Airline ticket fees can be very confusing

When you buy airline tickets, the fee structure can be very confusing. This is because of complex government regulations and airline rules, and is true for all online travel agencies, including StudentUniverse. When we show you a fare in an advertisement or listed on our home page, the price you see does not necessarily include all fees and taxes. The total price you pay is not calculated until you have completed a search. On the air search results page the system will show you the total cost of your ticket, including all taxes and fees.

This page will help you understand the different fees imposed on ticket purchased from any web site, including ours. Most of the fees and charges collected by us are actually passed on to either the government or to the airlines.

Fees fall into two categories:

Fees imposed by and payable to someone else -- typically the government or airlines themselves.
Fees imposed by StudentUniverse -- required to pay for additional processing costs not covered by the carriers.

Fees imposed by someone else

The following fees are imposed by someone else and are the same regardless of where you buy your ticket. Any agency is required to collect these charges on behalf of several third parties.

September 11 Security Fee. Imposed by the government. A $2.50 fee is added for each takeoff and landing up to a maximum of $10. Traveling New York-Chicago-San Francisco one-way would result in a Security fee of $5. This fee is imposed to cover additional security measures at airports.
Changes, Cancellations, and Refunds. Imposed by the airlines. The different carriers have different policies, but many airlines charge a fee if you decide to change or cancel your ticket after purchase. Although Student Airfares are often more flexible than regular airline tickets, make sure to check the fare rules. To see the details for each individual airline ticket, click the link "Important eligibility and fare rules" after you add a ticket to your cart.
Passenger facility charges. Imposed by the government. The money is used to pay charges required by airports to cover the cost of running certain airports. This charge, of up to $18, may apply depending on where you're going.
Paper ticket fee. This fee of $50 is collected to cover charges imposed by the carriers if you require a paper ticket when electronic tickets are available. Carriers require us to pay them for the extra work associated with handing a paper ticket.
U. S. or International Departure and Arrival Charges. This charge is required and collected by the carriers. This charge may be as high as $400, depending on where you're going.
Federal Excise Tax. Imposed by the government. A $3.50 tax is added for each takeoff and landing. Traveling New York-Chicago-San Francisco one-way would result in a $7.00 federal excise tax.

Fees imposed by StudentUniverse

The following fees are imposed StudentUniverse to cover some of our costs. Our fees are lower than the fees charged by many other online agencies.

Service fee. Like most other major online agencies, we charge you a nonrefundable $6 service fee for each airline ticket you buy from us. The fee covers, among other things, verification of your student status and processing costs to provide you with a ticket.
StudentUniverse change fee. If you decide to change your ticket, we will charge you a fee to cover processing costs of manually handing your change. The amount ranges from $25 to $75, depending on the airline. Having this fee allows us to have lower prices than everyone else.
Re-shipping fee. If a paper-ticket is undeliverable and is returned to StudentUniverse, there will be an additional charge to cover the extra cost associated with shipping the ticket back to you.

Read the Terms and Conditions of both StudentUniverse and the Airline

Make sure you read StudentUniverse's Terms and Conditions as well as the carrier conditions associated with the different fares offered by StudentUniverse (look for the icon, and "Important eligibility and fare rules"). You might want to re-read them from time to time as all terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. To learn more, check out our FAQ section.