We have over 900,000 Velocity points and would like to get all the way to Tel Aviv and back in business class
Your best option in this case would be to transfer your velocity points to Singapore Krisflyer so you have access to the plethora of Star Alliance airlines that fly to Tel Aviv. Otherwise, it is very hard to redeem your Velocity points to go straight to Israel.
If you donât want to transfer your Velocity points, you would have to redeem flights to Abu Dhabi with Etihad and then make your way to Israel. Alternatively, flying into a more âneutralâ country with warmer relations with Israel such as Jordan with Etihad could lead to then purchasing either a bus or flight ticket to Tel Aviv.
If you had Qantas points, it wouldâve been very useful to redeem to Tel Aviv given they partner with El Al, their national carrier.
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Hi,
I am saving for a similar route (SYD-TLV) with Velocity & Krisflyer.
As mentioned above, you can fly with Etihad to any country that have direct flights to Israel (Europe or Jordan for example). Just a note - apparently, the 30min flight from Amman to Tel Aviv is very expensive due to the lack of competition.
Regarding a bus, it is possible, I have done it before but it is without a doubt my worst transferring experience before. To cross the border actually takes hours (excluding the actual drive), if itâs summer time itâs even worse, we had to wait some of the time in the sun (can easily go above 40 degrees in that area during summer). Iâve done it about 10 years ago, maybe it got better, I doubt it.
With Krisflyer you can travel to Israel via Istanbul or Frankfurt. Istanbul is about 90min flight so it is still possible to make it around 24hrs total travel which is not far from âdirectâ.
Good luck, let me know if there are any options that we have missed here, since Iâm also interested.
Ofir
P.S- El Al is crap. Try to avoid.
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