Amazing gift from Air India Express for students! Flat 10% discount on domestic flights, 10 kg extra baggage and great offers

Air travel is now going to be extremely affordable for millions of students studying away from home in other cities for higher education, college admissions, semester breaks or competitive exams. Tata Group-owned budget airline ‘Air India Express’ has announced a special student discount offer to make student travel seamless and budget-friendly. Under this special concession, eligible students are being given a flat 10 percent flat discount on the base fare of domestic flights. Additionally, to eliminate the problem of heavy weight of books, clothes and other essential items while studying, the airline has also included the facility of carrying 10 kg of additional check-in baggage free of charge. This offer will prove to reduce travel expenses to a great extent for students commuting between major education hubs like Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Guwahati, Patna and Hyderabad.

Often the biggest challenges students face are the high prices of flight tickets and strict carry-on weight limits. In normal domestic flights, airlines allow only 15 kg check-in baggage and 7 kg cabin bag, which proves inadequate for students shifting to hostel or returning home after a long time. This new scheme of Air India Express has simultaneously solved both these major problems of the students.

• Flat 10% off on base fare: While booking domestic route flights, you will get a direct discount of 10 percent on the base fare.

• 10 kg free excess baggage allowance: Apart from the normal 15 kg check-in bag, 10 kg more luggage will be allowed. This means that students will be able to carry a total of 25 kg of check-in baggage without any additional charges.

• Feature of 7 kg cabin bag: As always, 7 kg hand luggage for laptop and personal study material will be available free of charge as before.

• Affordable in-flight meal options: Students can pre-book their favorite hot meals, snacks and beverages at discounted rates at the time of booking.

• Flexible date change facility: In case of sudden change in examination dates or college schedule, the option to reschedule tickets at nominal charges or at concessional terms is also provided.

The airline has laid down some clear guidelines to avail this special concessional scheme so that only genuine students can avail the benefits:

1. Minimum Age Limit: The student must be minimum 12 years of age or older on the date of travel.

2. Recognized Institutions: The student must be regularly enrolled in any school, college, university or higher educational institution recognized by the Central Government, State Government, UGC, AICTE or relevant education board in India.

3. Applicable on domestic flights: This special discount will be valid only on Air India Express’ domestic route network (flights operating within India). Separate rules apply for international routes.

4. Individual Booking: This discount is available only on single student passenger booking. Cannot be combined with group booking or family tickets.

To avail this offer, students will have to book through authorized platforms only. The process is most transparent on the airline’s official platform compared to third-party travel portals:

• Visit the official website or mobile app: Open the official website or mobile application of Air India Express.

• Select Student Fare: Select your departure and destination cities, dates of travel in the flight search box and tick the ‘Student’ or ‘Student Discount’ option in the passenger category.

• Flight Selection: Select flights with the Student Special Fare tag in the search results. Here 10% discount on base fare and 25 kg total check-in baggage will be automatically applied.

• Enter college details: Enter the student’s full name (as on the ID card), college/university name and roll number/student ID in the booking form.

• Complete payment: Pay for tickets securely through online payment gateway, UPI, debit or credit card.

Students have to strictly follow a very important rule while taking boarding pass at the airport. Physical verification of the student’s valid identity card is done by the airline staff at the check-in counter.

It is mandatory for the student to have the original photo student ID card issued by his/her college or school, on which the validity for the current academic session is clearly mentioned. Apart from this, it is necessary to carry Aadhar card for government identification. If a passenger fails to show the original student ID at the check-in counter, the airline may cancel the 10% discount as per rules, charge a heavy penalty on additional 10 kg baggage or ask to pay the difference at the normal spot fare prevailing at that time.

This initiative has come as a big relief for lakhs of students due to festive holidays (Diwali, Chhath, New Year), summer vacation or appearing for national level competitive examinations like UPSC, NEET, JEE, GATE. The youth, who have been facing the hardships of not getting confirmed train tickets for months in advance, will now be able to travel safely and comfortably by air, saving both time and money.