If you’re entering the tertiary education world around the age where people normally make the transition from high school and college to university, then you’ll already be well aware of what is often referred to as the student plan. The student plan or student discount is offered to you directly in most cases, but if you’re not given the option of getting a student discount on just about anything which involves you paying for something, take the initiative to ask about it. Trust me, pretty much every one selling you a product or service has some sort of student discount available, or they run a student plan which will save you a buck or two.
This means that you’ll probably have to carry around your student card with you pretty much everywhere you go because that’s often all the proof they need in order to put you on the student plan. If it’s a service such as those offered by the banking institutions, you’ll often need to provide more formal proof of your status as student, such as your registration letter or maybe even your latest academic record. Otherwise you can really get a student’s discount on just about everything, including banking fees (if you’re on a student’s account), mobile phone voice and data plans, consumer goods and even on travel services such as plane tickets and accommodation.
If you’re still on your parents’ medical aid or medical insurance plan, they can also get discounted rates if they list you down as a student and provide proof of your registration. This is a good reason to ask for a little bit of extra pocket money.
The key is to make that inquiry each time and simply ask if there isn’t some sort of student plan or student discount on offer because often front-of-desk staff get tired of going the extra mile and asking each and every qualifying customer if they’d like to take advantage of their student plan or not.
In many cases, even considerably older students can still qualify for money-saving benefits only reserved for students because for some reason, the world seems to have some sort of financial sympathy for students, demonstrating their understanding of the financial sacrifices which often go into funding one’s studies.
If you’re a student and you’re paying full price for more than half of the things you pay for, you just aren’t digging deep enough for the plethora of financial benefits which are reserved for students.
