Any travel agents on here? What's a student?

[Phteven]

I was talking to someone about a student fare this morning. They told me that there was no need to get a student fare for my boys because under 12s got a 25% discount. I went and looked at the prices on their board and did the maths and the student fares are about $200 cheaper than a 25% discounted fare.
That's quite a saving to a cheapskate like me but before I go in there and push it I just want to be clear on what a student is.
Is there anywhere I can find a definition of a student as it applies to airfares?

[Raupe]

That can depend on what airline you are flying with! If no one on here knows, you can pm me the airline company and I'll try to find out for you! (I'm studying tourism and have access codes to some airlines' websites - don't know all the rules and reg's by heart though )

Hope someone else knows!! Otherwise pm me!

[Miss E]

My DH is a travel agent with STA. As far as I know a student is anyone who is studying (be it school, uni or whatever). When he sells student fares he usually has to issue a student card (I think it is called an ISTA card or some sort of acronym like that) which costs about $15. I could be wrong, but I think the 25% discount is something the airline applies (like how under 2's fly free), this might also be applicable to a student fare. HTH

ETA. If you're not wedded to booking with the agent you're talking to, PM me and I can send you through his contact details and he might be able to help you out if it is an international trip.

[Phteven]

I could be wrong, but I think the 25% discount is something the airline applies (like how under 2's fly free), this might also be applicable to a student fare. HTH

ETA. If you're not wedded to booking with the agent you're talking to, PM me and I can send you through his contact details and he might be able to help you out if it is an international trip.

Do you mean that I could hit them up for a 25% discount on the student fare? Or am I being just a bit too optimistic there lol?

It is an international trip but for now we're just figuring out timing/costs/if we can afford it. I'm not wed to any travel agent so if we decide to go ahead with it you might get a PM

[Miss E]

Do you mean that I could hit them up for a 25% discount on the student fare?

Possibly. Every fare is different, even on the same flight there may be 20 (or more) different economy booking classes with different costs. Some exclusive to certain agencies, some to do with flexibility, some to do with student pricing, some to do with when they're released etc etc

I'm not sure if you know, but travel agents charge commissions and they can set these at whatever level they like, so you can always ask for a discount because they will have padding in there. Quite often they will find a really cheap booking class and mark it up as much as 100% so they make good money and the client thinks they're still getting a good deal... That's why it's normally impossible to actually purchase a ticket at the rate advertised on the board or in the paper, there are so many variables...

Ooooh I should probably stop now, sharing all of their trade secrets I never knew this though until DH became an agent and it was a suprise to me.

[Rivlas]

DD2 & a girl friend are going to Thialand in Dec and found STA way cheaper than the other airlines. She is a student but this didn't make any difference to the others.

They shopped around in a large shopping centre before getting a great deal with upgrades so it is worth shopping around.