Jaunted

You see, El Al could have cancelled all these low-priced tickets and taken a tongue-lashing from disappointed passengers to save their butts. Instead, they have issued this statement, spreading it via social media, that notes they not only intend to honor the tickets but also will upgrade the tickets to direct flights (they are currently all via layovers elsewhere in Europe) for a $75 charge. Very decent of them. My itinerary, for example, only features one leg on El Al; the rest are on American Airlines and Swiss Air via CDG and ZRH.

That had me smiling, of course, knowing that I'd be able to dream of Dead Sea floatin' without having to worry about the status of this crazy deal. Alas, El Al has taken it further.

The smiling has spread beyond the ticketed passengers to anyone reading stories of those who booked the deal. These are touching tales, of homecomings, weddings that can be attended, families having the long-haul vacation they always dreamt of, and etcetera. El Al has seen the value; in addition to posting them on Facebook and Twitter, the airline is even offering a giveaway of a gift bag to the person with the best story shared on Facebook. My story won't be among those as it's pretty boring—January is a great time to peace-out of a freezing NYC and I'll go pretty much anywhere—but already I feel like part of a club.

And I'm keeping my layovers, thank you very much; chalking it up to adventure.

A round of applause, please, for El Al.

[Image: Jaunted]