Holiday Travel Chaos: Americans Stranded as Israel Flights Canceled Amid War

Ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran has disrupted holiday travel plans for thousands of Americans, forcing some to take dangerous alternate routes through Egypt and Jordan while others cancel once-in-a-lifetime celebrations. Flight restrictions at Israel's main airport have created a bottleneck, with only one flight per hour allowed and just 50 passengers per departing plane.

Americans with ties to Israel are facing unprecedented disruptions to their holiday travel plans as ongoing warfare forces flight cancellations and dangerous detours through neighboring countries. The conflict has left families separated during Passover, forced the cancellation of milestone celebrations, and created a travel nightmare for thousands trying to reach loved ones.

Lily Feinstein, a 20-year-old student from Dallas studying at Reichman University in Herzliya, described her harrowing journey home through Egypt after multiple flight cancellations. “My biggest fear throughout the whole war was getting stuck outside of the country rather than in the country,” she explained upon arriving at a New York airport. “There was never a moment where I felt scared or something was going to happen to me. But rather, if I had to leave, what was going to happen then?”

Feinstein had originally booked flights with El Al, but repeated cancellations forced her to make an alternative choice. “I had a couple of flights booked with El Al. My flights kept getting canceled,” she said. Despite flights still operating from Ben-Gurion Airport, options were severely limited. “I just didn’t want to risk booking another flight and maybe getting stuck again. I just made the decision to go through Egypt.”

Her experience at Cairo’s airport highlighted the chaos now surrounding Israel-related travel. “It was an experience for sure. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it,” Feinstein noted. “It’s not a good feeling when you don’t have the IDF behind you, and you’re alone.”

She described overwhelming conditions at the Egyptian terminal. “There was nobody else in the airport there. It was literally just Jews. There was not even one Egyptian person in the airport other than the staff and security, but it was chaos. Lines at the door. Their airport’s not equipped to handle what they’re doing.”

Meanwhile, Tziril Yurman, who grew up in Israel and now works in New York City’s Upper East Side in nursing home admissions and marketing, faced her own disappointment when her March 25 El Al flight to visit elderly parents in Jerusalem was canceled at 6 pm.

“Complete and utter devastation,” Yurman said about her reaction. “I felt like I could not get home. I grew up there. But besides that, it’s home for every Jew, and I still feel stranded.” Having traveled without issues during COVID and after October 7, this situation felt different. “This is the first time where an Israeli, a Jew, who’s holding an Israeli passport, cannot get home.”

Instead of Jerusalem, Yurman will join her sister at a large Passover program in Cancun, Mexico, hosting over 1,500 attendees. Security concerns weigh heavily as tourist destinations “are definitely being looked at,” with organizers increasing escorts and patrols.

In California, attorney and mother Melissa Cohen watched more than a year of planning for her daughter Alexa’s bat mitzvah celebration in Israel crumble. “We actually hadn’t, I hadn’t been to Israel in over 30 years before last year for our spring break,” she said. After visiting Israel following October 7 events, the family felt compelled to return.

With Israel “being vilified for everything” in media coverage and Gaza war headlines dominating news, Cohen and her husband wanted to show their daughters the country firsthand. “We wanted to take our family for the first time last year, so that we could see for ourselves, so that we could be there, so that we could support Israel, and give our tourism dollars to Israel, and give our children a sense of connection,” she explained. The spring break trip succeeded: “All of my girls, 16, 12, and 10, fell in love with the country, and felt so connected.”

They departed Israel already planning the bat mitzvah return. “Before we touched down on American soil, we sent a note to all of our friends saying next year in Jerusalem,” Cohen remembered. The planned celebration included Tel Aviv beaches, desert excursions, Bedouin tent experiences, and a Western Wall bat mitzvah ceremony. “This was really going to be the trip of a lifetime, in a way,” she said. “Being there with all of these people together, our family and friends traveling together, having one experience together, might not ever happen again.”

However, escalating conflict with Iran changed everything. As Israel’s military campaign intensified and missiles flew, government authorities imposed strict Ben-Gurion airport limitations: only one hourly departure to limited destinations like Athens and New York, with just 50 passengers permitted on each Tel Aviv departure.

“The vast majority of future bookings, both incoming and outgoing, has ground to a halt,” said Mark Feldman, CEO of Ziontours Jerusalem, describing a tourism sector “paralyzed by uncertainty.” Tens of thousands of Israelis remain stranded overseas, primarily in North America and the Far East, while organized tours have virtually disappeared.

Cohen monitored these developments with increasing anxiety. “Starting with the moment we attacked Iran,” she said, “I thought, OK, well, this will be just like the 12-day war last year. They’re even weaker than they were then, and this should be over soon, and this is good news, because this gives us time … and we’re good to go.” However, each day diminished that hope. She and approximately 40 relatives and friends from Houston, California, New York and Boston experienced “whiplash”—alternating between thinking “maybe this is going to happen” and “there’s not a chance.”

Ultimately, airlines made the decision for them. As international carriers suspended Israel routes and remaining seats disappeared, Cohen watched her carefully orchestrated celebration fall apart. “They canceled flights, and then it just became very clear, I would say, seven, maybe 10 days ago, it became very clear that this was not going to happen,” she said. Passover and Easter travel plans like hers, typically booked a year in advance, “have crumbled,” Feldman observed, either due to airline suspensions or because travelers “have chosen not to be in Israel during a war.”

Despite the disruption, Yurman echoes Cohen’s commitment to supporting Israel. “Support the Jewish economy, the Jewish Israeli economy,” she urged. “Support any Israeli thing, anything you can, if it’s something online.” She orders flowers and gifts for family there, encouraging visitors to purchase local items—falafel, ice cream, or larger purchases—to help stores and tourism recover.

Financial consequences have varied. Cohen’s tour guide confirmed hotel reservations were refundable, providing some relief. However, her decision to save on airfare through a third-party ticket agency backfired. “That is not refundable,” she said. Rather than a simple airline credit, the company imposed “a $400 processing fee, plus a $300 commission fee on each ticket that they’re going to take.” Reflecting on the experience, she acknowledged, “In retrospect, I probably should have just gone directly through United. … I was overly confident that nothing was going to happen.”

Cohen’s miscalculation reflects broader assumptions that Israel’s skies had cleared. “Since the war last year in the summer, everything has been great,” she said. Tourism had rebounded, hotels required seven-night minimum stays over Passover, and prices rose sharply as if the crisis had ended. It seemed the country had recovered and tourists were no longer afraid to visit.

Currently, much of the travel infrastructure has stalled. Feldman reports the government has provided no direct assistance, while the “one flight an hour” restriction leaves countless travelers with “no ability” to return home. Arkia, an Israeli domestic carrier, now operates solely from JFK to Larnaca, Cyprus, due to landing slot shortages. The US Embassy transports American citizens by bus to Amman’s airport in Jordan. “Short of a death certificate or a high-level El Al frequent flier number, just getting out this week is almost a miracle,” Feldman said.

Feldman identified price gouging amid the chaos: El Al’s $999 NYC economy tickets sell out immediately, with “finding space more than one or two days in advance … not possible,” while Amman’s Royal Jordanian charges $2,900 one-way to JFK, “way more than their normal fare.” Oil price increases from the war haven’t impacted costs yet, but “will affect future ticket prices, when the system reboots,” he added.

Alternative routes through Egypt, Jordan, and Cyprus that Feinstein and others used have become essential lifelines. International journalists enter Israel via land crossings, and Feldman reported “zero reports of any problems (other than a request for tips).” Yet these paths are hardly comfortable. Feinstein said she “definitely felt safer in Israel” than in an Egyptian airport crowded with anxious passengers. Now heading to Florida to meet her family, she’s already concerned about the return trip. “I don’t want to have to go through Egypt or Jordan again,” she said. “I’m hoping I don’t have to do that again.”

Yurman plans to return immediately after Passover, regardless of obstacles. “Without a question,” she said.

Cancellations have altered sacred family celebrations. Rather than celebrating in Jerusalem at the Kotel, Cohen will now hold her daughter’s bat mitzvah at home. “I’ve spent the past week to two weeks planning a new bat mitzvah for April 11, the same day it was supposed to be,” she said. The location has shifted from Jerusalem’s Old City to the family’s Bay Area backyard.

“Our whole family that was coming to Israel is coming here,” Cohen explained. “Everyone had tickets, they took the time off, they were planning to be away. And we’re going do it here,” she said. “…It’s going to be a very different experience. But I think it will be special, nonetheless.”

Cohen acknowledges that increasing antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment have heightened concerns about Jewish community gatherings. She notes “a lot of concern” about attacks on Jews, but maintains, “I don’t think it’s going to change how I live my life. That’s just not how I operate daily.” Some friends are “very worried, very concerned,” and “don’t like going to synagogues now for bar mitzvahs” or attending events with Jewish speakers. “I just can’t live that way,” she said. Yurman shared similar concerns but remained determined.

The women say the war itself remains difficult for Americans to understand. As a communications student, Feinstein believes many in the US only see missiles and violence. “They think that Israel is a scary place, with missiles all the time, and there’s no fun,” she said. Most “don’t even know you can study in English in Israel,” or that young people like her can lead normal lives between sirens. She uses her Instagram platform to “showcase Israel in a positive light and all the fun and everything that you can do in Israel,” hoping to make it feel “not so far away and foreign.”

Yurman said the public misses the constant reality of sirens and shelter runs. “Just turn on the alarm on your phone, … just feel it with them,” she said. “You don’t have to run to a shelter, but just think that that many times people with children, old people, young people, babies have to run into shelters.”

Feinstein views the Iran conflict in broad terms. “Without being too political, I would say that Iran has been given too much military power,” she said. In her opinion, Israel is “fighting a war on behalf of the whole world and protecting the whole world,” including Americans who may not realize they’re being defended. “Iran having any sort of nuclear weapon is terrifying for the world,” she added. “Even right now, in this exact moment, it sucks that we have to deal with the consequences of war and fighting and all that. But in the long term, being able to fight this war now will protect the Jews, and honestly, everybody around the world, hopefully for forever.”

Yurman agreed the war is “definitely necessary” and overdue, calling Iran a global threat that could lead to another 9/11. “I definitely think it’s doing what it should,” she said. “It’s a legit threat, not only to Israel, but to the world.”

Cohen expresses skepticism about Washington’s messaging. “I don’t think Americans understand it. I don’t think anyone understands it,” she said regarding the Iran war. “The messaging that is coming out of our administration is inaccurate, and untruthful, and bombastic. And so, I think it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not.” Nevertheless, she believes the stakes could justify the campaign. “This could create a Middle East that is safer, not just for Israel and Jews, but safer for the world,” she said, while adding, “as to whether or not that is actually going to come to fruition, I don’t think anyone knows.”

Back in Israel, the impact of grounded aircraft and empty tour buses will persist long after the holidays. Feldman predicts outbound travel will recover within “one or two months” after a ceasefire, but inbound tourism will require “a solid six months” to rebound. Hotels and guides will suffer longest, as many abandon the industry “for stability, just as before.” Nothing will normalize “until the war has ended in Iran and missiles stop being fired from Lebanon,” he said. Yurman urged supporters to help accelerate recovery: “When you end up taking a trip to Israel, you end up buying things in Israel. … Just support them.”

Feinstein is already looking beyond this Passover, balancing her activism and studies with her desire to remain rooted in Israel. After October 7, she co-founded Mini Mitzvahs, a nonprofit that has “fed 60,000 soldiers on the front lines and visited injured soldiers in the hospital.” She and her friends have fulfilled “about 500 to 600 personal wish list requests” for wounded troops from Gaza and Lebanon and organized three barbecues on an air force base, feeding “over 100 pilots and 400 F-16 plane technicians.”

For now, her focus is more immediate: spend Passover with her family in Florida, then somehow return to school without another difficult detour. “I think anyone who wanted to get out was able to get out,” she said, noting that most students leaving Israel now are doing so for spring break, not from fear. “They’re not running away. They’re not fleeing. They just want to be with their families for this time.”

After Passover concludes, Feinstein will face her greatest concern: repeating the exhausting journey back to Israel. “I definitely felt safer in Israel” than traveling, she said. The challenge now isn’t the desire to be there—but finding a way to return without another “experience” she hopes never to repeat.