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Work has based me out in Jerusalem for the last four months (have another three to go out here) but I needed to go back to head office in the UK for a week for a strategy meeting (I bet you can imagine how fun that was). Flights from TLV-LHR are really booked up at the moment. In the end managed to get a flight on LH via FRA in economy (company travel policy is economy for all flights) for $800 (normally you can get a flight for under $400).
It only takes 45 minutes to get from Jerusalem to TLV and as I was departing on a Saturday (the Sabbath) the roads were quiet and I was hoping that the airport would be quiet as well. My flight was departing at 16.40 and I arrived at TLV at about 13.45. Security as you would expect is very tight at TLV. The first bit is at the entrance to the airport where there is a checkpoint. I always get stopped here as I live in East Jerusalem which is the Palestinian part of town and I get a Palestinian taxi driver. Anyway this first stop just involves a few questions and them marking my passport.
I arrive at the terminal at about 14.00 which is a bit late as they have been known to deny boarding to people who do not turn up three hours before departure. At least it being a Saturday it was not quite as busy as it is on other days. LH (OS and LOT) check in desks are all down in the arrivals area rather than the main check in hall. Before checking in you have to go through initial security. This can be quite quick but most of the time it is a quite lengthy process and in the past I have been questioned for over three hours there. I queue up for about 30 minutes waiting for one of the security staff to come and question me. These questions determine your risk level and therefore how detailed the later searches of your luggage and yourself will be. Finally I make I get the front and a very friendly security person starts asking the normal questions, Why was I in Israel, Where did I go, Do I have a girlfriend here, etc etc After a while she goes off to consult with her supervisor. She comes back about 5 minutes later to tell me that the supervisor wants to talk to me as well and that I must wait. This is quite normal as they often get multiple people to question you, they ask the same set of questions and then compare answers. Well it took about 20 minutes for the supervisor to show up. She asked her questions and then came the decision time. They stick a coloured sticker on you passport and luggage to determine your risk level. The colours do change but on this day, seeing what other people got it seems like Green was for the low risk people, yellow was medium risk and purple was high risk. The difference between the different levels is if you are low then once your luggage has been scanned you can go straight to check in, medium risk means that after scanning your luggage you have to take it for a manual search as well. If you are high risk then after your bag is manually searched then you will be searched as well, quite often then will also escort you all way to the plane to make sure that you do not get in contact with anyone. Well today I got yellow which is not too bad.
So I move onto have my luggage scanned. There is no queue for the scanning so I am soon on to waiting for the manual search. Sometimes it can be a very lengthy wait for the search but today I only had to wait for a couple of minutes. I lift my suitcase onto the table and another friendly security lady opens up my case and searches through it. To be honest they do not do that thorough a search but what they then do is swab every nook and cranny of my bag for explosives. So after about 1hr 30 mins I get the all clear and head for check in.
By this time there is quite a big queue for the economy check in desks but luckily I can use the First Class check in being a SEN where there are only 2 people before me. I was unable to do on line check in as the ticket was brought through a travel agent. When I finally got to the check in the only seat available was right at the back and broken. I enquired how broken and they said it was OK apart from it did not recline. I thought for a 4 hour day time flight that was not a problem. I got my invitation to the Dan lounge and a voucher to get a newspaper.
I headed up to the departure level and then to the next security check. This is the normal x ray of your hand luggage and Metal Detector. Again the colour sticker on your passport determines how strict this is. My yellow sticker sent me to queue 1. This is the strictest of the queues where it is belt off, shoes off etc and your hand luggage gets swabbed for explosives. Luckily there was no queue and I as through in 5 minutes. It was then onto immigration where again there was no queue and finally I was through to the departure area.
The new Terminal 3 at TLV is pretty nice all round. Once you are through immigration you go down a long corridor to a circular departure lounge which has chairs in the middle and duty free shops and exchange places around the edge. Be warned if you leave on a Saturday a number of places are shut and a lot of the food places serve very limited offering. I headed off to the Dan lounge in concourse C which is where the LH flights leave from (There is another one in concourse B). The lounge was almost full but I managed to find a seat right next to the window overlooking the apron (I am with the people who like a good view out from a lounge). There was a reasonable selection of cold snacks and drinks on offer.
About 30 minutes before departure time I headed to the gate to find that boarding had already started. I walked up to the gate and handed over my boarding pass to me greeted by those magic words “Mr Lobster you have been upgraded to Business Class today” So with my new boarding pass I headed down to the plane hoping to find the new business class but no such luck it was the old one. Oh well for a relatively short daytime flight it does not make that much difference.
Pre departure drinks were brought round a choice of champagne, orange juice or water, and a hot towel. There was also an amenity handed out which contained, eye shades, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, ear plugs, moisturiser and lip balm. We took off on time and headed out over the Med. Once the fasten seat belt sign had been turned off drinks were offered with a packet of mixed nuts. I had the German white wine, my one rule for flying on LH is always have the German wines. Shortly after the drinks the FAs came round again to set our tables for dinner. I have posted the menu in the menu forum. The Hors D’oeuvre and the salad were brought out on one tray. Followed by another drink round. Then the tray is cleared and the entrée is served by itself followed by another drink round. I had the Turkey followed by the Lamb. I then had the cheese with a glass of port. Overall I found the food rather lacking, The portions where very small (The standard BA economy class meal I find more filling) and really had very little flavour.
After dinner I settled back and slept for a bit (the IFE is so poor on LH it really is not worth bothering with). I do find the old style business class seats very comfortable for lounging about in.
We arrived at FRA at 9pm and my connecting flight to LHR was due to depart from the other side of the airport at 9.30. So I dashed to the monorail zoomed onto the train and sat urging it to go. Then I looked at the clock on the station platform and saw that it said it was 8.15 not 9.15, yes I had forgotten that FRA is an hour behind Israel. Anyway at least I could relax now. I headed to the SEN lounge by gate A51 and to my surprise it was relatively empty. I just relaxed there until about 9pm and then headed to the gate. Boarding started a couple of minutes after I arrived. No upgrade on this leg of the journey but as it is only a 1hr flight and economy was maybe 10% full it really did not matter.
We took off on time and were soon at cruising altitude. The FA’s came around with a cheese sandwich and choice of drinks. I slept for the rest of the flight and soon we were landing at LHR. We actually pulled up to our gate at T2 about 20 minutes early. Immigration had the normal queues for EU citizens but I headed over to use the IRIS machines, there was even a queue for them this time which is the first time I have encountered this. But even so I was through to the baggage hall a couple of minutes later. Had to wait for about 5 minutes for the baggage to start appearing but my suitcase was the second one to arrive so I was very shortly heading out.
I had booked a rental car through avis (as my car’s tax and MOT had run out whilst I was away and I did not think that I would have the chance to sort it out during this trip). I went out to the bus stop where the car rental shuttle buses pick people up and waited. Every other rental company bus came but no sign of an Avis bus. After about 30 minutes I called them up and they said the buses run every 10 minutes. I pointed out that I had been standing out in the freezing cold for 30 minutes with no sign of a bus. They promised to send on and about 2 minutes later one turned up. It is about a 10 minute drive to the Avis lot and about 10 minutes after that I was heading home.
It only takes 45 minutes to get from Jerusalem to TLV and as I was departing on a Saturday (the Sabbath) the roads were quiet and I was hoping that the airport would be quiet as well. My flight was departing at 16.40 and I arrived at TLV at about 13.45. Security as you would expect is very tight at TLV. The first bit is at the entrance to the airport where there is a checkpoint. I always get stopped here as I live in East Jerusalem which is the Palestinian part of town and I get a Palestinian taxi driver. Anyway this first stop just involves a few questions and them marking my passport.
I arrive at the terminal at about 14.00 which is a bit late as they have been known to deny boarding to people who do not turn up three hours before departure. At least it being a Saturday it was not quite as busy as it is on other days. LH (OS and LOT) check in desks are all down in the arrivals area rather than the main check in hall. Before checking in you have to go through initial security. This can be quite quick but most of the time it is a quite lengthy process and in the past I have been questioned for over three hours there. I queue up for about 30 minutes waiting for one of the security staff to come and question me. These questions determine your risk level and therefore how detailed the later searches of your luggage and yourself will be. Finally I make I get the front and a very friendly security person starts asking the normal questions, Why was I in Israel, Where did I go, Do I have a girlfriend here, etc etc After a while she goes off to consult with her supervisor. She comes back about 5 minutes later to tell me that the supervisor wants to talk to me as well and that I must wait. This is quite normal as they often get multiple people to question you, they ask the same set of questions and then compare answers. Well it took about 20 minutes for the supervisor to show up. She asked her questions and then came the decision time. They stick a coloured sticker on you passport and luggage to determine your risk level. The colours do change but on this day, seeing what other people got it seems like Green was for the low risk people, yellow was medium risk and purple was high risk. The difference between the different levels is if you are low then once your luggage has been scanned you can go straight to check in, medium risk means that after scanning your luggage you have to take it for a manual search as well. If you are high risk then after your bag is manually searched then you will be searched as well, quite often then will also escort you all way to the plane to make sure that you do not get in contact with anyone. Well today I got yellow which is not too bad.
So I move onto have my luggage scanned. There is no queue for the scanning so I am soon on to waiting for the manual search. Sometimes it can be a very lengthy wait for the search but today I only had to wait for a couple of minutes. I lift my suitcase onto the table and another friendly security lady opens up my case and searches through it. To be honest they do not do that thorough a search but what they then do is swab every nook and cranny of my bag for explosives. So after about 1hr 30 mins I get the all clear and head for check in.
By this time there is quite a big queue for the economy check in desks but luckily I can use the First Class check in being a SEN where there are only 2 people before me. I was unable to do on line check in as the ticket was brought through a travel agent. When I finally got to the check in the only seat available was right at the back and broken. I enquired how broken and they said it was OK apart from it did not recline. I thought for a 4 hour day time flight that was not a problem. I got my invitation to the Dan lounge and a voucher to get a newspaper.
I headed up to the departure level and then to the next security check. This is the normal x ray of your hand luggage and Metal Detector. Again the colour sticker on your passport determines how strict this is. My yellow sticker sent me to queue 1. This is the strictest of the queues where it is belt off, shoes off etc and your hand luggage gets swabbed for explosives. Luckily there was no queue and I as through in 5 minutes. It was then onto immigration where again there was no queue and finally I was through to the departure area.
The new Terminal 3 at TLV is pretty nice all round. Once you are through immigration you go down a long corridor to a circular departure lounge which has chairs in the middle and duty free shops and exchange places around the edge. Be warned if you leave on a Saturday a number of places are shut and a lot of the food places serve very limited offering. I headed off to the Dan lounge in concourse C which is where the LH flights leave from (There is another one in concourse B). The lounge was almost full but I managed to find a seat right next to the window overlooking the apron (I am with the people who like a good view out from a lounge). There was a reasonable selection of cold snacks and drinks on offer.
About 30 minutes before departure time I headed to the gate to find that boarding had already started. I walked up to the gate and handed over my boarding pass to me greeted by those magic words “Mr Lobster you have been upgraded to Business Class today” So with my new boarding pass I headed down to the plane hoping to find the new business class but no such luck it was the old one. Oh well for a relatively short daytime flight it does not make that much difference.
Pre departure drinks were brought round a choice of champagne, orange juice or water, and a hot towel. There was also an amenity handed out which contained, eye shades, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, ear plugs, moisturiser and lip balm. We took off on time and headed out over the Med. Once the fasten seat belt sign had been turned off drinks were offered with a packet of mixed nuts. I had the German white wine, my one rule for flying on LH is always have the German wines. Shortly after the drinks the FAs came round again to set our tables for dinner. I have posted the menu in the menu forum. The Hors D’oeuvre and the salad were brought out on one tray. Followed by another drink round. Then the tray is cleared and the entrée is served by itself followed by another drink round. I had the Turkey followed by the Lamb. I then had the cheese with a glass of port. Overall I found the food rather lacking, The portions where very small (The standard BA economy class meal I find more filling) and really had very little flavour.
After dinner I settled back and slept for a bit (the IFE is so poor on LH it really is not worth bothering with). I do find the old style business class seats very comfortable for lounging about in.
We arrived at FRA at 9pm and my connecting flight to LHR was due to depart from the other side of the airport at 9.30. So I dashed to the monorail zoomed onto the train and sat urging it to go. Then I looked at the clock on the station platform and saw that it said it was 8.15 not 9.15, yes I had forgotten that FRA is an hour behind Israel. Anyway at least I could relax now. I headed to the SEN lounge by gate A51 and to my surprise it was relatively empty. I just relaxed there until about 9pm and then headed to the gate. Boarding started a couple of minutes after I arrived. No upgrade on this leg of the journey but as it is only a 1hr flight and economy was maybe 10% full it really did not matter.
We took off on time and were soon at cruising altitude. The FA’s came around with a cheese sandwich and choice of drinks. I slept for the rest of the flight and soon we were landing at LHR. We actually pulled up to our gate at T2 about 20 minutes early. Immigration had the normal queues for EU citizens but I headed over to use the IRIS machines, there was even a queue for them this time which is the first time I have encountered this. But even so I was through to the baggage hall a couple of minutes later. Had to wait for about 5 minutes for the baggage to start appearing but my suitcase was the second one to arrive so I was very shortly heading out.
I had booked a rental car through avis (as my car’s tax and MOT had run out whilst I was away and I did not think that I would have the chance to sort it out during this trip). I went out to the bus stop where the car rental shuttle buses pick people up and waited. Every other rental company bus came but no sign of an Avis bus. After about 30 minutes I called them up and they said the buses run every 10 minutes. I pointed out that I had been standing out in the freezing cold for 30 minutes with no sign of a bus. They promised to send on and about 2 minutes later one turned up. It is about a 10 minute drive to the Avis lot and about 10 minutes after that I was heading home.
Thanks for the report, Lobster. 
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