STA Travel

STA travel always reminds me of students with dreadlocks who go off to Africa to «find themselves» and to get some pictures of children living in poverty so they can put them on Facebook to show all their friends how selfless they are. Gimme’ a break!
I went to New York a few years ago and my friend is a complete whizz at finding flights for cheap and she found some super cheap flights online, still everyone told us that STA Travel was the best bet for cheap flights so we popped in to see what they had to offer. When we explained we wanted flights to New York I almost felt like the guy looked down at us because we weren’t planning some wild trip around the world and just wanted to go shopping. He found us flights around £200 more expensive than the ones my friend had found online and made out as though they were the cheapest we would find. I’m glad we went though as after our visit we knew we were getting a good deal with the flights online and got an absolute bargain!
I guess if you are planning a holiday then STA Travel may come up trumps for you and their insurance deals are very reasonable, but look around first, don’t just take their word for it that they’re the cheapest place around because I found out they’re actually not.

STA Travel is usually the first stopping point for students who want to go on an «adventurous» holiday to Vietnam or somewhere, whom love the thought of two weeks spent patronising the locals and getting their photos taken with poor people. These same students are rarely so enthusiastic when they get to said destinations however, and find themselves murdered or in jail, as is usually the case.
While there’s no question that STA Travel should be a port of call for those looking to go to more exotic and unusual climes, or simply just anywhere outside of Europe, you do have to be aware that the staff are quite incessent with the hard sell. They will constantly witter on about how they can save you £0.10 on your journey if you would just take 3 more flights and a few 10 hour stopoffs in some communist hellhole, and act like you’ve called their mother a slapper when you state you’d rather pay the extra 10p.
Still, with Lagos being among the places on Earth I really want to visit before my death, I expect I’ll be making a trip to STA at some point, at least in the distant future.

These guys without doubt know there stuff and are the best guys to pay a visit to if your looking to book a flight/​holiday without either paying through the nose at the big travel companies or alternatively if your not keen on spending all your waking hours online searching out the best/​cheapest deals for yourself…
A quick example: Myself und the wiffage decided to flee this fair city for a few days a couple of years ago. We wanted to get away for 4 to 5 days to somewhere where we could sit on a beach, enjoy some good grub and not have to listen to a Glaswegian accent. After a couple of visits to the usual suspects we were facing a package deal to some sort of Costa Del hellhole, or a trip down south somewhere… enter STA. within 10 mins of our consultation (cant think of a better word to use) we were offered a 5 day trip to Nice for pretty much the same price… thank you STA.
Top marks and thumbs up to you and your persistence in getting the very best deal you can for us.

STA Travel is a great travel company for students and young people, especially if you’re not a fan of trawling the price comparison websites for a good deal.
They can be a little over-​zealous about finding you a cheap price, however. Once I was trying to get to a city in central California which involves another internal flight from LA or San Francisco, which, after 15 hours of flying you wouldn’t mind paying an extra 50 quid for. The teller was determined to get me a cheaper flight than the one I’d found online and began a spiel about taking the greyhound or amtrak train from San Francisco. If you’re not feeling very adventurous, or just want to get somewhere remote within 24 hours of leaving your home, they’re not so great.
Overall, though, their prices are reasonable and you can usually choose from a few different flight patterns if you want to avoid taxes in London or long layovers in Texas. They have loads of brochures and information on backpacking, buses, trains, and tours like Contiki and Turtle Tours.

After trying to book a trip to LA through a «travel price comparison» website, but with far too many options (I just want the cheapest flight that didn’t take 3 days to get there!), I decided to head to STA to ask their advice.
Well, the guy behind the desk was amazing! He literally asked me when and where I wanted to go, typed something into his computer, then literally seconds later, *PING!* he said «right, I can book you onto this flight, for this price, whatdayathink?» Wow. Quick and painless, I can tell you that, so I booked there and then. No fuss, no panic, no annoying questions (or popups).
Thank you STA — I might even send you a postcard.