You may get unlimited ID90s, however the real question is
'will you get on the aircraft?'. Emirates for some unknown reason has a very high load factor = often full = you won't get on. So yes you do get the chance of lots of ID90s, but more often than not you will not get to the destination that
YOU want ie going to Sydney you are unlikely to get on,therefore you will have to go to Perth, then get another ticket/ flight onto Sydney - this is eating into your precious time off / leave. Equally the UK, LHR is almost always full, therefore you have to go back via Birmingham, or Gatwick etc.
Secondly, EK is
NOT as good as other 'major' airlines as you will
NOT get upgraded. You buy an economy ID90, you sit in economy even the aircraft is almost empty - end of story. If you buy a business ID90 ticket and if you are lucky enough to get on that is where you sit don't expect to get upgraded even if First is empty.
Thirdly, if you are an FO married with kids under 16, you will only be allowed in Economy if you travel with the kids. So as an FO when using your annual leave ticket the rules state that one parent has to sit with the kids. If they are under 16 they are only entitled to economy class (remember NO UPGRADES), so even though you and the wife are eligible for Business one of you has to sit with the kids in economy. Great situation as you and your wife then have to discuss who gets to sit in business and who goes to economy with the kids.
Fourthly you have to get the time off to use the tickets!!!!
So yes it sounds great, you get lots of tickets available, lots of destinations, but reality is
VERY different to what the propaganda puts out. You will find that on far too many occassions staff are stuck down route waiting for days trying to get back to Dubai. EK staff at outstations try their hardest but their hands are tied by the totally inflexible hierachy ie the top EK management all the way down.
