Just finished my first flight since Corona. I had some work that needed my attention in the Philippines so I flew out there from TLV.
I spent 80,000 AC miles for a one stop with Etihad through Abu Dhabi in J and return with EK through Dubai. I paid cash for EK J and upgraded for 50k miles to First. Sitting in Tel Aviv and checking in to a flight to Abu Dhabi with Etihad and the counters next to me were flights to Cairo was just surreal to see it. Etihad uses the Dan lounge in TLV and its as nasty as it always is. It was peak lunch time and all they served was Hummus and crackers. I mean jeez. Get a grip.
The flight to AUH was on the 787 with lie flat seats. Its only a 3 hour flight so not much to write about. Food was ok. In AUH I got a kosher meal for supper, took a shower and hung out in the lounge for most of the long layover.
The flight to Manila was on the 777 with lie flat seats as well. Food was ok though I forgot the caterer.
Spent my time in the Hyatt Regency for 12k points a night for their club floor room. Worth every single point. Huge room, free mini bar, access to the club lounge with breakfast and free drinks every night.
Shabbos was spent at Chabad of Manila. They have really upgraded themselves over the past few years. They have build a 770 replica in the middle of Manila with multiple guest rooms inside, a restaurant, hall, beautiful shul with ezrat nashim etc...Each guest room gets a Full bed with a private bathroom/shower. Wifi is great there as well. The rabbi is a really special guy!
For the flight home as mentioned I got EK from Clark back to TLV via Dubai. Clark is a very small bare airport with absolutely no amenities. The lounge makes TLV look like Qatar lounge in Doha lol.
EK does escort you from the lounge to the plane which is nice. Once I boarded I was told that I would have the cabin to myself as there were no other passengers in F. I got 2 stewardess and a purser all to myself lol. I made up with them to eat and sleep in separate suites so I didnt have to keep changing my seat. They were more then happy to give me free PJ's/slippers and amenity kits for my wife as well which was really nice.
Food was from Stogel and barely edible. The staff was horrified by the offering and wrote a long letter to EK detailing their horror. No bread was served, no real dessert besides some fruit compote. Just a complete disappointment.
Once in Dubai I tried to get into the First Class lounge but they would not let since the connecting flight was with Fly Dubai in J. So instead I went to the EK J lounge. There I got another meal but this time from Kosher Arabia. The food was really interesting and different but not completely to my taste. showered worked and got ready for the next flight with Fly Dubai.
I got really lucky again with Fly Dubai as they operate their brand new 737-900 to Israel with lie flat seats in a mixed config of 2-2 and 1-1. I got one of the single seats and had a really comfortable flight to TLV. They also serve food from Kosher Arabia.
Landing in Israel I was through security immigration within 5 minutes. Waited 30 minutes for my luggage and then breezed through Covid testing and out of the airport.
