An error within the El Al ticket pricing system put was the cause of celebration for hunreds of people in Lakewood and beyond.”I just booked tickets to Israel for $519 including tax, round trip, going formy first time!”, an excited reader tells TLS. Another reader says, “I got it for $380!”, and a third says, “5 tickets for $2,000!”
The unbelievably low prices were reportedly due to a pricing error by El Al Airline’s ticket pricing agents, who quickly realized their mistake when their phones began ringing off the hook today.
But will they honor the mistake they made?
One reader on a social media site says they received an email from the airline saying, “Elal sent me an email [that] it’s a mistake but they are honoring it.”
A Twitter account belonging to El Al confirmed they will be honoring all the tickets purchased during the system error, which lasted several hours.
Tickets have since gone back up to regular price of about $1,200. TLS.
I’m assuming El-Al is owned by a Yid. Even if El-Al does honor it aren’t we obligated to not take it since it was a mistake?
Why should we be obligated not to take it?
They are agreeing to honor it.
I GOT A ROUND TRIP INC TAX FOR $339!!!
I am not a Posek but from what I understood if a Yid makes a price mistake on a “mechira” the “mekach” may have to be returned
The law in USA is if a airline makes a price mistake they must honor it so dina dmalchusa says you can use it. Plus ELAL said they will honor them.
i booked 3 people for 1,004 round trip what a deal i was planning on cofirming my tickets todayd for 4,300 today trough a travle agent wow bh hashem is so good to us
booked 4 tickits at $1,500
MAZEL TOV TO EVERYONE, MAY YOU ALL HAVE A SAFE AND A HAPPY TRIP.
Got round trip ticket for 336!!!!!!
its a once in a lifetime error. But maybe the next one will be when mashiach comes and we all go together for free
Sounds to me like all the people who are commenting that “MAYBE we can’t use it because MAYBE its owned by a jew and it was a mistake” Are just a bounch of jealous loosers who did not get the tickets on time. Maybe its time to cut all this stupidity and just think about YOURSELF.
Dina dmalchusa dina does not over ride halacha lekula. Meaning ,if halacha says that the mechira is not chal bcause of a mistake then even if secular law says its ok then it still must be returned. Now , if hoever the mocher is mochel then its got nothing to do with halacha or dina demalchusa. He was moichel. End of story! Now if he was moichel because of secular laws forced them to. Then it maybe a big shyla what to doo. U should have a very reputable posek who is familiar with these complex halachos
kanfei nesharim
I’m not sure its a shaila because the tickets were sold thru a third party which is not owned by a yid so the mistake was not from ELAL so their not loosing any money but rather the mistake was from that third party. So to all you lucky people GOOD LUCK. Have a safe trip!!!!!!
If El Al recognizes the mistake and agrees to honor it anyway, that is a concept called mechila. There is nothing wrong with using the ticket.
Turns out it was not ElAa’s mistake but an outsourced vendor. It is may not be Elal that has to absorb the loss.
Gee to #10, #8 doesn’t sound sour, maybe you are sour because you did’nt get a chance to get tickets yourself.
Wow. All of a sudden everyone here is a Posek? Did you ask your Rav? I did and he told me Halachially it was OK.
Also on another note Elal says that the issue was the fuel surcharge. I doubt that the fuel surcharge is $600.00.
Everyone who got cheap tickets will be getting them at the expense of everyone else. Do you really think that the airline is going to eat the loss? They are just going to raise the price on everyone else for those flights.
people are saying that this was not a mistake rather a business strategy on Elal’s part! they may declare war in Israel soon, so this way they know they are for sure covered on flights from Oct-March if a war does break out!
The issue was the fuel surcharge and the fuel surcharge can be $500
and there are ways to still beat the surcharge
and it wont stop ELAL from charging you when you make an honest mistake
but as yesterday’s daf said genuva ganuv tamei ta’im
To #18 – you are right. The fuel surcharge is not $600. It is only $590 !
Of course you can and should ask a shailah….just one has to realize that in business a company, even a Yiddishe one, might agree to honor a mistake just to avoid a potential backlash, and a PR nightmare, even if they have the legal right to den the tickets based on a system error (which they probably have that right). So, one can definitely hear that it could be a problem of “Chamsanus”, meaning if I force you to sell me something, even if you do so, I may possibly still be classified as a “chamsan”. (Remember this is millions of dollars of Yiddishe gelt here – like it or not- which then has to be made up elsewhere. Of course, a valid distinction may possibly be made by a Posek, but just saying, that that is the reality of business and the rationale behind a company not denying those tickets.
I feel very sad I didn’t order these tickets. My family has such h a yearning to go to eretz yisrael. And we really can’t afford it right now. Can they do this “mistake ” just one more time?
The fuel surcharge to Israel is around $600.00
I was thinking of booking the tickets, but I got cold feet because I am afraid that it will be too dangerous to go there. October 2012 to March 2013 sounds about right when the war with Iran will happen.
(War may start right before US elections, and the negative consequences will continue for a while.)
Congratulations to all those that got their tickets at such a cheap price. May you all have a safe trip and enjoy your extra money you saved. Ignore all the ignorant comments from those that are haters.. You all have the last laugh..
policy is policy! i wonder how many of you “poskim” would feel the way you do had you actually been able to buy tickets at that price? i wonder how many of you “poskim” tried to buy and the mistake was already fixed? bottom line stop being frum on other peoples cheshbon, because we know you would keep your mouth shut if you had bought tickets! el-al said they are honoring it. end of story.
al tiftach peh lsatan. sometimes its better to keep your comments to yourself!
Got 6 tickets for round $2,000 and Im proud of it. Sorry all you jelous people, maybe start going to the right sites…
If you follow current events, you would know that many leading pundits are predicting this. The fact that I mentioned it on TLS won’t change it either way. You put too much faith in my words. But thanks for the compliment.
#11stop being so sour
#22Lakewood Resident &
#23Anonymous
In my orthodox background we do what is right, irrespective of any loss that has or will occur.
The same is for other commenters here.
Got word of the deal and went to expedia to book but all the dates were during the zman so we passed. EY is important but not a valid reason to take off a week during the zman.
so excited to be going to israel!
to #12 such a halocho shiur – what with loi shinu shmom?
So for all those who justified it by saying EL AL was mochel, the latest statement from El Al is that they are trying to get out of it and are clearly not mochel. Back to the drawing board.