I thought Student Universe was reliable until I cancelled my flight I booked through them with United Airlines and they left out very important information about cancelling flights. Before I even cancelled the flight I asked what the conditions would be, it was explained to me that I would be charged $400 ($100 from Student Universe and $300 from United Airlines) and I would receive a flight credit for the amount of the original ticket price. It was also explained that I would have to use the flight credit with United Airlines within 300 days of the original purchase date. What was not explained to me was that I have to go to the same destination. When I called Student Universe for the third time to finally book my new flight, this was finally revealed to me months after I cancelled the flight. This wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to pay an extra $300 for the increase in the price of flights to my original destination, meaning I am having to pay an extra $700 just to be able to use the flight credit that I originally paid for. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that I am being charged all these extra fees when Student Universe and United Airlines already has my money and they can't even be clear about the details of getting a flight credit from a cancellation, even in their email they send after a flight is cancelled. So I warn you, before you cancel a flight with Student Universe make sure they tell you all the conditions and rules or you may have to pay almost twice as much as your original ticket!!

EmilyKahl

Madison, WI

I recently took a course at our local university and was introduced to this website by my younger fellow students. This site is basically designed for 18-25 year olds; but it turns out that alumni can also reap the discount rewards. Again, the tour section has 18-30 year olds in mind, but it turns out that ages over that group are also welcomed. Likewise, age is not an issue on the hotels, fares, etc, portions. One of the real bonuses I found on this site is that it includes rail as an alternative travel mode. Many travel sites do not do this and substantial savings can be gotten with student discounts on rail. I took advantage of this discount, happily. The last aspect that I found really intriguing was the FarePlay portion. In this section, you can indicate a time in which you'd like to travel; but, not a destination. The website provides you with the alternatives and their costs during that time period. For the wanderlust traveler, this is a really unique and exciting feature. Overall, a great find for a travel site. I was pleased to find out that student can mean life long learner in this context.

Kikko

Sacramento, CA

When I was in college StudentUniverse.com was re-launching and had a huge marketing campaign. I was given t-shirts, key chains, beer openers and hats. Since the propoganda was everywhere I did give this website a shot. It was cluttered, difficult to use and has more advertisement than the Sunday newspaper. There was so much advertising on the website it was next to impossible to find any actual information about travel! Every time I entered information or clicked to advance, three pop up screens came up that were nearly related to what I was searching, but were not quite what I wanted at all. The website has since cleaned up it's act quite a bit, but the deals I have looked for haven't been anything spectacular. They do seems to have specials now and then, so if you are flexible about destination and looking to see the world, this may be the website for you. For booking travel with a date, time, and destination in mind it is not ideal.

Katied87

Undisclosed

I was excited to learn about StudentUniverse when I was in graduate school, especially since it was valid for older students (i.e., not just "college-age") and faculty. Every time I looked for a flight on StudentUniverse (either domestic and international), however, I was unimpressed. It would tell me there were no seats available for my dates (presumably the student deals only exist on specific dates) OR if there *were* results, they gave me the same rates (or worse!) that I could find on other aggregate flight-search websites -- which were available on multiple dates, with greater flexibility. Thus, I could never see the point of using StudentUniverse. Perhaps this site was relevant once upon a time, but not anymore. Better deals are available without the hassle of having to prove one's student status. When I was using the site a few years ago, they checked student status by having you provide a recent tuition bill from your university, which a member of their staff then verified, before approving your student status. I don't know how they verify faculty status, perhaps by paycheck stub? Customer Service Neutral rating, as I have never had the pleasure of finding a deal on this website in order to make a purchase.

hell5fury

Sugar Land, TX

I am an international graduate student in US, and I try to visit my home country at least once a year. With the ticket prices increasing constantly, visiting home can be painful. I've heard of student universe from another international student and used it twice so far, and did not experience anything negative. They offer these "GO! Deals", daily discounts to locations, which can be a nice surprise. But since they change it every day, it is kind of hard to catch a deal that you can benefit from.. Unless you check the web site every day and wait for your location to appear on the GO Deal!The website is really easy to use and the forums are helpful for students who are looking for a Spring Break escape. :) While signing up, they ask you for your School name and school-issued e-mail address but I am not sure if they verify it or not. Faculty members can shop from student universe as well.Student Universe offers student prices on major airlines, and it makes a real difference - like 200 Dollars, especially if you are flying overseas.. It would be better if they offered more airline options though..

Oyku

Denton, TX