I was recently planning a big trip half way round the world and, aware of the reputation, and having had friends book through STA travel, I made my way to a London STA branch, feeling very postitive about embarking on planning my travel.
New Zealand was the country I most wanted to visit, but the adviser I saw knew very little about the country, had no idea where the places were that I was talking about, and when I talked about methods of travel out there, told me I was that the travel networks I mentioned did not exist. They do! I have just come back from a trip travelling on them, and had a great time! A huge word of warning - I believe STA works on commission. They tried to sell me a very expensive round the world ticket, and only when my friend who had come with me walked over and mentioned her much cheaper ticket she had previously travelled on, did they hurriedly agree that that too was available.
Unhappy with my treatment at that branch, I walked down to another STA London branch. There, having explained where I wanted to visit, and where I did not want to go to, the adviser came back with...you've guessed it, brochures on the very places I said I did not want to go to. "I know you said you didn't want to go here, but there are some very good reasons why you should..." he began. (Like he'd get paid more commission for a more expensive packet?) I was going to be a girl travelling on my own and had clear ideas about where I would feel safe on my own. Instead, he wasted my time by trying to tell me about places I knew I would not go to. My sole purpose of my intial visit to STA was to get an idea of costs involved. When I explained this to this adviser, he refused point blank to give me any proper quotes if I was not prepared to book it there and then. He even refused to give me a quote on a flight from one US city to another - something I am sure he could have easily looked up.
I left feeling, angry, frustrated and none the wiser.
Closer to my travel dates, I decided to give STA telephone sales a try. I was quoted one flight which was much more expensive than those I had already found on the web, and told they could only find that one single flight around the dates I wanted. Internet searches showed me this was not a true representation of flights at the time.
To cut a long story short I got the cheapest deal booking over the internet direct with the airline. I found, after research on the internet, a fantastic travel agency which specialised in the part of the world I was travelling to, even knowing individual small towns when I spoke to them, and I went for an overland travel option that was cheaper than STAs, not available to STA, and on which I met other people disgruntled by their treatment at the hands of STA.
STA may have the main share of the under 26 travel market but that does not mean they provide the best service.Shop around. If you book a long time in advance with STA, I suspect you may get better deals. It also depends on the individual advising you, but I would not go back to STA in a rush.
However, I recognise that this was just my own particular experience, and others may have had much more positive experiences. I could also have found similar experiences with other travel agencies - I am sure STA is not unique in the problems I encountered. I also have to admit that I took out STAs travel insurance - it was very clear what activities I would be covered for, and I was happy whilst travelling that I knew the activities I undertook were specifically covered.
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Advantages: All the benefits of STA (good prices, well-travelled and helpful staff etc) combined with no queues, you can take your time Disadvantages: You might not get an expert in the region you're travelling to; some innacuracies in their information system?
nikeair 24.01.2001 ·
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