From there the news spread like wildfire: El Al flights between November and March from several cities in America including New York were going for less than $400 on some sites. Getting the airline’s winter special at $800 is a good deal – it’s usually closer to $900 or $1000 – so this was indeed a bargain.

Within about an hour Dan’s Deals was flooded. The site usually gets 30000 hits daily but on Monday so many people — 135 000 to be exact — visited for information and updates his server couldn’t handle the traffic and he had to take it down.

“It just snowballed” the 27-year-old Cleveland resident says with a grin.

El Al hasn’t confirmed the number but rumor has it that more than 5000 tickets were booked via Expedia Orbitz and other agencies. Daniel booked tickets for Pesach. (He ended up cancelling them because the trip didn’t work with his schedule.) Daniel also booked two flights for his Israeli contractor one for a visit another for Yom Tov. “I called him over right away ” Daniel says. “Right now he’s very happy he’s working for me!”

He knows someone who called El Al and told a manager he felt bad taking advantage of the price. “The manager told him ‘Don’t worry about it enjoy Eretz Yisrael.’ ” Later hundreds of people posted that they had booked some for 25 family members to attend a well-timed simchah.

 

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