Budget Travel - Studentuniverse Versus STA

Hi, sorry if this has been asked and answered but I tried a search and couldn't find something directly on topic.

I'm trying to find out which site is better: StudentUniverse or STA. By that I mean, for those of you who have used both, which site is your first choice, for whatever reason?

My nephew didn't even know about student travel discounts, and I'm trying to point him to the best experience.

SU is strictly online... they don't have any store locations.

STA has locations on/near most major campuses.

Frankly.. the deals are hit or miss. They can be good if you want stopovers (say, SFO-NRT-SIN) but other than that... it's not THAT great. They're just another consolidator...

They're just another consolidator... Wait a minute...I thought student fares have special prices and rules set by the airlines, and cannot be sold except by certain travel agents like SU or STA? Don't you have to be verified as a student/teacher?

SU.com is exceptional if you want to buy at midnight over the internet when everything else is closed, STA has offices near campuses that can (sometimes) offer good assistance

airfares are for eligible students/faculty/staff at academic institutions only ... SU.com verifies eligibility quite frequently ... is particularly good when a student wants to fly out of a non-gateway city (think colleges that require a RJ connection to reach)

many (not all) of the air fares available via SU.com are refundable after paying $75 service charge, nice if the student's plans change at the last minute ... better transatlantic fares are often available via standard travel web sites, but may not have as much flexibility for refunds ... finally, for last minute tickets, more than 3 but less than 7 days in advance, the student fares are often quite good

frequent flyer miles, however, are often not earned on student/staff/faculty fares. bit of a trade-off there

It's been a while since I've seen a truly competitive fare on either site. If you read the milage run forum, you'll laugh at most Sta/Stu offers. That said, Sta/Stu are good options for "beginners," who want to learn about the world of travel with some guidance, and without paying dearly for mistakes (because fares offer flexibility, etc.). Forget about the websites -- only the physical locations offer said guidance, and often have much better fares.

What annoys me most is that Sta pushes the ISIC (Intl Student ID Card), a pretty worthless piece of plastic -- in most cases a normal student ID would work just fine. Factor in the fee for the ISIC (which they often force you to buy even for fares that only have an age, not enrollment, requirement), and you can find that bargains turn into pretty pricy affairs.

Wait a minute...I thought student fares have special prices and rules set by the airlines, and cannot be sold except by certain travel agents like SU or STA? Don't you have to be verified as a student/teacher?

their tix typically have less restrictions, yes.

When I book tickets, I take those flights. It's VERY rare that I change flights.

Verifed student/teacher = campus ID card. That's all.

If you're booking with sta for the flexibility of the tickets, be sure to check the rules carefully. While they do have a lot of flexible tickets, they also sell tickets that are non refundable/changeable.

Also be aware that changable tickets are subject to seat availability, and since student tickets are from the lower fare classes they are often sold out for days (if not weeks) at a time. And since the fares for the most part are not upgradable, the flexibility of free date changes can be useless if you are traveling at peak time.

Finally - my biggest gripe with sta is that you are often working with a college student or recent grad who may not have that much actual travel industry experience. I've found that getting misinformation from sta is common, and can cause headaches down the road as you're trying to sort it out.

er, that turned into quite a rant ;-)

As you might be able to tell, I used to use sta - but have had far too many problems with them in the past!

SU has much better fares, in my experience. Note, that you can very often find your own student fares and book through airlines, by searching the ticket fare rules and booking accordingly

My favourite part of StudentUniverse is that it applies to faculty (and not just students).

Another bonus of StudentUniverse is their "GO! Deals" which offer a one-day $$-off amount to specific destinations. The discounts range from $25-$125, depending on the destination. Have been able to use this on occasion to save a bit more (like $75 to LHR). The best bet is to always check the fare codes to see the flexibility (or not) of the ticket, as well as if they earn miles, never too early to consider this.

No one's mentioned this but IME, SU provides much cheaper 1 way fares than STA...I snagged a PHL-FCO o/w for $140 last spring.

Ive checked out both sites and ended up buying tickets on SU.com. I remember having to fax in my transcripts to be able to buy tickets on SU.com. I did get a great fare grb-lon on NWA. but the downside for me was you only receive 250 per segment. I would have made silver that year if i got full miles. I equate STA to be AAA for students.

I've been lurking for a while, but this is the first time I've wanted to post anything. Sorry in advance if this turns into a rant!

I'm somewhat embarrassed to say, but I work at sta. Mostly for the travel benefits, and because it's a really easy job. But I wanted to let people know how the company has changed recently. The company used to be run by people who were budget travelers; they worked their way up to management. Now the company is run by a bunch of suits brought in from corporate travel and the airlines. So the focus is no longer on the budget travel product, but on how to eek the most money out of the customer.

Most people I know who are working for the company are looking for other jobs, or are waiting to leave until they have enough money for one more big trip. But lots of agents are leaving all the time, and the turnover is really high. If you call the 800 number, chances are that you are speaking with someone who just got on the system a week ago.

I tell my friends to use sta, but only if they call me so I can be sure it's done correctly. I could never suggest to a friend that they just call the 800 number to get help, as I'd probably have to spend time fixing it.

So I can't honestly suggest that any of you use sta either.

This all probably sounds horribly depressing, but that's the state of the company these days!

One of my students just saved a couple of grand, I think, on an open-return student fare, I think from SU. One does have to be careful of restrictions, though, including, for example, age restrictions, which are relevant for non-traditional or grad students. I'd say, like in all things, shopping around is an absolute necessity.

Agree with jpdx on STA's unfortunate pushing of that worthless plastic card.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I'm going to go with recommending SU I think.

What annoys me most is that Sta pushes the ISIC (Intl Student ID Card), a pretty worthless piece of plastic -- in most cases a normal student ID would work just fine. Factor in the fee for the ISIC (which they often force you to buy even for fares that only have an age, not enrollment, requirement), and you can find that bargains turn into pretty pricy affairs.


Yeah, that's kind of annoying. I've been though this hassle myself. Fortunately, the card yielded a fair number of discounts on a recent trip through Finland and the Baltics and it more than payed for itself. If you're not doing a bunch of sightseeing (like going home for vacation) then it's like you said: worthless.

Another student travel company to look into is flightcentre. They have shops all over the place in the UK and Australia, and apparently just started opening offices in Canada and the US.

I haven't personally used them, but I've heard good things.