Bumped!

Travelling from Israel to the US post-sukkos is not always fun. The flights are usually jammed-packed, and that's what I was counting on. I volunteered to get bumped.

It worked. I got bumped.

Had to wait in Ben Gurion for 5 hours or so, then take an ElAl flight to Rome. From there I got on an Alitalia flight to the US. I was on the ground in Italy for a total of 40 minutes.

No, it wasn't fun. But it was worth it for a free round-trip ticket on ElAl.

I tried getting bumped on the way there (from Newark) as well. The differences between the bumping procedure at Newark and at Ben Gurion are vast.

At Newark, after I volunteered I was told that since I may get bumped they could not check in my luggage and I would have to return in a couple of hours to a certain desk with my luggage. So I spent the next few hours lugging my luggage around the airport. Not fun.

At Ben Gurion they have a person whose sole job is to sit and keep an eye on the luggage of the potential bumpees. No need to drag it all around. So I was free to move around the terminal and look for the resturants and kiosks that were listed on the FREE MEAL VOUCHER that they gave me for being so kind as to request a free flight. It was a very nice (and kind of suprising) experience. Kudos to ElAl for getting it done the right way.