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We're generally fans of more options for using your points and miles. However, the title is likely a dead giveaway for how we feel about the ability to use your El Al Matmid points for Air France flights.
This is a new redemption capability, coming online just this week. And while that seems exciting, the pricing will kill any original joy you felt when learning about this redemption option.
Using El Al Matmid Points for Air France Flights
As of yet, we haven't found redemption options for Air France business class using El Al points. Thus, let's focus on the economy redemption and its…rather bad pricing.
You can pay a staggering 132,103 points for this nonstop flight from Paris (CDG) to Tel Aviv (TLV), plus about $126 in taxes and fees. Flight time? Just over four hours.
That's a pretty atrocious price, requiring over 31,000 points per hour of flying time. And this appears to be an elevated price for partner flights because El Al charges much less for its own flight on the same day.
For the El Al flight, you'll pay the same amount of taxes and fees but less than 50,000 points — under 40% of what you'd redeem for the Air France flight.
To book the exact same Air France flight through Flying Blue, you'd pay 69,500 miles + $99.30. That's an increased price because the flight is departing in just over two weeks.
However, if you've got some flexibility in travel dates, you can find CDG to TLV for 22,000 Flying Blue miles for a nonstop flight. Pay just 20,000 miles with Flying Blue if you'll accept a connecting itinerary.
And this will surprise everyone, but you can find fantastic pricing from Delta on this route. How does 25k in economy or 42,500 in business sound?
I had to check that Delta wasn't missing some zeros here.
Related: You Can Now Book El Al Award Flights Using Delta SkyMiles. Here Are the New Rates.
Our Take
Suffice it to say, El Al's pricing to use points for an Air France flight is “nice to know, never to be used.” The pricing is inflated. Heck, a program we routinely chastise for inflated pricing (Delta SkyMiles) is running a bargain-basement deal in comparison. That should tell you something.
If you read nothing else, read this: It's possible to redeem El Al Matmid points for Air France flights, but please don't.
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