El Al to Nigerian pilgrims: No way on our flights

by Tom Johansmeyer on

El Al, Israel‘s airline, has banned thousands of pilgrims from Nigeria from traveling to Israel. Security is the reason given. The Tourism Ministry, according to the Associated Press, says that this move will screw up the travel plans for 28,000 Nigerian Christians from Abuja in the next few months.

The Nigerian pilgrimage season starts in late October and continues through January, and a subsidiary of El Al was hoping to cover the route during this period. However, there have been concerns about airport security after a Nigerian man was accused of trying to blow up a plane bound for the United States using a bomb hidden under his clothes.

[photo by Deanster1983 via Flickr]

Owner books entire business class cabin for scared pooch

by Scott Carmichael on

Buying more than one seat for yourself on your flight is nothing special – some people are even forced to do it. But to book an entire cabin just for yourself and your pooch – that is one I’d never heard of before.

That is exactly how a lady dealt with her scared dog last week.

Apparently her boxer is scared of flying, and fellow passengers freak the little four legged friend out a bit – so his owner purchased all 16 business class seats on her Tel Aviv – Paris flight (and back). At $2000 per round trip, that equals a “mere” $32,000, or about the same as a decent size family car.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against a little extra love for pets, and I can understand that some people will go to extreme lengths to keep their poodles happy, but to fork over an additional $30,000 just to keep the poor thing from freaking out, is just too much.

Me? I’d be more interested in knowing whether I can get the frequent flier points for all 32 seats.