For a student flying between college and home or for an internship or a study abroad program can add to your expenses. However if you are seeking out a United Airlines student discount you’ll need to know how United designs its young traveler discounts available. United Airlines’ current offer is typically designed as an age-based Young Adult Discount and not a conventional student fare in which proof of college enrollment would be necessary. Current travel sources indicate that eligible MileagePlus members aged 18-23 may qualify for a 5% discount on eligible Economy and Basic Economy ticket purchases.
Does United Airlines Have a Student Discount?
United does not provide what I would consider “its own separate enrollment-required student ticket class.” Rather United’s “Young Adult Discount” is applied if you’re in the appropriate age bracket. The thing to note about this one is that it is not related to your educational status (are you in college university etc.) but is exclusively related to age and MileagePlus status.
The current promotion states that it is an offer of 5% off eligible Economy and Basic Economy fares for eligible MileagePlus members 18-23 years old.
Keep in mind that airline promotions can change so examine the fine print during your search before booking.
Who Can Get the United Young Adult Discount?
As a student you may be eligible if you satisfy the program rules which mainly specify:
18-23 year olds
hold a MileagePlus account
have the date of birth properly stored in your MileagePlus account
you purchase an eligible United flight and fares with United
through the correct United sales channel
No necessity to be a current student – so may a young non-student be eligible where an older student may not be eligible?
How to Get the United Student Discount
1. Create a MileagePlus Account
Set up a United Mileage Plus account if you have not already done so. Becoming a member can be very rewarding for you if you are going to use United Airlines often as you will be earning miles and can also control your United flights under your account.
Take care to input your personal information as date of birth is particularly important to the account. The Young Adult Discount is age based therefore your personal information needs to be correct on your account otherwise the discount will not apply.
2. Download the United Airlines App
It looks like the Young Adult Discount is applied via the United mobile app. Make sure you are signed in to the app using your MileagePlus information before starting your flight search.
3. Search for Your Flight
Enter the name of your departure airport your destination airport the dates of your journey and the number of passengers. While looking for your fare you might find an option called “Young Adult Discount” depending on whether you have the membership or not.
All fares and flights do not get this discount.
4. Select an Eligible Fare
The discount rate applies to qualified Economy and Basic Economy fares. There could be exceptions to the premium cabin and some other type of fares.
Check the terms before booking the fare. The discount rate does not guarantee the best deal because of the restrictions applied to it.
5. Confirm the Discount Before Payment
Review the final fare carefully. If the discount is available for your selected itinerary the reduced price should be reflected before you complete the purchase.
If the expected discount does not appear check your MileagePlus profile information and the eligibility conditions. You can also compare another eligible flight or fare because availability can vary.
How Much Can Students Save?
Young Adult Discount reported today is 5% on eligible fares instead of one percentage student discount (10 20 or something).
Say the base eligible fare is 400 dollars the 5% discount will be $20 and you still have to pay tax fees fare etc. So on the real saved money there would be not that much you expect depending on an eligible fare and the applicable terms.
Airfare keeps changing all the time. The intelligent thinking is to compare shopping for discounted tickets with other United fares or the other days as well.
Do You Need a Student ID?
For a Young Adult Discount (which rather than being like a typical student fare generally comes with stipulations such as age and MileagePlus membership and the assumption isn’t necessarily that of an additional student fare) there isn’t usually any specific proof needed.
In this vein if there’s some obscure third-party site on the web that tells you they have some unique student fare being offered by United you should take a look to see whether United is actually offering this promotion or whether it’s some third-party airline deal that some agency is running independently.
Final Thoughts
If a student is looking for a United Airlines student discount the first thing to explore is if they can qualify for the current Young Adult Discount from United. This discount is mainly based on age and could save them five percent off qualified Economy and Basic Economy flights if they’re United MileagePlus members aged 18-23.
To qualify it’s important to either enroll in the United MileagePlus program or sign into it with accurate information to search on a designated United portal for flight searching and booking and be absolutely certain to locate the offer at a point before they would pay to ensure it has applied. Air travel fares and programs will fluctuate based on when a booking is made so verify each and every time using a valid booking on United.
Read Also: How Much Is the Student Discount on United Airlines?
