El Al expands into travel bookings, but a new points bonus is limited to Isracard holders

El Al on Sunday expanded beyond selling airline tickets and launched a new hotel-booking platform, with plans to add attractions, concerts, sports events and other activities abroad. The company says the goal is to let customers arrange much more of a vacation through El Al’s systems instead of splitting bookings among multiple websites and providers.

The main draw is a new offer of 10,000 frequent-flyer points for customers who book hotels through the platform, but the bonus is available only to holders of El Al’s FLY CARD issued by Isracard. Cardholders who still have FLY CARD accounts with Cal are not eligible.

The move comes several months after El Al transferred the FLY CARD program from Cal to Isracard, and appears to be another step in pushing cardholders toward the new arrangement. Cal customers can still earn and redeem frequent-flyer points through the end of the year, but several new benefits tied to El Al partnerships are already being reserved exclusively for Isracard users.

The new service, called EL AL Travel, is available on the company’s website and app and includes access to about 1.5 million hotels worldwide. Customers can also earn points and diamonds in the Matmid frequent-flyer club on lodging purchases, and use accumulated points to pay for hotel bookings. El Al says it will later expand the platform to include attractions and other overseas activities, such as flights, hotels, concerts, sports games, tours and additional experiences.