As summer holidays approach, Israelis are booking overseas trips at a strong pace, helped by improved security conditions, high hotel prices in Israel, weaker dollar and euro exchange rates, and a broad desire to get away. Within one week, two new platforms went live, reflecting the growing battle between airlines and credit card issuers over who controls the traveler first, before customers default to global booking sites such as Booking and Skyscanner.
Isracard launched TimeOff, a site that bundles flights, hotels and related vacation services. El Al introduced EL AL Travel, a companion product that brings hotel bookings into its frequent-flyer club. TimeOff targets Isracard and American Express customers and includes travel insurance, attractions, eSIM service, Ben Gurion Airport benefits and a vacation loan. El Al says members can book hotels through EL AL Travel, earn and redeem points, and turn lodging into part of their rewards accumulation.
The competition is tied to a major shift in the flight-card market, as the FLY CARD, which has about 550,000 customers, is moving from Cal to Isracard. Cal says its relationship with El Al ends in late 2026, and it is offering FLY CARD customers a transfer to FlyAll, a new program that presents earning as cash value usable for flights, hotels and vacations instead of frequent-flyer points. Isracard has answered with an aggressive campaign of its own, presenting the new FLY CARD cards as a bridge between El Al’s club and its broader credit-and-benefits ecosystem.
The companies are trying to reach consumers earlier, not just at the final payment stage after a hotel has already been chosen, but during search, comparison, insurance, car rental and attraction booking. Whoever captures that phase can profit not only from the card transaction, but also from the surrounding vacation spend.
For now, TimeOff does not offer a central accumulation model like Cal or Max, though it does provide services and benefits, including a bonus of 10,000 points for FLY CARD users. FlyAll is positioned as a direct alternative to El Al’s frequent-flyer points, with shekel-based accumulation that can be redeemed on Cal’s travel site. Max says its platform is not tied to one airline club and lets users book flights and hotels from all companies, with points converted into cashback for the next booking.
An industry source said these perks alone will not be enough to rival popular travel sites. The Israeli firms will need larger hotel inventories, connections to suppliers with broad global hotel agreements, real-time AI tools to scan multiple price sources, and lower commissions to show customers cheaper prices. Cal is already trying to do that by promising to match any cheaper offer a customer finds on Booking.
