STA Travel

This place has all the benefits of STA -- but without the queues. What more could you possibly ask for?

For directions, I've described how to get there (it's on the Queen Mary and Westfield University campus - but you don't need to be a student there, or anywhere) at the bottom of this review.

To explain for those that don't already know, STA is a travel agency for people aged 26 or under - the idea is that you get discount prices for flights around the world aswell as reasonably expert advice from the staff.

So if you're 26 or under and are looking for discounted flights then you should definitely check out STA. The one thing to bear in mind is that if you're looking for a short weekend holiday, then STA is probably not the best place to go as there will be some better deals for that sort of thing if you go through a company such as EasyJet. It struck me that STA's forte is in the longer trip - both in terms of time and in terms of distance. This makes it the ideal place to go if you're a student looking to take a year out and do some travelling.

They offer all the usual options for flights right the way from simple one-way tickets through to open-jaw tickets (where you fly out to one destination and fly back from another) and round the world tickets. And all at good prices....

I went to Trailfinders in London to get a quote before I settled with STA and it turns out that I'm saving £100 on a £400 open-jaw return to Bangkok - that's 20% off! They also organised my travel insurance at a pretty reasonable rate when compared with the other quotes I got, and for me the bonus with STA's insurance is that one of their policies offers cover for trekking over 2500 metres - something that I couldn't find with other companies' policies.

I found the staff at this branch (and at all branches in general - I have been to a few others) to be very helpful and the bonus of coming to the one in Mile End is that there are no queues building up behind you so there's no need to feel pressured to hurry up with your (undoubtedly) endless questions - something that I discovered was something of a problem in the more popular branches, leading to half-finished enquiries and, inevitably, having to go back in again to finish the job off properly.

Here there's none of that as there are two people in there to help you, and of the three times I went in only once were there any other customers. Despite the branch being somewhat off the beaten way, the staff there obviously have full access to the STA information system through their computers and so there's absolutely no disadvantage in going here - it simply saves you time and hassle.

The great thing about STA and similar agencies (like Trailfinders) is that the staff are generally pretty well travelled themselves meaning that you're dealing with people that have a genuine interest in what you're doing aswell as some tips and general advice. I suppose the one problem with this branch of STA is that, since there are only two people there there's a chance that the person you talk to won't have been to where you're planning on going to (and so won't have any 'insiders' tips to share) whereas in a bigger branch each staff member only deals with queries for specific regions, meaning that whoever you talk to will be an 'expert' on your area of interest.

However this is not such the massive problem it might seem to be because, as I mentioned earlier, an information database is available to all staff at STA - it contains not only the latest flight information but also Foreign Office travel advice and information on Visa requirements for any country in the world. They can also provide you with telephone numbers and addresses of the relevant embassies should it transpire that you need to apply for a Visa in advance. As you may have guessed STA do not offer to organise your Visas for you, as some other agencies (such as Trailfinders) do - this could be a problem if you don't have time to organise it yourself, queueing at Embassies and the like.

I did come upon one small problem with the STA information system, however. I was advised that, in order to enter Thailand I needed an 'onward' ticket out of Thailand within 1 month of my arrival. If I didn't, I was told, I wouldn't be allowed to enter the country. As I was planning to leave the country over land I was told that I should get the cheapest plane ticket possible that would take me out of Thailand, and then simply not use it. However, when I went to the Thai Embassy I was told that having a ticket is only necessary if I was applying for a 'transit' Visa - I could apply for a tourist's Visa without need for an extra ticket.

Now I'm sure that the advice I was given was accurate as far as they knew, and that this was not a way of trying to get me to buy an extra £50 ticket that I did not need - but just a word of warning, it's probably best to check with the relevant Embassies before you trust what STA say to the letter. As it was I was able to simply cancel the ticket at no extra charge and so there as no harm done in the end.

Overall STA is a very good bet for all those 26 or under - and if you do decide to go with them, it makes sense to go to the branch in Mile End. To get there go to Mile End underground station (on the Central Line, about 3 stops east of Liverpool Street). Go out of the station and turn left onto the main road. Carry on for about 15 metres and cross straight over another road that comes onto the main one from the left. Carry on along the main road for about 100 metres and then cross over when you get to the garage / car showroom. STA is on the Queen Mary and Westfield University campus, just in off the main road past a book shop - I think it's Waterstone's. If you go further than about 10 metres from the main road into the campus then you've gone wrong somewhere.

If you've got this far then thanks and I hope you find this review useful!