Guidelines for Your Holy Land Tour

Final documents will be sent to you approximately 3 weeks before departure. This package will include: document holder, airline tickets, seat assignments, name tags, baggage tags, maps of Israel, booklet with orientations material, rooming list, hotel list, and land operator. Familiarize yourself with this material before your tour.

Obtain your passport. Check with your local post office for information on applying for a passport. If you have an existing passport, make sure it has not expired and is valid for at least 6 months after your return to the US. Do not leave your passport at home – it will not do you any good there, and its absence will prevent you from getting on the plane! Keep your passport with your ticket in your document holder.

Visitors can stay up to three months from date of arrival

Visas are not required to travel to Israel.

Immunization certificate is not required to travel to Israel.

Additional information can be found at www.travel.state.gov.

3. Baggage and Carry-ons

Check your luggage all the way to Tel Aviv. Each person can only have one checked piece of luggage weighing no more than 70 lbs and one carry-on piece in addition to a camera and a purse. (Check with airlines as weight restrictions can vary) Do not put valuable items in checked luggage (such as jewelry, cameras, etc.)

Please use the group baggage tags you receive with your final documents. This will expedite the handling of the group’s luggage during the tour. We also suggest you place your name and address on the inside of your luggage.

4. Name Tags

You will receive nametags with your final documents. Please wear them when you arrive for departure so you can be readily identified with the group and so that you can easily meet others going on the tour.

You may be subjected to thorough questioning by security agents when you check in for your flight to Israel. You should be prepared to open your checked luggage and your carry-on for inspection if asked. A security agent will ask you a number of questions about your trip to Israel. This is designed by the airlines for your safety. Please cooperate willingly and seriously. Questions may be asked such as:

· Is this your personal luggage?

· Did you personally pack it?

· Did anyone open your luggage after you packed it?

· Have you been given a package to carry for anyone?

· Why are you traveling to Israel?

· Do you know anyone in Israel?

· Do you know anyone on this tour and how did you hear about the tour?

Remember, due to extra security, check-in will take additional time. Some airlines recommend arriving up to 4 hours before departure. If arranging for a domestic connection, allow for required connecting time before your international departure. Upon your return, allow for Customs procedures in planning your flight home.

After arriving at the Tel Aviv airport, you will arrive at the new terminal at Ben Gurion airport. A long corridor will take you to customs. You will need to have your passport and declaration card (you will receive on the plane) completed, ready and available for the customs agent. You then will collect your luggage, luggage carts are available for your use, and be met by an Amiel Tours representative who will assist you through this process and lead you to the bus.

Casual, comfortable clothing is recommended on the tour. We also recommend you dress in “layers.” The mornings and evenings can be cold, and mid-day can be much warmer. Comfortable walking shoes or boots are a must for all. If you want to dress up for evening dinner, or a special occasion that is at your discretion. Modest dress is required for men and women when visiting some religious sites. Long pants for the men and skirts or long pants for the women will be required. Sleeveless dresses or shirts are not allowed for religious sites. Your guide will let you know the day before these sites will be visited. We encourage you to travel light – remember you can only have one checked piece of luggage.

We recommend you bring along zip-lock plastic bags. They always seem to come in handy for variety of reasons. A washcloth could also come in handy if the hotel furnishes only towels (the European custom).

US currency is desired and accepted. You will not need to exchange money unless you would like to. You will find money exchange places in most shipping areas. ATMs are available – be aware, they pay in local currency. Major credit cards are usually accepted for larger purchases. We recommend you take $50-$100 in one-dollar bills. Lunches, snacks, beverages, postcards, and other items are easily purchased with dollars. Five-dollar bills, ten-dollar bills and twenty dollar bills can also be used for small purchases.

Current exchange rates can be found at www.xe.com.

U..S Customs allow every traveler $400 in purchases duty free with the following restrictions:

1. You must be abroad at least 48 hours

2. $400 is based on the fair market value of the country the item was purchased in.

3. The $400 of exemptions will be covered if:

● the items accompany the returning traveler

● the items are acquired on your trip

● the items are for personal, household or gift purposes

● the items are properly recorded with the Customs Service

More information can be found at www.customs.gov.

Film is much cheaper in the US than Israel. Take whatever you are comfortable with. You can easily use a roll of 36 exposures per day. It is recommended that you not pack your film in your checkedluggage, but in your carry-on. The new x-ray system can damage film.

We will travel in a beautiful, air-conditioned motor coach bus. So that everybody gets a fair seating assignment, we suggest rotating seats once at the beginning of each day, leaving the first seats for your tour leader. You can leave things during the daytime in perfect safety on the bus. The driver always stays with the bus when we are away from it while on tour. At night, take you things off the bus and into the hotel. Please observe the departure times while on tour. A few minutes late at each site can eliminate an entire visit by the end of the day. Please be curteous to your fellow passengers and be prompt.

Food and water are safe for consumption throughout Israel. Bottled water can be purchased if you desire and is available on the bus as well as at most sites for around $1 or $2. A full Israeli buffet breakfast and dinner will be served at the hotels daily. Lunches are on your own, unless specified on your itinerary. You can plan to spend around $5-6 for a typical Israeli lunch, however in some areas lunches may cost $10-15 such as at the Dead Sea area and in the Northern part of the Galilee.

There will be some opportunity for shopping. The amount you spend will depend on what you want and how much money you have. There are vendors everywhere, however, your touring time is limited so please consider others on your tour and observe the bus departure time and each site.

American appliances run on 110 amps. In Israel they use 220 current. An adapter and converter are needed for most electrical appliances.

There will be an opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River. If you desire to be baptized, bring clothing than can get wet. Also, have a pair of old tennis shoes to walk into the water with – the area is too slick for bare feet at the baptismal site. There is a small fee of $5 or $6 to rent a white robe and for the use of the locker room at the site.

Your tour leader will handle tipping for the whole tour. That cost has been included in your tour package. However, should you request personal services apart from the service given to the group (such as hotel room service), tipping would be your responsibility. All service personnel in the tourist industry depend on tips for their income. Those tipped include: tour guide, bus drivers, transfer guides, porters, waiters and waitresses, headwaiters, reception desk personnel, maids, and anyone that performs a service for the group.

Carry your passport with you at all times. Security in your hotel rooms is not guaranteed, although we have had no problems over the years. Leave expensive jewelry at home. Don’t leave money, checks, cameras, tape recorders, purses, or things of value in your room unattended. Some hotels are equipped with safes in the rooms for your use.

You have received a tour itinerary in the promotional brochure. We make every effort to follow the order given, except on occasion where making change would be helpful. We will however, make every attempt to visit every place listed, even if the sequence is changed. In the event the tour guide feels it would be best to eliminate a site listed due to any unforeseen reason, it would be replaced with another site.

Please advise us of any special occasion that will occur during tour. We’d like to know what the occasion is and the date.

If you have any special needs, please let us know and we will make every effort to accommodate your request.

Your pastor may have a book of recommendation to prepare you for your tour. There are many available in your local bookstore. One we like to recommend is Baedeker’s Israel Guide. Be sure the book you choose has been printed in the last 3 or 4 years. These books will give you an excellent background in preparations for what you will visit. We have also provided a list of scripture reference in this site for you to review before your tour.

It will be helpful to take pen and paper or a small tape recorder to take notes at the different sites.