Flight to Israel and back with El Al
Shalom everyone! I was scrolling through the topics on the forum now and saw a lot of questions regarding the passage I checked at the airport. I want to share my recent experience. Perhaps I will make life a little easier for tourists who are about to fly to Israel or answer many questions. I apologize in advance if anyone is bored by my story.
I flew with a friend on July 7 from Pulkovo-2 airport. We flew with El Al. Last time we had Russia, but that is a completely different story : ). Our flight was at 9:00. We arrived in 3 hours, as expected, in order to have time to pass the very “individual interview”. Our mothers and my young man saw us off (this is very important for further narration, believe me). We said goodbye for a long time, hugged, kissed and realized that it was time...
As soon as Anya (this is my friend) and I approached the place where the interview was taking place, two employees of the Security Service of the El Al airline (hereinafter referred to as SB) immediately moved towards us. One whispered loudly in the ear of the other: "Sisters? " We shook our heads left and right to make it clear that we weren't. To which he replied in surprise, “Yes, okay? ”. This question accompanied us all three weeks of vacation in Israel! ! After we were asked who wants to go to talk to whom. A rather strange question, it seems to me : ) I eventually went to the one who was very surprised that we were not relatives.
It all started with standard questions: who are you flying to? Who are you to each other? Have you known each other for a long time? Who was packing the suitcase? Did they ask you to send something?
Looking ahead, I explain that we flew to Anya's relatives for a week or two, after which we planned to move to hotels in Netanya, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and Eilat. Considering the fact that I am an employee of the Classic Travel tour operator in Israel, so we can assume that we combined business with pleasure : ) I did not prepare vouchers for hotels - I remembered only the dates of my stay in hotels that I booked before departure. I didn’t book hotels in Netanya, because. I didn’t know when we would leave our hospitable relatives and whether we would make it to Netanya at all. And I didn’t decide with Eilat in advance - I wasn’t sure that we would want to leave the Dead Sea after the planned two days.
I told all this to the security officer, and also gave him my business card - I hoped that this would help to avoid a long conversation. I hoped in vain : ) He was very surprised that I did not know where I would live in Eilat. Then followed a request to show a voucher at least for those hotels that have already been confirmed. I just had reservation numbers in a note on my phone. I showed them to him. And then the question: “Why are there 6 numbers here, and here are 5? ” Eee. . . I was also asked to show my work mail - who writes what. But I only have a personal email on my phone, so I showed it . . There was no crime there - only new letters from Sportmaster and Bukvoed : )
The security officer also asked me to call my mother and tell her not to go anywhere. He asked why I am without a husband. And somehow I am not married yet : ) She answered that the young man was working, so he could not fly... “Where does he work? How long have you known him? Did he send anything? Is he with your mom now too? How can I recognize your mother among the mourners? I described everything, he took my passport and left. He was followed by an employee of the Security Council, who talked with my girlfriend.
We waited for 10 minutes... They returned and immediately stepped aside, whispered and approached us. They asked me to show all the documents - an air ticket, an old passport (it has a stamp about a previous visit to Israel). The suitcase was not opened, only a special device was carried out along the handle and on the sides. Further, these "prints" were placed in some kind of apparatus. Then they stuck stickers with some notes on the passport and let us go in peace : )
After checking in for the flight, I called my mother, and she told me that a VERY polite and pleasant man asked a few questions like is it true that I am her daughter, who paid for my vacation, am I studying, is my young man standing next to her and all that spirit.
“Well, Anyutka, ” I said, “since this is not the first time we, dear fair-haired fairies flying to Israel, have been so checked, imagine what adventures await those who arouse suspicion! But we will fly in full confidence that everything will be calm on board throughout the entire flight. Let's go to duty-free, I want chocolate!
Thus began our journey to the Holy Land. . .
About what hotels I lived in, what people I came across on the way, what I saw and how my 23 days of an unforgettable vacation went, I will definitely tell in the following reviews and stories. And now a few words about our way home.
To begin with, in addition to the suitcase, each had a common bag with candles, dates, nuts... I was very worried about the question of whether it was possible to carry Dead Sea cosmetics with me in hand luggage, because we wanted to receive a refund of part of the VAT (goods with Tax Free). I was not even too lazy to go to the El Al office in Eilat at the Shalom shopping center on the eve of departure, but they did not give me a clear answer. We decided to put all the cosmetics in a suitcase and, if the head of the Security Service shift allows us to carry it into the cabin (and we were promised that he remembered us), then we will simply put everything in hand luggage.
Although the C-HOTEL is very close to the airport, we still used the transfer. It was not worth the money, so why go on foot with heavy suitcases? We entered the building of the Eilat airport at exactly noon, 2 hours before the start of check-in for our flight. The registration had just begun and the security officer asked us a few questions on duty. Then he went somewhere, came and went, and in the end asked to go through the inspection. I checked everything in my hand luggage. Carefully examined the camera. He asked to get everything out of his pockets, shoes were also shown . . They did not open the suitcase, which surprised us very much. Niv, that was the name of the security officer, kindly took a heavy bag with souvenirs and asked us to go through to get a boarding pass. We approached the counter where a Russian-speaking employee of the airport was sitting. To our question, what to do with the return of Tax Free for cosmetics, she replied that if the amount is small, then at Ben Gurion Airport they often simply return the money and even the goods do not need to be shown. We had a small amount - about $ 40 - and we decided to take a chance. Well there is no way. Anya had an overweight of about 6 kg, but they didn’t demand payment for the overweight - they said that it was trifles and nothing needed to be paid : ) We were also warned that the zip locks of the suitcase could not be closed. And we didn't intend to. Neve kindly escorted us almost to the waiting room and we said goodbye... But not for long. After some time, he returned and said that we had creams and honey in our suitcase (what a news! : ) ). They can't send them in the general baggage, so they will pack them in a separate box, which we must receive upon arrival in Tel Aviv. After some time, he told us that we would still get our honey and creams in St. Petersburg.
It takes about 50 minutes to fly to Tel Aviv, the plane is beautiful - a Boeing 737. On board everyone is treated to some water and cookies : ) We flew to Ben Gurion, went down the ladder and boarded a shuttle that brought us to Terminal 1 (for domestic flights) . Almost at the entrance stood a girl and very loudly shouted “Transit! Transit! " It is impossible not to notice it or bypass it. Everyone who flies further was counted 10 times, then put into the same shuttle and taken to the international Terminal-3. There we went through passport control, which took a couple of minutes and immediately got into the duty-free zone !!!!!
We didn't get Tax Free. We did not put stamps on the check (the place of stamping is located on the side, where they register for flights). Plus, we had nothing to show - not a single cream was in hand luggage. Well there is no way! : )
I didn’t leave the thought of what to do with honey and creams . . but I’m not from the timid, I went to find out. I found the El Al office, explained to them, showed the card that Niv gave us in Eilat and they assured me that we would receive everything in St. Petersburg. And so it happened, I’ll say looking ahead : ) The plane was full of cheerful Russian-speaking Israelis, who almost all flew to someone’s wedding and discussed it very noisily with the whole plane : ) We were deliciously fed, I ate chicken with couscous, drank wine red dry and apple juice. All flight attendants offered drinks. They were very kind and friendly. We arrived in St. Petersburg 15 minutes late. When we passed passport control, our luggage was already waiting for us. We had a blue rag bag tied to our suitcases with SECURITY written on it. One jar of honey broke : ( But the wine, creams and other jars remained intact!
Well, that's all, I thought... No matter how much I missed home, but upon arrival at Pulkovo I really wanted to go back . . The sun, the sea, people who are always smiling . . If there is heaven on earth, then this is definitely Israel . .
I don’t understand people who, after all these inspections, shout at the top of their lungs that they never go to Israel again! Or those who have never been there, but have read "horror stories"... I will not condemn anyone, let alone discuss them. All these are such trifles compared to the emotions that you get while in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and at the Wailing Wall, plunging into the waters of the Jordan River or swimming in the Dead Sea . .
