Israel’s airline EL AL is currently selling cheap business class tickets from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Prices around €1,311 are fantastic for business class trips to far-away destinations.
Israel has travel restrictions in place for people who want to enter Israel. However, so far transit passengers have not been excluded from transiting in Israel. Please keep an eye on IATA’s website which publishes the latest information on travel restrictions.
El Al is having financial problems for some time now. The Coronavirus outbreak is causing El Al huge losses, because the government put very strict travel restrictions in place. Keep that in mind before booking this fare.
From Amsterdam, you would fly to Tel Aviv on a Boeing 737 (roughly 5 hours) and then continue to Johannesburg on a Boeing 777 (roughly 9 hours).
Search & Book
The only restrictions that are known to us are that your trip has to include a Saturday and may not exceed 3 months. EL AL does not fly daily to Johannesburg, so you should try using Google Flights to find available dates that suit you. Sometimes you will see extremely long layovers in Tel Aviv on the outbound flight. In that case, set your departure date to one day later. That usually eliminates the long layover. On the inbound flight, you’ll almost always have a 9-hour layover in Tel Aviv, but that gives you a good opportunity to discover the city, so that should not be a disadvantage.
Once you’ve found your preferred dates, we recommend using our Travel-Dealz flight search to book the flights, as EL AL’s website doesn’t seem to be working (at least for booking flights. Maybe the bug will be fixed in the following days).
To facilitate your search for the dates that have the shortest layovers, we’ve created an availability calendar that only includes those good flights:
Miles
All flights are issued in booking class J. The only mileage program that will give you miles for EL AL flights, that we know about, is Alaska Mileage Plan, which will credit you roughly 27,440 miles for this roundtrip.
El Al’s Business Class
El Al’s premium cabin is subject to generally bad reviews. Especially aboard their Boeing 747 and Boeing 777 aircraft, they don’t offer amenities or technology that have become Business Class standard over the past few years. A prime example is the lack of lie-flat-seats. They’ve improved their Business Class greatly in their new Boeing 787 fleet. Unfortunately, the flights in this deal are not flown by the Boeing 787.
Information & Tips for Johannesburg
Johannesburg has 9,6 million inhabitants and is the largest city and most important business and financial center in Africa south of the Sahara. The city is well connected to Europe by air, flights for under 500€ (round trip) are becoming increasingly more common.
Best Time to Travel
The best times to visit Johannesburg are during fall (March – May) and during spring (September – Novemver). Temperatures are warm but pleasant and rainfall is comparatively rare.
From the Airport to the City
One possibility is taking the Gautrain, a type of local commuter rail. A trip to the city center takes about 25 minutes and costs approximately 12€. Taking a cab or an Uber runs you about 18€ to 24€.
→ All Dealz for Johannesburg
Hotels
When travelling to Johannesburg, one should read reviews about the hotel. This is not only important in terms of getting the best bang for your buck but also in terms of safety. We would recommend using booking.com for that:
Make sure to also check out our hotel vouchers and coupons:
Cover Picture: © sw_stock - fotolia.com
Comments (2)
Are these flights affected by the quarantine process in Israel?
Israel has travel restrictions in place for people who want to enter Israel. However, so far transit passengers have not been excluded from transiting in Israel officially. We would recommend reaching out to the Israeli consulate or embassy before booking a flight.