Here’s how to take advantage of your student status and get the best student discounts and flight deals in Canada.
Travelling as a student often means travelling on a low budget! Luckily, airlines and flight companies recognize this and do their best to accommodate thrifty students so that you can check one (or two) of your travel goals off your bucket list. Here’s all you need to know about getting student flight deals, including the Air Canada student discounts.
How to Get Student Discount Flight Deals
- Check out the Canadian airlines that have partnered with student discount websites. Also, read up on the Air Canada Student Pass, which is a pre-paid flight membership for you Canadian students out there!
- If you’re planning a getaway (to Europe, maybe?) with a bunch of your friends this summer, it’s worth looking into airlines that offer group discounts.
- Be sure to get your ISIC Canada card so you can get student card discounts on everything from retail, entertainment, and student flight deals.
- Sign up for a student travel credit card and reap those reward miles.
- Use your expert skills and scour the internet for the cheapest flights out there on cheap flight websites.
- Being flexible with your travel dates could save you a few hundred dollars.
Airlines with Student Flight Deals and More
Air Canada Student Flight Pass
Air Canada offers a student flight pass for all full-time students at Canadian universities. The only catch is that you have to be an Aeroplan member, but it’s free to sign up! The Air Canada flight pass allows students to make a purchase of six individual flights at a fixed cost, as long as they fall within a particular region. Students have 12 months to use the six-flight credit and have the option of paying an additional fee to extend the time. You can choose from the standard or flex fare options. The flex fare is more expensive, but it gives you a cheaper flight change fee, a flex seating option, and 100% Aeroplan miles for your travel distance.
For example, you can buy an Air Canada student flight pass for Ontario. The pass costs $1,240 and students with this pass can fly from a ton of cities in Ontario, Quebec (Mont-Tremblant & Montreal), and even the U.S. (Detroit & Cleveland). Routes between all cities may not be available, so make sure you check using the ‘preview flight availability’ button before purchasing.
American Airlines Group Discount
For students going on trips in large groups for study abroad or for school breaks, American Airlines can be an attractive option. For groups of 10 or more, American Airlines offers student flight deals, as well as the ability to choose seats together 11 months in advance. There is also the option for group members to leave from different locations, as long as everyone arrives at the same destination.
What’s the best travel insurance for you? Find out here!
Top Travel Agencies for Student Discount Flights
Travelcuts
Canada’s Travelcuts was originally founded for the sole purpose of providing Canadian students with discounted flights, hotels, vacation packages, as well as work and volunteer abroad opportunities. They recently opened up deals to the general public, but continue to offer exclusive discounts to students.
One of the best ways to get student flight discounts in Canada and abroad is to sign up for the ISIC (International Student Identity Card). It allows full-time students over 12 years old to get over 150,000 discounts. The travel agency for the ISIC card is Travelcuts. This student discount card allows you to receive discounts not only on Travelcuts vacations, but also on countless accommodations, tours, tickets, and more.
If you’re a member of the Canadian Federation of Students (the CFS/FCEE), you can get your ISIC card for free! You can head to your local student union and pick one up. For more information about the benefits of being a member of the Canadian Federation of Students, here to their website.
Websites with Student Flight Discounts
Student Universe
Student Universe basically has how to find student flight deals in its name! It is a website dedicated to offering students the lowest possible prices on flights. The exclusive website requires students to prove their status with pictures of their student ID, transcript, etc. and once confirmed, you’re good to use the website for one year.
In addition to naturally low prices, Student Universe almost always has some promo codes that can be used towards making a flight even cheaper. They’ve also partnered with certain airlines to offer discounted flights for flying with the airline, including Canadian airlines Air Canada, Porter, and WestJet. You can find airline-specific discounts in the promo code section of the site, or by looking up the airline.
Savings with Student Travel Credit Cards
There are a few credit card options for students with low credit who want to earn reward miles. A popular travel credit card for Canadian students is the BMO SPC Air Miles Student Mastercard. The benefits of this card are that it has no minimum personal income and no annual fees and accepts students with poor to fair credit. It gives students 800 miles for signing up, 1 air mile for every $20 spent, and automatic membership into the SPC discount program.
More Tips for Cheap Flights and Student Deals
1. Be flexible
A little flexibility can go a long way. Whether you book a flight on an off day or fly out or into an alternative airport, there are plenty of ways to score cheap flights if you’re a student. Here’s what you can do:
- Play around with options for a different nearby airport to fly in or arrive in (ex: flying out of Buffalo when your home airport is Toronto).
- Select less desirable flight times (typically dates during the middle of the week and off-season, and overnight flights).
- Routinely check flight prices using websites and apps such as Skyscanner’s Price Alert.
2. Fly with a budget airline
There are a ton of budget airlines with prices so low, even students can afford them! Budget airlines usually sneak in some hidden costs for extra baggage, checking in at the airport, seat selection, food, etc., but if you are willing to be flexible and aren’t picky about those little extras, then budget airlines might just be for you. If the budget airlines don’t work for your trip, there’s always Air Canada’s student discount and their Student Pass for deals.
Canadian budget airlines:
- Swoop
- Flair
- Sunwing
- AirTransat
- Enerjet (Coming in 2019)
- Jetlines (Coming in 2019)
American budget airlines:
- Spirit
- Frontier
- Southwest
- JetBlue
- Allegiant
3. Set up a ‘price alert’ for the best deals
You can set up a Skyscanner Price Alert for any flight route! This is a great travel hack if you have some time to play around with your desired flights, as prices for some flights can change a lot in price over time. The Price Alert will send you an email update when the flight you are monitoring changes in price, and add or opt-out of flight routes at any time. You can even download the free Skyscanner app on your phone and get alerts from there. Read more about how to set up price alerts here. Still looking for more travel deals? Click below to start your search for a great flight deal.
4. Check out our ‘best time to book’ tool
On our website, we offer you a different and fun way to find the best flight deals. Try doing a month-by-month flight search on prices for your destinations. You can view how much it will cost to fly out each day, so you can easily figure out when to take your dream trip. This guide explains in depth how to best use this tool with the Skyscanner App! The whole month search is also available on desktop computers.
4. Look for hotels with student discounts
Before booking your hotel, always check to see if they offer student discounts. If not, it can’t hurt to become a member of a hotel rewards program to score discounts and member-only rates on your stay. So, even if you can’t find hotels with student discounts, you’ll get one anyway.
Still Looking for Ways to Find Cheap Flights?
Now you know all the tips and tricks to take advantage of your student status and score student discount flight deals for your next trip. Use Skyscanner search engines to source cheap flights, hotels, and car rentals. Even if you are on a budget, you can still take your dream vacation!
