STA Travel

Students do have it pretty easy a lot of the time, and having our own travel agent exclusively for us tax-​dodging penny pinchers is really convenient. Or at least it would be, if they actually got you the cheapest prices available. Which they don’t.
When I spent my third year of uni abroad, I booked my flights through STA purely because the others I was going with had all done that, and so arranging seats on the same flights etc was a lot easier than if I’d gone with someone else. Although, being the suspicious person I am, I did some poking around online and found almost identical flights for £50-£100 cheaper. Stupidly though, I did this homework after I’d paid STA.
However, every single aspect of the service was so good that I didn’t really mind. Although I’m ashamed to admit it, at STA they do baby you a little bit and do all of the boring admin stuff on your behalf. When I wanted to change the date of my return flight, for example, all I did was ask if that was ok and within 2 days I had an email from them offering me half a dozen new flight times/​dates to choose from. And the fee to change my flight was only something like £30.
I’d recommend doing things over the phone with them or by email, as the branch tends to get quite busy. The annoying thing is that the majority of the students clogging up the queue probably have no realistic intention of travelling, they’re just sick of the Scottish winter and wishful thinking starts to kick in. I’d definitely use STA again, though.

I know that there are STA branches in most major cities in the UK and many abroad but I felt the need to review this specific shop so I call mention how good the travel agents are. I have used other STA branches before and while I have never had any complaints the guy at Forrest Road have dealt with a lot that I have thrown at them.
When I and 7 friends booked tickets a rarely visited African country we were on a tight budget and limited flexibility on when we went. Our agent worked tirelessly to find the best option for us all and sent us updates on how he was getting on with finding us different fares.
When we finally settled on a flight we then had to get a refund when the foreign office changed the safety status of the place we were going and we had to start over again.
We were all really stressed about the whole situation but none of the people we ever dealt with were anything other than friendly, helpful and understanding. They organised refunds for us that came through almost instantly which is unheard of when dealing with airlines and travel operators.
I applaud the professionalism and patience!

STA Travel was my automatic go to place for travel advice when I decided to go on a trip to South America a while ago. I think this was partly because I’d been bombarded with STA Travel banter while I was at university, with it being a travel agent specialising in youth and student travel and all that jazz. The idea of a round the world ticket has been my prospective get out of being an adult option for ages, and I am not lying when I say that I think about walking into STA Travel and just booking said ticket and leaving a farewell note on the kitchen table, everytime I pass its doors.
When I finally figure out how to save money, I’ll be legging it straight down here for the golden ticket to recklessness and sunshine, but for now, a couple of trips abroad, for a few months at a time after I finished uni, have done the job. The staff at this branch of STA were super helpful at assisting me with both of these trips, and seeing as they’re all pretty young, and have done a substantial amount of travelling themselves, it’s quite an inspiring place to come and get advice from people you can relate to, if you’re young that is. I have just edged out of the «Youth» category, (*holds back the tears and the wrinkles*) but there are still some good flight deals and information to be had from the staff here, even if I am no longer classed as young.

I get annoyed with STA travel easily. There seems to be a growing competition about who had the most exotic and extreme gap year/​vacation.
OK rant over. This branch seems to have constant clientele (or at least 4 months ago) and even though the people at the desk are friendly it seems to have a rather long waiting time. Plus you never really know who is next in line which can make it awkward. I was there to book a ticket home and was amongst people clutching fliers for exotic treks across Australia and walks across the Andes. The girl was friendly but told me to check their website as they don’t usually cater for just flights (what I wanted) more they to tailor match full holidays. According to my friend who used them for her holiday in South America they were very helpful indeed.
So my advice would be check their website first, it’s what they seem to do anyway. Or try KAYAK for just flights and save you the waiting time. My friend who booked her round the world ticket said they were great for that. I guess it depends for what you want to do.