Discounts in the hotels for students have long ago become a common practice in developed countries as well as in the countries where the share of tourism is traditionally high: Brazil, India, Southeast Asia and some Eastern European States. Every year, millions of young people go traveling around the world with a limited amount of money, which they do not want to spend on accommodation. It is believed that the students are the most mobile and the least creditworthy hotel clients. However, despite the low paying capacity of students, hotels are actively trying to attract the attention of young people to their services. And, of course, discounts are used as bait.
Hostels are especially popular among the students all over the world. Many movies and hundreds of stories can tell you about that. Seriously speaking, discounts in hostels – are rare events, because this type of hotels already provides extremely low prices. You should take into consideration two programs, participation in which promises significant savings on accommodation. These programs are International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF), and Hostels Of Europe.
In the first case for $ 10 a year a student receives a card, which provides him with 5-10% discount in hostels all over the world. The number of participants in the IYHF program exceeds 3 million people. In Russia the program is represent by Youth Association of Russian Hostels. Its office is located in St. Petersburg.
The second program, Hostels Of Europe, as the term suggests, is valid only for Europe. Registration fee is a bit higher - $ 15. Amount of a discount: 5-15%. The number of hostels in Europe, which support the program – is over 3000.
A convenient way for a student to get a discount in the hotel is to take part in one of the international youth programs. The oldest of them is called International Student identity Card (ISIC). The program participant, after making the small payment – about 10-20 dollars, receives plastic ID card. This card allow student to count on discount in hotels around the world. The amount of a discount for accommodation is in this case - 5 - 30% of the room cost. Besides hotels, young person has a chance to get various discounts in transport, cafes, museums and theatres. Among the countries, whose hotels offer most discounts to students within the constraints of this program – Scandinavian states, Benelux, Greece. Nevertheless, having ISIC card not always guarantees discounts. Many hotels are interested in students only in low season, so they unwillingly offer discount accommodations to the students during the holiday season.
Some programs work not only with the students, but also with young people who are not enrolled in higher education. The main requirement: compliance with age criteria. Young tourists should not be younger than 12 and older than 26 years. In this case, he can count on the participation in programs GO-25 or EURO <26. Both programs are wide-spread in Europe. EURO <26 has already managed to gain the reputation of «pan-European student ID card».Not long ago, the age of participants was increased to 30 years.
