Student discounts are one of the best perks you can get if your college issues an official email ID along with an ID card. Everything from hardware to software can be obtained at a discount if you are a student. Heck, even Spotify offers a student discount in India. While the opinions on this matter are still divided, with some suggesting that these discounts are nothing but a way for brands to secure future customers.
But hey, if you are getting some sweet deals on your next laptop or a discounted subscription to arguably one of the best music streaming services, who cares? After you are done using the service or have bought the thing that you wanted, you will have a fair idea of what the brand has to offer. So you will know what they bring to the table, and if it is related to tech and you are not able to figure it out, then you know whom to reach out to. Now, without wasting your time or mine, let’s dive into the world of student discounts and have a look at all the deals and offers that you can grab using just your ID card and email.
If you are a student with a valid ID card/email ID granted by your institution, then you can easily get your hands on a subsidised subscription to Spotify. Spotify’s student plan in India costs ₹59/month. These charges are deducted from your account after you finish your first month of premium subscription, which is free. At max, you can get Spotify Premium for four years, after which you will no longer be eligible to get the service at a discounted rate, and you will either need to opt out of Premium or continue with a regular plan.
One of the most popular services used by brands across the world for student status verification is UNiDAYS. Thanks to the wide variety of clients that they have under their belt, UNiDAYS also becomes a good starting point for students to step into the world of student discounts. By verifying that you are a student, UNiDAYS opens the gates to discounts from brands like Apple, Samsung, Gaana, Saavn, and even fashion and apparel brands like H&M and Birkenstock. The signup process is super easy, and all you need is an active student ID administered by your institution. If you don’t have that, then you can also upload images of your ID card that has been issued by the institute that you are studying at, and you are set.
A single UNiDAYS verification will open you to getting the following discounts (only tech hardware discounts listed here, for more, visit UNiDAYS) –
One of the biggest tech brands in the world, Microsoft, also has a lot of discounts on offer for students. A limited selection of Surface products is available at a discounted price, not only for students but also parents and educators. And, if you are lucky and your college offers you email powered by Outlook, then you can also get access to various Microsoft Office 365 as well. All you will need to do is sign in using your Microsoft account when using those services, and you should be able to use them without needing to pay anything to Mr Gates or his organisation.
Airlines are one of the places where you can save the most money using your student ID. Most airlines these days, be they domestic or international carriers, offer tons of benefits to students, be it in terms of fare discounts or baggage allowance. Domestic carriers generally offer a 10 per cent discount on the fare and an additional allowance of 10 KG baggage, totalling the total allowance to 25 KG. For international carriers, it completely depends on the sector that you are flying and what policy the airline has in general. For example, in college, I was flying with Lufthansa and got an additional baggage allowance which included one whole extra bag, and along with that, there was a discount on the fare as well. However, keep in mind that you will need to produce a valid student ID card whenever you are checking in, despite the airline being domestic or international.
GitHub also has a lot of benefits for students on offer. To get access to it, you will need a valid ID card along with a working student email ID. With the GitHub Student Developer Pack, you get access to a host of tools that will definitely help you get a headstart on your coding journey. The offerings include courses from Scrimba and access to assets from repositories like IconScout. There are many other things on offer, and they can be checked on the GitHub Student Developer Pack page here.
One of the essentials in any creative workflow these days is the Adobe Creative Suite. For students, Adobe offers a subscription at ₹1,596.54/mo, which is 60 per cent off their regular Creative Cloud plan. You get access to Adobe’s entire creative suite, which includes apps all the way from Premiere Pro to Adobe Aero. There are also Substance 3D apps, which include Stager, Painter, Sampler, Designer, and Modeller.