According to a recent report in Haaretz, El Al is going to charge members of its frequent flier club 10 or 20 frequent flier points for every call to the airline concerning matters that can be handled online. In other words, El Al is going to penalise its most loyal customers for having the temerity to phone because they want to speak to a human voice, or even because they don’t own a computer.

The charges will apply to such requests as issuing bonus tickets. Good job I read about this before I called El Al about the availability of bonus seats to London otherwise I may have lost the very points that would enable me to get the free flight.

El Al says the new system will allow the airline to provide quick responses and high availability at its frequent flier customer service center for those who require information or services from staff.

Ah, I see. It’s all for our benefit. Thanks, El Al.