Can anyone sum up what ID90 is? It's basically like reading hyroglifics to me....thanks.

 

I'm not an airline bubba, but from deductive reasoning I think it's a 90% discount...


or a 90% fare...

adios

 

It is 90% off a fare, hence ID90. There are also ID75 agreements between some airlines as well. Those are really not worth it. There are usually fare stipulations, like a Y or B fare, the expensive ones. Sometimes it really does not work out that well. You can get cheap confirmed fares for a better deal at times and at least you have a confirmed seat.

 

ID90's are 90% discount off of the full walk-up fare. They are mostly being replaced by ZED fares...similar concept but ZEDs are based on mileage not walk-up fare, so it's usually better for the traveller (you don't get hosed on a high-priced business route).

If you have to get to cousin Sue's wedding in sacramento, probably just JS or buy a ticket on SWA. But if you're going overseas for three weeks and have some flexibility in your schedule, ZEDs can save you a large chunk of change. Just monitor the loads in advance so you know where you stand.

ID90/ZED have lower priority than company employees who are non-reving.

 

To give a rough idea on the price difference between an ID90 and a ZED;

LAX to AKL (non-stop) on Qantas using a ZED, $215 roundtrip.
LAX to AKL (non-stop) on Air NewZealand using and ID90, $550 roundtrip.

 

That is actually an awesome ID90 price of only $550 roundtrip to AKL. I had $550 ID90 quotes for domestic tickets when I was still at the airlines. ID90 is almost pure crap. ZED is very nice for international like dojetdriver said. I used to do ZED fares to Asia all the time for less than $250 roundtrip (haven't done it for about a year and a half). I would suggest finding destinations that are served multiple times per day by the same airline from the same place like LAX, SFO, or JFK and then call their reservations line and ask for flight load info. If you can't get multiple flights from the same carrier to where you want, then get ZED fares on other airlines that do the same flight from the same place also and then get a refund on the unused fares when you come back. This worked great for me. I would also suggest doing the majority of your ZED travels off-season if possible to help ensure you will get on since they are still standby seats.

 

Don't forget, ID90 and ZED fare are boarded dead last. After employees, family, retirees, and buddies.

If you're going international watch out for taxes. They are not included in the ID90 or ZED calculations. I went BOS-FRA on LH last week, $57 each way, plus about $25 in taxes each way. Had I gone to LHR, I was looking at $186 in taxes alone...

 

thanks for the info, do most companies that a guy could fly for qualify for ID90/ZED tickets?

 

I just bought an ID95 from Delta a few weeks ago. It was around $53 HNL-LAX. Each airline has different rules about who can and cannot fly on their carrier with ID90 priveleges. Some won't take travel companions (not sure if that's just a CAL thing), some won't take parents (Philippines Airlines), some will take parents and children but they must fly ID75.

If you're an airline employee I understand that you can just walk up to every ticket counter (that's exactly what I do) and ask if there are empty seats and their personal opinion of whether or not you can get on the flight, space available. Some airlines won't give you numbers, which can be kind of a pain in the butt if you have to be on duty in say, 24-36 hours.

You buy ID90's at your company's ticket counter.

Hope this helps,

Chris