Collecting concessions: what your cards do for you
Conor Fox
One of the main benefits of being a student is attempting to use your student card to get discounts at any available opportunity. Along with your official University College Dublin Student card, cialis concessions are available in certain outlets and services with a Student Travel Card and some of the numerous society cards.
UCD recently launched a new UCD campus smartcard called the UCARD. The objective of this card is “to put in place a common campus card to serve the many current and future uses for cards in UCD.” It allows for electronic payments for food in the Main Restaurant, buy a 10% discount for Belgrove Laundry and is also for use with Copi-Print services on campus. All new incoming students and students in on-campus accommodation have received their UCARD at this stage; the remaining student body will be issued the cards on a phased basis.
Your student identity card enables you to get discounts in a large number of outlets in Ireland, including popular fashion retailers such as Topshop and New Look, cinemas and theatres. Bus Éireann will allow you to purchase a student ticket with a valid Student Card on the condition that there is a photograph of the user. On the Bus Éireann website, they publish a list of universities and colleges within Ireland whose identity cards will be recognised by Bus Éireann for entitlement to student fares. Thankfully, our hallowed halls are mentioned.
The Student Travel card is another option for students. It costs €15 if it is applied for on campus during the first few weeks of Semester One. According to www.studenttravelcard.ie, it gives holders “exclusive offers and discounts.” One of the main features of this particular card is that a discount is given to students on Irish Rail services. You are only entitled to a student fare on Iarnród Éireann if you are registered for a valid Student Travel Card; a Student Card is not accepted. Similarly, for a student ticket on Luas or Dublin Bus services, a Student Travel Card is needed.
After surviving the Freshers’ Tent and lightening your wallet of multiple two euro coins, it’s time to organise your society cards and examine what discounts each society offers you. When first year Law with French student Sorcha Cusack was asked by the College Tribune what she thought of the society discounts she stated that “the people who are pitching it … are like ‘oh, we’ve great discounts!’ and then I realised afterward that it was the exact same.” It’s a common complaint from many first year students who are unaware of the similar discounts available from most societies, something that older students are familiar with.
According to the auditor of QSoc, “everybody goes to the same places and what’s popular.” Michelle Creann, UCD LGBT auditor, was emailed by someone from the Students’ Union to inform her that they could have a Dicey’s discount. In relation to the other concessions that society offers, she emailed places and then rang them to follow through on their deal.
The more specialised societies aim to offer discounts within the theme of their particular society as noted by Diana, auditor for ItalianSoc. Their card is “mostly Italian themed.” Similarly DanceSoc is aiming to get dance schools as they feel it is important to “get something within your society.”
Students are told to join societies to get involved and meet people, but as a first year BCL pointed out, “the discounts are a bonus.” The Literary and Historical Society are one of the biggest and most active societies on campus. Christine Simpson, the current auditor, agreed that the sixteen concessions they offer are a big incentive to join. “People who have no interest in getting involved in the society still get their €2 back [if they] use anything on the card.”
For older students, this is not a huge issue. Gemma Mahon, a second year Animal Science student, commented that she wasn’t planning on joining societies to get concessions for nightclubs (a discount generally available on most society cards) as “you can just get cheap list online, you’ve all these cards and never use them.” After the rush of first year, sophomore students seem to be more prone to joining societies, which they wish to be active in, rather than to get free pizza.
It’s well known that students are regularly broke and always on the hunt for a cheap option. The multiple cards available to students offer them regular opportunities for discounts, however the big disadvantage according to Deirdre Potenz, a first year student, is that “there’s so many [cards] that I don’t know which one they’re on.”
