Student Flight Discounts: Which Airlines and Sites Offer Them

Student flight discounts are real, but they come from a short list of airlines, and the usual cut is 10% or less. If you check a bag or your dates might move, the better value is often in the extras: a bigger bag allowance and free or cheaper date changes. Below are 11 student and youth programs as of October 2026, the catches on flights from the US, the student booking sites, and when a regular fare costs less.

Which airlines offer student discounts?

These 11 airlines publish student or youth fares on their own sites. SAS and Iberia go by age alone, Air France sells both a youth and a student fare, and the rest ask for proof of student status.

Airline	Who qualifies	Discount	Extra bags
Turkish Airlines	Students 12-34, Miles&Smiles members	10% to or from Türkiye, 15% via Türkiye to a third country, up to 20% domestic	40 kg international, or 2 x 23 kg on piece-concept routes
Lufthansa	16 and over, no age cap, enrolled in or accepted to higher education	Not stated	2 x 23 kg, but 1 x 23 kg from the US and Canada
Air France	Youth 12-24; Student 18-29 and enrolled	Not stated	Up to 2 x 23 kg
Emirates	Full-time students 16-31, Skywards members	Up to 10% in Economy, 5% in Premium Economy and Business	10 kg or 1 piece, not to or from the US and Canada
Qatar Airways	18-30, at an accredited college or university	10%, then 15%, then 20% on flights 3 and 4	10 kg or 1 piece
Singapore Airlines	KrisFlyer members at an eligible college or university	10%, not on promotional fares	3 x 23 kg to or from the US or Canada in Economy, 40 kg elsewhere
Cathay Pacific	Proof such as an ISIC card, student visa, student number or admission letter	Up to 10%	1 extra bag, except on Economy Light
SAS (SAS Young)	Ages 12-25, no student status needed	At least 10%, up to 70% on less popular flights, by SAS’s figures	1 x 23 kg on Young Standard, none on Young Light
Iberia (Iberia Joven)	Ages 16-29	Built into the Joven price	Not stated
Air India	Students	Up to 10% off base fares	10 kg extra
IndiGo	Students 12 and over	Up to 10% off the base fare on domestic flights	10 kg extra

No US airline is in the table. United runs an age-based young adult discount for MileagePlus members, so check the United app for the current terms before you count on it.

How each airline’s student fare works

Each program has its own sign-up, proof and booking path, and its own change and refund rules.

Turkish Airlines

Join Miles&Smiles, then choose “Student” as the passenger type when you search. Turkish Airlines’ student discount runs to age 34 on international flights but only 12 to 25 on domestic flights within Türkiye and to Ercan, and the first change on an international student ticket is free.

Lufthansa

Lufthansa’s student fares need a Travel ID account with your student status verified in the profile, and the verification lasts 1 year. Search from the student fares page, not the app, and pick fares marked “Student”; every flight must be operated by a Lufthansa Group airline. Most student fares are refundable, and trips within Europe need a 7-day minimum stay.

Air France

Air France’s Youth and Student fares are Economy only, change free apart from any fare difference, and cost EUR 250 to refund on international trips or EUR 100 within Europe. Neither can be booked on a trip that starts in the US, Canada or Mexico, so they help only on trips from somewhere else, such as Paris during a semester abroad.

Emirates

Sign in to Skywards and enter the code STUDENT for the Emirates student fare. Eligibility ends the day before your 32nd birthday on the outbound flight, and the offer covers bookings made by 31 March 2027. For travel from 1 October 2026, a date change costs USD 50 on Saver fares and nothing on Flex and Flex Plus, plus any fare difference.

Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways Student Club verifies your enrollment through SheerID, and the discount grows the more you fly: 10%, then 15%, then 20% on your third and fourth flights. Members also get 2 free date changes and free Wi-Fi.

Singapore Airlines

Join KrisFlyer, pass a yearly student check run by SheerID, and book through the student page. KrisFlyer for students gives 10% on all Economy fare types and on Premium Economy Lite and Standard, for stays of up to 12 months, and waives the rebooking fee on your first change.

Cathay Pacific

Search with the promo code USSTUDENT from Cathay Pacific’s US student fare page. Economy Light and Essential fares get 1 free change, and Flex, Premium Economy and Business change without limit. As of October 2026, the terms take bookings until 1 December 2026 for trips that start in the US and depart by 31 August 2027. The page’s banner still shows a departure period of 1 April to 26 September 2026, so test the code on your dates before you plan around it.

SAS Young

SAS Young is a youth fare, not a student fare: anyone aged 12 to 25 qualifies, in Economy on SAS flights. Date and time changes are free until departure, apart from any fare difference, but the tickets are non-refundable. Bring a physical ID to the airport, since SAS does not accept digital IDs.

Iberia Joven

Iberia Joven is for travelers aged 16 to 29, up to the day before turning 30. Sign up at joven.iberia.com, and the discount appears in the price when you book through the Joven link. Exchange students of any age can use Iberia’s Go Study option instead.

Air India and IndiGo

Air India’s student fares cover domestic and international flights in Economy, Premium Economy and Business and add 1 free date change, booked on airindia.com or the app. IndiGo’s student fare is narrower: the discount covers only domestic flights booked more than 7 days ahead, and IndiGo checks your student ID at the airport.

Do student fares work on flights from the US?

Most of these programs take bookings from the US, but the terms change once the trip starts there. Check these 6 catches before you book.

Airline	Bookable from the US	The catch
Air France	No	Youth and Student fares exclude trips departing from the US, Canada and Mexico
Lufthansa	Yes, to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India	1 checked bag of 23 kg instead of 2, and every flight must be Lufthansa Group-operated
Emirates	Yes	The discount applies, but the extra 10 kg or bag does not on flights to or from the US and Canada
Turkish Airlines	Yes	10% to Türkiye; the 15% rate needs a connection in Türkiye on the way to a third country
Cathay Pacific	Yes, with code USSTUDENT	Bookings close 1 Dec 2026, for departures by 31 Aug 2027
SAS	Yes	SAS Young fares to destinations outside Europe are sold as round trips only

Study abroad trips often start one-way. Lufthansa sells student fares one-way or return from the US, and Cathay Pacific’s code works on both. Singapore Airlines caps the stay at 12 months, which leaves room for a semester on a return ticket, so price two one-ways against a round trip before you book.

Student booking sites: BYOjet, ScholarTrip, Flyla and Student Beans

Student booking sites sell discounted fares through an agency rather than the airline.

• BYOjet for Students is what StudentUniverse became. It still sells discounted fares for students and young adults, but anyone can book, and old StudentUniverse bookings are managed through the link in the confirmation email.
• ScholarTrip sells to college and university students aged 16 and up, with some youth fares (16 to 25 in most cases) and faculty fares, and says it partners with more than 50 airlines.
• Flyla mixes leftover-seat and education fares, mostly from German airports and priced in euros.
• Student Beans lists current student offers from airlines and travel agencies, including Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.

Price the same flights on the airline’s own site and in a regular search, with bags added, before you book through any of them.

Is a student fare cheaper than a regular fare?

Not always. Lufthansa says its student fare prices are based on current demand and availability and may not always be the lowest-priced option. The value it points to is the included bags and the looser change and refund rules, so the choice comes down to your bags and your dates:

• Buy the student fare when you check bags, when the return date could move, or when you are moving abroad for a semester.
• Buy whichever is cheaper on the day when you travel with a carry-on only and your dates are fixed.

A student fare is priced on the day, not fixed, so it rises and falls like any other fare and follows the same booking window as any international ticket. Run a cheap-flight search with flexible dates and nearby airports first, then price the student fare on the cheapest flights it turns up, since 10% off an expensive date can still cost more than a regular fare on a cheaper one.

Example fares, illustrative only, October 2026 search: 1 student, Chicago O’Hare to Frankfurt and back, 6 January to 22 May 2027, on an airline whose student fare includes 1 checked bag each way and date changes for the fare difference only.

What the trip needs	Student fare	Cheapest regular fare	Cheaper
Carry-on only, fixed dates	$890	$780	Regular, by $110
1 checked bag each way at $75 a bag	$890	$930	Student, by $40
1 bag each way, return moved a week later	$890 plus any fare difference	$930 plus a new one-way home, since the fare allows no changes	Student

Result: the student fare cost $110 more before bags and still won once a bag went in the hold, so a student moving for a semester books it.

With a bag checked, the student fare in that example saves $40, and paying for it in installments spreads the price without lowering it, so any interest on the plan comes out of that $40.

Free date changes matter most when a semester’s dates move, as in the example’s last row. A fare with no changes allowed can leave you buying a new ticket at last-minute prices. SAS Young and Air France’s youth and student fares charge only any fare difference for a date change, and Qatar Airways does the same for your first 2.

How to book a student fare

Several airlines verify your status before they show the fare, and some check again at the airport, so the order matters.

Book a student fare in this order

1. Check the airline’s age and enrollment rules, and whether your departure country qualifies.
2. Join the account the airline asks for, such as Miles&Smiles, Skywards, KrisFlyer or Travel ID, and verify your student status before you search.
3. Price the cheapest regular fare on your dates first, with the bags you will check added.
4. Search the student fare the way the airline sets it up: the student page, the “Student” passenger type, or a code such as STUDENT or USSTUDENT.
5. Compare the 2 totals with bags and change rules, and book the lower one, or the student fare if your dates may move.
6. Pack your student ID or acceptance letter, plus a physical ID for an age-based fare like SAS Young.