same
Delta wouldn’t confirm with me that my flight on March 12th from TLV will be fine. Said can still be canceled
Has there been any hack about british airways flights?
Where did you get the information on Virgin Atlantic?
I live in Israel and was flying out on Thursday morning on BA to Washington. Obviously I cant go knowing I will be in isolation when I come back. Spoke to BA and they will only let me put a hold on the ticket for a year. They wont refund me unless the flight is cancelled.
The Delta prices are back up for the 11-14h so I guess that means the flight on those days are confirmed?
Any update on LOT to Poland
I have a flight on the 11th from JFK to tel aviv. Will delta still be able to help me or am I just screwed?
Dan, if my Iberia flight just got cancelled and they gave me a voucher, should i still try to get on a direct flight (elal or united)? or if that gets cancelled ill also get stuck with another voucher?? im only planning on flying once a yr? (my flight dates are apr1-20)
I bought two tickets with British airways to Israel for the first April for Pessah coming back the 20 to New York what to do
At least for now, the BA flights this week all look like they are going. If someone sees otherwise please post.
Any news on Air Canada?
Im trying to get my son home from Yeshiva, all his flights have been canceled… is ELAL a good option? Is it worth booking him on an ELAL flight?
My friends flight with aeroflot was just cancelled
PSA: To anyone who is looking for flights from TLV to the USA, do NOT book on TAP (air Portugal). They are showing flights for sale, but they just canceled my son’s flight. The customer service rep told me that they have canceled flights to and from TLV until JUNE!
Not true! I had a ticket with them for 4/19 and they canceled the evening flight, they rebooked me the next morning.
Though they are slow on the pickup, so things may change again
I have been trying to call TAP (air Portugal) at 800-221-7370 and can’t get through.
No music, just a ring and a busy signal.
How are you contacting them.
I have a reservation with them on April 20th from TLV to EWR.
thanks
David
Delta has canceled our March 14th flight Tlv-JFK and is not giving us any other options to fly out of TLV at the moment.
anything on aeroflot ?
And someone still supports Russia…..
What about elal flights
Any info on Norwegian?
what the story brithsh air ways
Using Whatsapp to talk wit VA as I keep loosing place in queue
as of now there is flights on schedule from both newark and DC which means that they are landing IN tlv. so safe to assume that wednesday and thursday are on.
My son is flying on March 17 from tel aviv to New York, with air canada. Do you think they will still be flying? Do you think I am better off trying to get him a ticket on elal?
only hashem knows that!!!!!!
How to get a refund on United? I was going for pesach but obviously will get denied boarding since I don’t have somewhere I can quarantine for 2 weeks.
Dan, how about a post about airlines that still are flying to TLV (at least for now)?
Is friday flight washington tlv still happening?
Anything about Azerbaijan Airlines [AZAL] JFK to Tel Aviv?
if my Alitalia Israel flight is canceled , do I get refund?
I booked tickets with Air Serbia in January my son was added as an infant because at the time of the flight he would be under 2 years old- now that they will be canceling flights and I will need to change dates and at that time my son will be over 2- Will they issue him a ticket??
“united won’t cancel for 7 days” – That’s 7 days from what date?
Thank you