Student Universe (Flight Centre) - South Brisbane, Queensland

D S.

Spent $1538.42 for no travel.

Terrible customer service. Any apparent ticket price savings are a false economy.

No valid tax invoice for the full amount. Many emails, many phone calls. Despite 3 months notice, no refund for a medical cancellation despite provision of a medical certificate 6 weeks in advance.

If zero or minus stars existed they would get that.
I paid $1538.42 on 14/10/24 for return flights to Bengaluru from Brisbane for 2/4/25:
1. Would not provide tax invoice initially
2. Would only provide tax invoice for the cost of the flights, not for the booking fee, $1395.88.
3. I required hospitalisation and was significantly unwell and wrote to Student Universe via email on 4 occasions from 28/1/25 to 17/3/25, asking what to do about cancelling, then telling them to cancel and then providing a medical certificate, and following up. The replies were boilerplate responses of no use or relevance.
4. For the same reason I called them 4 times on 13/3/25, 17/3/25, 21/3/25, 27/3/25 and was on the phone for a total for 1hr 25 mins. Each of the first 3 calls they said I could cancel and were aware I had provided a medical certificate. The final call they offered me a choice of a guaranteed reduced refund of about $500 (which sounded very off-the-cuff) or wait for a full refund less booking with a risk it may not be granted because it was too late, even though I had been trying to cancel since January for an April flight.
5. They said that any refund could take 10-15 business days, which by the time of the final phone call would have meant at least a week after the flight departure
6. To this day, 31 May 2025, I still have not received any refund.

Vamshi P.

I have recently booked an airline ticket through Student Universe.
Booked date- 5th November
I have cancelled the flight by calling Student Universe between December 3rd-5th. I am yet to receive a refund of the money that was agreed. I am calling them every 2-3 days for an update and I am not receiving any proper response. It has been more than 23 days since my cancellation request. They said the refund will be processed in 7-10 business days. I am in so much stress. It is affecting my mental health as the amount of refund is around $2250-$2260
I have no idea what to do as I am not receiving any proper response from them despite of calling them frequently. Reaching them takes an average 45mins at least and you will be put on hold again by customer agent to follow up with relevant team. All that waiting and you will not receive a proper response except they say it is under processing.
Called airline directly and they say that they did not receive any information from Student Universe and advised me to call Student Universe, which I have been doing since my cancellation request.
UPDATE- Finally received my refund.

lili N.

When you are a student, you are looking for cheap flights with baggage allowance. As a student, I bought a ticket from the student universe website. First, they do not have a refund option. Second, they do not specify the baggage allowance on their e-ticket. On the ticket, they have a link to go to the website of the airline. Which I did and I saw 38 kg at first, then at the last minute 0 bag allowance. I called their customer service. To my surprise, they responded it is our policy and you had to pay attention when you bought the ticket. We do not specify the baggage allowance and we do not have a refund option. I paid 662 £ for my baggage. The airline also did not change the 0 to the regular since they cannot change it.
Interestingly the last-minute regular ticket with baggage allowance was cheaper than the student universe ticket that I bought two weeks earlier. It is a scam. Be careful.

Subramaniam S.

24/12/2024 - I have filed a VCAT application to take my case the Tribunal after the company has refused to pay me damages. Will update here after the outcome.

Student Universe is a con travel agency. DO NOT BOOK tickets through them.
I have reached airport only to find that my booking did not exist. I then got a cancellation email from them 15 minutes before my flight when the gate was closed.
They did not pick up the call even after being on hold for an hour.
I finally (after I booked another ticket and came back from overseas) got through to them after being on hold for 45 minutes, the the agent put me on hold for 17 minutes trying to get a supervisor on line. I was then advised to do whatever I want 🙂 as they have sent a cancellation email.

GEETANJALI J.

I bought my ticket from it, the only problem is that you have to book your tickets 4 weeks before. Because 2 week they'll take to send u your ticket. And you can have a problem.

The only problem is that you can't contact them directly via their number.
Fortunately, I talked with their partner company and resolved my query.

I got my tickets and had a trip.
The only problem was with contacts.

Daniel W.

I recently booked an international trip with Student Universe return flying with Etihad. When I made the booking, it noted baggage was included and the portal noted the same. When I got to the airport, I was advised that no baggage was noted on my ticket. This proved very stressful, disappointing and expensive. When I flagged this with Student Universe, I received an auto reply and then nothing. I then reached out via Instagram DM and then by phone. Every time I spoke to someone at the call centre, I received a different response. Each time, I was told ‘not to worry’ and that they would resolve it for me. I never received a response. After several conversations, I was advised there was nothing they could do and I’d have to purchase luggage with Etihad at my cost for the return leg. I am extremely disappointed in the whole experience and both the cost and wasted time to resolve it.

Steven R.

Had to change some booking information and spent month with them on the phone. They always told me it’s being processed until one day before departure and then they told me they can’t change it. So I lost my flight ticket. Ridiculous company and if I could I would sue them for incompetence. I would rather swim from Australia to Germany than spend one more cent on the company!

Attila C.

I've booked my tickets to spend Christmas and new years with my family in Brazil. The itinerary was sent completely different, I called and waited for hours, emailed twice, nothing. This is a joke!