11% Student Discount on JetBlue Flights
 

http://www.jetblue.com/deals/isic/?i...HPISIC20090202

Just saw a link to the above from the home page - don't think there was any PR (yet, at least). Members of ISIC are now entitled to 11 percent off JetBlue flights...I am not familiar with this organization; maybe someone who is can provide some insight? Looks like a good deal though for students...

Nice find! ISIC (International Student Identity Card) is a student ID card for full-time students that provides discounts for students all over the world. When I was a student at Georgia Tech, they had an office on campus that processed applications. I remember the ISIC card being particularly useful in Europe, as many places only gave student discounts with an ISIC card.

I think it cost around $30 (annually), but that may have changed since the last time I got one (2001). I definitely made up the cost of the card with the discounts I got, but it was much more useful outside the US; many places in the US will give you a student discount with your regular school ID. For anyone who is interested in the card, check out the website for more info: www.isic.org.

I saw this yesterday as well. Definitely a nice deal.

The fine print says that you have to sign in to the ISIC website and then click through to the JetBlue website to book. I wonder what impact that has, if any, on the 2x TB points earning for booking online.

For folks who are ISIC-eligible and who fly, this is a phenomenal deal.

hmm i'll have to check this out. but it looks like a good deal. on a $250 ticket we can save about $25 ^ if only b6 flew to Europe or Asia...at least they have S. America with Bogota starting up.

Wanted to report that I signed up for ISIC the other day and was able to use the 11% discount. Works perfectly, however, a warning...

Because you must login through the ISIC website, it diverts you to booking through CorporateBlue and as a result, if you have Jetblue credit from a canceled flight in your TrueBlue account, you can't redeem this credit.

However, I did discover a workaround that is very YMMV. You can book using your credit card and then immediately call up JetBlue reservations and explain the situation and ask them to refund your credit card and to deduct the cost of the ticket from your TrueBlue credit. It only took 5 minutes and I did this with two different flights with the same representative!

This little card will literally save me hundreds of dollars over the next year and it only cost $25. FYI, if you happen to travel Amtrak, it also entitles you to 15% off all Amtrak tickets!

Interesting point sbm12!

Can anyone speak from experience on whether you lose the 2x TB points because you have to go through the CorporateBlue web interface to get the 11% ISIC discount?

If you do lose the 2x TB, then it becomes a really tough call about what is more valuable--11% off or 2x TB points. Can anyone venture a suggestion on how to calculate which one would be better in most scenarios?

It really depends on how you redeem your points. If you redeem your points on mostly long-haul trips (averaging about $300-400 rt), each point would be valued at $3-4. Double points on a long-haul would be 12 extra points, or $36-48, on a medium-haul 8 extra points, or $24-32, and on a short-haul 4 extra points, or $8-12. For the 11% off to be a better deal, you'd need to be spending at least $327-$436 on a long-haul, at least $218-$291 on a medium haul, or at least $72-109 on a short haul.

If you're redeeming your points for a shorter trip (where the valuation of the points might only be $1.50-2.00/pt) the threshold for using the 11% off decreases, making it ever increasingly useful to use this discount over the 2x TB points.

Also, you have to remember to include your value of the flexibility of the extra cash in your pocket over the relatively unflexible TB award.

Very good analysis.

It seems that on my recent BOS to OAK booking for $200 OW, I may have made the wrong choice of using CompanyBlue (assuming using CompanyBlue negates the double TrueBlue points). This would work out to be a savings of $22 cash vs. potential True Blue credit worth $36-$48. Hmmm.

Can anyone speak to whether you lose the 2x TrueBlue credit for reservations booked through the CompanyBlue website?

If not, I'll be back in three weeks to update the thread after my flight.

the rep I spoke with indicated that the discount can be used for all non-refundable fares and will earn 2x miles. I won't be flying on an isic booked ticket until the summer, so can't say if that's true or not. Additionally, the T&Cs state you have to present valid ISIC id at the gate, but don't know if that's real or not either. i booked my wife and I on seperate reservations because of this just incase.

not sure if these other companyblue benies also apply though

Well, since you're on a OW, that essentially halves the bonus points you'd be giving up, so the threshold would be $18-$24, or a $163.50-$218 ticket price. With your $200 ticket right in the middle of there, I'd say you made a good call. You get the rewards in cash as opposed to TB points, and you get the rewards today, as opposed to whenever you redeem your points (at which point they may be devalued based on early guesses as to TB2)


EDIT: Just read medic-again's post above, and it looks like you get the best of both world - making this analysis completely and utterly useless :)

Fantastic! I will report on this thread the outcome of my trip including whether I had to present the ISIC card at the gate and whether I was able to get 2x TB credit on the trip. Stay tuned....more news around 4/17.

If this all works, I will REALLY love B6 :)

US Airways used to have a similar agreement with Student Advantage (seems like a competing discount program). It helped out a lot with airfares flying up and down between JAX and HVN. The partnership disappeared around 2004. I remember I had to do a similar thing, go through the SA website to get the discount. I'm glad we now offer this program.