Author Topic: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may  (Read 22058 times)

Offline Jb93davis

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Ive seen many deals by vayama.com for flights to israel. (is vayama a reliable site) the best deal though was for 780$ on transaero. Reviews online say it's a pretty pathetic service but I need to know if they're reliable and secure. I'm on a really tight budget so should I risk it? All info would be great!

Thanksl

Offline elikay

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2011, 11:21:38 AM »
just bring a parachute along

Offline Jb93davis

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2011, 11:29:40 AM »
Why. Have u ever flown them

Offline elikay

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2011, 11:34:22 AM »
no I never flew them,
but if you bring it then you're definitely safe.

Offline Jb93davis

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2011, 11:44:41 AM »
All ive heard is they have really bad service and entertainment. They've only had delays when weather was bad. They haven't had any accidents though.

Offline elikay

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2011, 11:52:05 AM »
oh well... I tried...

Offline Mikeoracle

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2011, 11:59:49 AM »
I flew them once from YUL to TLV via Russia (I forgot which city) By far the worst flying experience I have had to date.
I admit I saved $1300 on the 2 tix I bought so that helped the situation a bit, but I dont know if I could ever get myself to do that again...

Offline Dan

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2011, 12:02:48 PM »
I flew them once from YUL to TLV via Russia (I forgot which city) By far the worst flying experience I have had to date.
What happened?

I think my worst flight experience may have been on US when I flew them for free to LAS a few months ago.  I just kept saying, at least it was free and I'd get 10K CO miles for it!
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Offline Jb93davis

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2011, 12:23:19 PM »
Was the transaero flights the worst bcz of service and entertainment or bcz of delays and unreliable?

Offline Mikeoracle

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2011, 12:25:47 PM »
It was a combination of a lot of things that made it a bad experience.

As mentioned the entertainment was terrible, a few grainy screens playing old fashioned Russian movies.
They served the same kosher "meal" a few times on the way there and the way back. This consisted of frozen Tuna, stale roll and something unidentifiable that was probably supposed to be warmed somehow.
Rude in-flight service.
When we landed in Russia we were put into a big empty stuffy room with no chairs or food and made us wait there for probably 1-2 hours staring at the 4 walls- although it felt like much longer.

Finally they started processing us through security to go through the airport to the connecting flight. The sensors on the metal detectors were probably set to the highest level so that every person set them off ( -they were probably set off by the mercury we digested with the tuna). This led to the full body massage that would put the TSA to shame.
There was one woman agent there processing us and since it was a plane full of mostly frum (chassidish) Jews, you can imagine the uproar when she came at the men with her gloved hands. (The looks on their faces probably resembeled a patient going in for a colonoscopy). They could not understand why they needed to get a male agent to take over and she was actually chasing some men trying to give them the full groping..
The women also had to fight her from trying to rip their sheitels off their heads because the pins underneath were setting of the handheld wands. No sensitivity shown, and no understanding why someone wouldnt want to get half undressed in public along with the deep tissue massage...

Basically it felt like these people were used to dealing with cattle and subhumans and just didnt "get us".

I know some of the above is not an issue with "Transaero" themselves but you get why I just have a bad taste in my mouth from the whole thing. The worst part was spending a month in Israel with the looming thoughts in the back of our minds of what awaited us for the return trip.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2011, 12:29:12 PM by Mikeoracle »

Offline Dan

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2011, 12:27:53 PM »
Lol, wow...
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Offline Mikeoracle

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2011, 12:28:31 PM »
So, did US treat you worse?  ;D

Offline moish

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #12 on: March 31, 2011, 12:31:20 PM »
the way you descibe it, it seems kinda funny. i would look forward for such an exeprience

Offline AsherO

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2011, 12:51:22 PM »
It was a combination of a lot of things that made it a bad experience.

As mentioned the entertainment was terrible, a few grainy screens playing old fashioned Russian movies.
They served the same kosher "meal" a few times on the way there and the way back. This consisted of frozen Tuna, stale roll and something unidentifiable that was probably supposed to be warmed somehow.
Rude in-flight service.
When we landed in Russia we were put into a big empty stuffy room with no chairs or food and made us wait there for probably 1-2 hours staring at the 4 walls- although it felt like much longer.

Finally they started processing us through security to go through the airport to the connecting flight. The sensors on the metal detectors were probably set to the highest level so that every person set them off ( -they were probably set off by the mercury we digested with the tuna). This led to the full body massage that would put the TSA to shame.
There was one woman agent there processing us and since it was a plane full of mostly frum (chassidish) Jews, you can imagine the uproar when she came at the men with her gloved hands. (The looks on their faces probably resembeled a patient going in for a colonoscopy). They could not understand why they needed to get a male agent to take over and she was actually chasing some men trying to give them the full groping..
The women also had to fight her from trying to rip their sheitels off their heads because the pins underneath were setting of the handheld wands. No sensitivity shown, and no understanding why someone wouldnt want to get half undressed in public along with the deep tissue massage...

Basically it felt like these people were used to dealing with cattle and subhumans and just didnt "get us".

I know some of the above is not an issue with "Transaero" themselves but you get why I just have a bad taste in my mouth from the whole thing. The worst part was spending a month in Israel with the looming thoughts in the back of our minds of what awaited us for the return trip.

Awesome (and entertaining) trip report. Keep 'em coming ;)
100% of Likes will be donated to support our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael

Offline Jb93davis

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2011, 12:56:07 PM »
Was the plane full?

Offline Mikeoracle

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #15 on: March 31, 2011, 01:02:35 PM »
Quote
Was the plane full?
Yes. I would say 75% were yidden going for Tishrei and 25% were Russians getting off in Moscow (IIRC).
The 25% that understood the jokes in the movies laughed loud enough to keep the rest of us awake all night...

BTW this was about 5 years ago...

Offline Jb93davis

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #16 on: March 31, 2011, 01:34:26 PM »
all in all.  I'm booking a group rate for 14 guys from yeshiva. Is it worth the 200$ a guy to book with them. Were on such a budget that were prob sleeping 14 in a three bedroom  apt. We also don't mind a funny memory(not that it's funny at te time just it's something to remember later on)

Offline Mikeoracle

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #17 on: March 31, 2011, 04:03:26 PM »
Personally I would pay $200 more not to fly them again.
But for a group of 14 bochurim on a tight budget, as long as you bring plenty food and your own entertainment and knowing what to expect, I guess its not that bad.
Especially since my story was 5 years ago when they just started the TLV route, maybe they cleaned up a bit...

Offline Jb93davis

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #18 on: March 31, 2011, 04:35:19 PM »
Thanks do much

Offline ak619

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Re: Is transaero a reliable airline?safe? NY to israel for 780$ in may
« Reply #19 on: May 10, 2011, 09:11:40 PM »
Hey you guys.  I too have been lured by the insanely low prices on JFK-DME-TLV and back.  I am packing for my trip now.  Apparently, they have passive-aggressive baggage size and weight restrictions:  JFK-DME 32kg and 158cm, whereas DME-TLV only 20kg but 203cm.  This make zero sense to me.  Does this mean I have to abide by the lowest, if I don't want to get charged?  Has anyone experienced this?  Thanks in advance. -AK