As of today, October 25, 2023, Israel continues to be at war with Hamas as they approach the end of week three of the conflict this coming weekend. At the time of this update, the ground invasion has still not taken place and many of the world leaders are working behind the scenes to see if the invasion can be delayed. Please continue to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, Psalm 122. We are praying for the release of the hostages and for a peaceful resolution in the days and weeks to come.
We are continuing to work with trips scheduled through January 2024 to reschedule them for a later date of travel. We have also seen many new requests and inquiries from travelers wanting to continue with their travel plans in 2024 and 2025. We would like to reiterate that imagine Tours & Travel has been rescheduling trips but has not cancelled any trips. Imagine has been following updates with the airlines and their policies through December 2023, as many of the airlines are set to resume their flights, as noted below. Any trips that have been rescheduled have been communicated directly with your tour leader (group organizer), along with options for the trip to be reschedule to a future date to Israel or to an alternate destination.
All other trips that have been “rescheduled” are at the choice and discretion of our tour leaders. Imagine has no intent to cancel any trips past the end of December 31, 2023, meaning that if your tour leader states otherwise, this is their decision and not imagines’. If your tour dates have remained unchanged and you prefer to travel at a later date, you are welcome to contact our office with this request. Please feel free to reach out to your Operations Representative if you have any questions or concerns regarding your upcoming tour, rescheduling status or more.
Regarding the flights as mentioned previously, we have remained in direct contact with our airline partners and their representatives. In the event that anything should change, we will continue to remain in direct contact with your tour leader (group organizer) to provide them with an update. Should the flights be cancelled, we will discuss their options to move forward with future dates as many airlines are currently providing credits or refunds. Not all airlines are providing refunds, some are only providing credits/vouchers for future travel. Many of the airlines have chosen to address the ongoing crisis on a weekly basis, meaning that this information is fluid as well as limited. Below, we’ve enclosed the most up-to-date information regarding several of the major airlines who fly to Tel Aviv:
Air Canada Flights to TLV suspended through November 30th, reinstatement TBD
Air France Flights to TLV suspended, reinstatement TBD
American Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through December 4th
British Airways Flights to TLV suspended through October 27th
Delta Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through December 4th
El Al Flights to TLV continued only for Israeli citizens and military personnel
Lufthansa Flights to TLV suspended through October 31st
Turkish Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through November 30th, reinstatement TBD
United Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through November 15th
We also have groups scheduled to travel to Jordan & Egypt later this month, and though Israel has been greatly impacted, tourism to Egypt and Jordan is still happening. We are in very close contact with our office partners in Amman as well as Cairo and have been monitoring the tourism and State Department updates. It may be surprising to some, but there are many Americans living in both countries and in addition, tourism continues as normal. Keep in mind there are advisories that have been in place for months, prior to the war and these advisories are for areas that we DO NOT VISIT with our groups.
The below is an excerpt from an article published by Axios:
(https://www.axios.com/2023/10/24/us-citizens-israel-gaza-lebanon-egypt-jordan)
Egypt and Jordan
While both Egypt and Jordan border Israel and the Palestinian territories, there are not currently any indications that civilians in either country will be directly affected by the fighting.
- About 60,000 American citizens reside permanently in Egypt and hundreds of thousands of Americans visit Egypt annually, according to the U.S. Embassy in Egypt
- Thousands of U.S. citizens also live in Jordan or visit as tourists each year, though the State Department did not provide Axios with an estimate as to how many.
- The State Department has a level 3 travel advisory in place for Egypt, cautioning U.S. citizens to reconsider travel, and a level 2 advisory for Jordan. Neither advisory is linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Worth noting: A State Department spokesperson told Axios they could not provide figures for how many U.S. citizens visit or live in particular countries.
- “U.S. citizens are not required to register their travel to a foreign country with us, so we cannot track how many U.S. citizens have gone to a specific country,” the spokesperson added.