I just learned about a new site that helps college students, faculty and anyone under age 26 get travel discounts. StudentUniverse specializes in airfares, hotels, rail passes, and travel insurance. The site is free to use and you don’t need to buy a student ID card to get their discounts (like some sites).
When making a reservation the site asks for your school issued email, what school you attend or teach at, and your expected graduation date. I’m skeptical that they verify enrollment or faculty status of each person who uses their site because they claims millions of students do. Hmmm…
StudentUniverse claims the verififcation process is what allows them to offer low fares. “Since we verify that our members are students, faculty, and youth the airlines give us special pricing and terms,” the site says.
When searching for flights, you can pick an exact date or look for flights up to 3 days before or after your target date to increase your chances of getting a deal. The site’s FarePlay tab will help you find a cheap vacation if you are flexible on the destination. It’s not a bad place to start if you are a student, enrolled in college, or a faculty member looking for a price break.
Thanks, Tina!
Related:
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Student discounts from a learned expert
Two great websites for student discounts
January 15th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I just looked at flights and hotels in Washington DC as I have been planning that trip for a few days. The price for the hotel I was interested in was $80.00 more per night then on hotels.com and the flight was the exact same price as on orbitz. Maybe they have better deals on international trips but to Washington DC, no deal at all.
January 15th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
There’s another company, STA travel which started as being exclusively for S(tudents) T(eachers)A(administrators) but now offers excellent service to everyone–but the ST&A still get discounts the general populace doesn’t.
I’ve used the services located within the Distand Lands bookstore in Pasadena (across the street from the parking lot, 2 hrs free) and on one trip when Air France cancelled a flight, it was STA who notified me before I left for the airport–never heard from AF…and STA who rebooked all the connecting flights, etc.
I’ve also seen them provide extensive research to people who were ‘just looking’ with no pressure to book.
I have another agent that gets me super deals I could never get online ( I book 2 seats since I am overweight and want to be comfortable myself as well as not inconvenience anyone else, and the flight is usually 11 hours).
I love doing business online and arrange most other travel things (car, etc) myself, but for air travel, I’ll stick with someone who takes better care of my than I can do myself.
For someone who wants to check out an online specialty agency, do check out STA.
January 17th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Excellent site here. Very useful to get discounts and special deals. I will be recommending the site to friends of mine
March 8th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
[...] you are a student or educator, you can get a lot of cheap travel deals at StudentUniverse. Anyone can save money on a trip by renting a home or condo. Sometimes you can [...]