Everyone loves a bargain, especially students, and that’s why you need to sign up to UNiDAYS.
This is the best student discount scheme I know of, and it’s also the easiest to use. It’s not the ‘official’ discount scheme for students, though.
You have probably heard of a TOTUM card already, this replaced the old NUS cards, but UNiDAYS is a little bit different. It is still a student only discount scheme, but it is cardless, so members get access to hundreds of discounts and deals via an app or the website. It is also completely free, whereas TOTUM has a sign up fee.
The platform opened in the UK in 2011, but expanded to Australia and the US soon after and is now available in 114 countries. This allowed them to negotiate bigger and better deals for their members, and they are now partnered with over 800 brands. So essentially, if you are thinking of buying something, chances are UNiDAYS will be able to get you a discount.
I know that has made you want to sign up, so here’s everything you need to know.
Eligibility and Sign Up
Students from sixth forms, colleges, and universities are eligible to sign up for UNiDAYS. This is what has allowed them to build an audience of over 30 million people worldwide.
You will have to prove your student status in order to sign up though, and the easiest way to do that is through your student email address.
The sign up process is as simple as supplying your personal email address and name, selecting your school, college or university from a list, then verifying.
If you don’t have a student email that’s ok, there are other ways to verify, they just may take a little longer.
You can upload a photo of:
- Your student ID
- Your enrolment or admission letter
These will be accepted as proof that you are a current student, but they must show:
- Your name
- The name of the institution you attend
- Be valid for the current year
In 95% of cases though, verification through email will be possible and this option takes about 2 minutes to complete. Then you’re in and can start shopping for discounts!
GRADLiFE
Once you are signed up to UNiDAYS, you will need to reverify each year to prove you are still studying. This is to stop people signing up in Year 1 then claiming student discounts for the rest of their lives.
However, with UNiDAYS, the discounts don’t stop when you graduate.
When you leave University, you become eligible for a GRADLiFE membership. In fact, if you don’t reverify you will be automatically switched onto this scheme.
It’s the same principle, except the discounts and offers you receive may be a little different to those offered to current students. It’s not worse, it’s just tailored to a slightly more mature audience with different needs.
GRADLiFE membership lasts for 3 years too, which is pretty epic, so you could get a total of 6 years worth of discounts.
Using the Discounts
Whether you are a graduate or still studying, using the discounts is the fun bit.
The site and app have all of the offers and discounts split into categories such as Food and Drink, Fashion, Technology, etc. It’s just like an online shopping site really. It’s quite fun to browse.
You can search for a specific brand using the search bar if you already know what you want to buy. This is a good way to quickly check for discounts on something you know you are going to buy soon.
All of the discounts are clearly shown before opening them up for further details. They might be a percentage based discount or a fixed price deal, it just depends. For example, at the time of writing you could get free chicken tenders or hot wings for every £5 spent at Popeyes, 12% off at Krispy Creme, or a discounted £6 carvery on weekdays at Stonehouse. They all structure their deals in their own way.
See something you fancy?
Click the discount you are interested in and you will be able to get a code to enter at checkout when you buy it. You can even use your discounts in store, you just need to select the ‘Redeem in Store’ option when you see it. You will need to have a photo uploaded to your app for this though, just FYI.
There is no limit to the amount of offers you can claim, and some reset weekly or daily. It just depends on the brand and what the offer is.
Some of the brands you can find discounts from include:
- Apple
- Adidas
- Uber Eats
- Pizza Express
- Samsung
- Very
- Tinder
- Sports Direct
- Expedia
- National Express
- Schuh
- The Gym Group
- Lulu Lemon
- Nespresso
There are literally hundreds of brands across all areas, but this gives you a good idea of the variety. To be honest, I was shocked at some of the available discounts. How many students buy brand new washing machines, for example? Maybe things have changed since I went to Uni, but anyway, if you’re in the market for the latest Samsung washing machine you can get it cheaper through UNiDAYS.
