not a useful site

[borderpups]

I finally joined this forum after not being able to find the answers to my questions elsewhere. I was not surprised to find the forum full of dissatisfied customers and former customers of studentuniverse. For years I have tried to find flights (domestic) and ALWAYS seemed to come up with the "flights not available" reply. I do not have the time to go day by day to find a flight that MAY be availble between my destinations. A grid of available dates would be so much more useful. On the rare occassion I did find a flight available (these are flights I'm looking at months in advance, not days) they were much more expensive (often by $200 or more on a flight I could book elsewhere for $400). For example, I was looking for SFO to beijing for the late spring early summer. I could find ones on other websites for less than $900. your quote was for over $2200. Bargain fares? I think I will stick to sidestep, kayak or the individual airlines where the real bargains are.

[phild]

Thank you for your posting, we welcome all feedback, good or not.

I'd be happy to respond to your posting to the best of my abilities. In terms of negative posting on our site, sure we have some, but I certainly don't think we have that many. We, unlike some other sites, do not edit or delete negative postings. As long as they don't have inappropriate content, we leave them on. I work in customer service, and see many people's comments come to us, thanking us for helping them, or complimenting us in general.

In terms of what you're looking for, a grid that shows availability and pricing at the weekly/monthly level, I could not agree more. Without going into great detail, we are working on expanding our search capabilities, but it is a huge change, and we're not likely to see anything like what you mention in the near future.

In terms of prices, I checked out SFO-Beijing in early April (4/2-4/13), and found Northwest flights with us for $856, and Orbitz/Kayak's cheapest at $900. I can tell you that we run a myriad of reports on prices in different areas, and departures, and we normally fare very well. I encourage you, and all students who travel, to definitely check at least 2-3 sites before you book your flight, ours included. We know that we won't win every battle, no one site will, but we'll win our share.

I do hope you found a good fare for your upcoming flight, and enjoy your time in China

Phil

[borderpups]

I think you need to read people's posts a little more clearly. I specifically stated late spring / early summer for China travel in my post. Early April is NOT late spring/early summer. Sure I can find cheap flights for early April too that undercut yours. Please read a person's post carefully so you can address the problem they are posting. Try your site for leaving end of May and returning end of June. You won't find any decent prices then.

[wilson49332]

I am sorry for you feeling this way. I am in NO way associated with this websites company, just a moderator in my spare time for the forum. (A student like you). My specialization area is Europe and US, and as you may know, I HAVE flown with a SU ticket many times to Europe or Domestic. Student Universe focuses on those two areas, NOT to Asia. Every time I was happy, and also saved on my ticket from all other sites. I have sent an email to the owner of SU, and let the people who need to know about the Asia issue.

Thank you for your honesty, change cant happen without it- and the reason this area is here and you post was not deleted. We WANT people to see negative as well as positive stuff. If you are happy with the other website, excellent- we cant please everyone! (We try) Please consider us next time you plan to go to Europe or flying domestic and then come back and let us know how that was. To others- Asia is an area that SU is working on, and will continue to do so as we go.

[wilson49332]

Oh and Bejing IS NOT a domestic flight. I have never had any issues with domestic US flights, although once in a while yes the airlines don't give SU fares at regular price so SU cant list anything as available. That is not our fault, as all our tickets are based on the airline releasing the seats to SU. But, a grid would be nice I will agree, also have emailed the sites techs on that as well.