<p>My daughter is planning some rather complicated travel next fall-winter involving studying abroad in one continent and then stopping on another continent before returning home. She is also away this summer and didn’t have time to book her flights before she left (although she did get some general prices). It is left to me to book the flights, and I have procrastinated for a couple of weeks but now must do it pretty fast as the time approaches.</p>
<p>I am waiting for a travel agent recommended by her study abroad program to get back to me, but she seems to be delaying and I started looking into it on my own. The prices I found on Travelocity and Kayak.com were very high, but then I found this STA Travel website which is for students and got a very good price for the dates my daughter wishes to travel. They are holding the flights for 24 hours - I have not booked anything yet.</p>
<p>Does anyone have experience with STA Travel and is it legitimate and reliable?</p>
<p>Yes - have used them for airline tickets (both domestic and international) and hostel bookings in Europe. The experience has been very positive and their prices are often much cheaper than anything else we found. Send me a PM if you have specific questions.</p>
<p>There is an STA Travel storefront near my house (I guess they serve SMU students). It has been there for as long as I can remember, so I assume they are legit.</p>
<p>Thanks! I was shocked at the price for her trip when I looked on my normal sites (Travelocity and kayak), although she had claimed she could do it for much less! There are three legs to the trip, and on the itinerary STA sent, part of the trip is a “private fare” only available to students while part is a fare available to anyone. I guess these student fares do actually exist, and that is how they are able to do this.</p>
<p>I’ve used STA travel for 2 years now as an international student, and yes, they are legit and yes, you can get very good prices with them. However, it’s a very mixed bag - get the wrong travel agent, and it can screw your fares upwards unnecessarily. Make sure to double-check the price you get from the agent with the prices listed on their website search. Also, there are vast differences between different airlines - an SAS flight is incredibly comfy for the same price that a flight with Air France is incredibly tasking.</p>
<p>Thanks frrrph! My daughter’s itinerary is a little out of the ordinary, and the price I got was much better than I found by searching severl other travel and airline company websites. The agent seemed good because she told me that she could not book one leg of the trip within Europe reasonably, but directed me to Ryan Air (which I had never heard of) where my daughter could separately book that shorter flight outside of the STA Travel ticket.</p>
<p>There are agencies that are a member of the STA network that can provide excellent service, often better than can be had going directly from STA. We’ve used Council Travel in Seattle - customer service has been incredibly helpful on complicated travel (U.S. to Angwor Wat in Cambodia, then from Phnom Penh to south India, then back to Bangkok; and then to the U.S.; two necessary changes to dates while d. was in Italy; and my own flights to and from India.</p>
<p>For foreign travel, I always check with them first. Sometimes I come up with something better - in which case almost always they are prepared to book it for me.</p>
<p>I was not aware of this company until I read this thread. </p>
<p>But I noticed you mentioned Ryan Air and I just want to say that my D has done a bunch of independent travel in Europe and is there right now in fact and is using Ryan Air on Monday. She books all of her own travel within Europe but she has told me that Ryan Air and Easy Jet are inexpensive airlines within Europe and she has used both.</p>
<p>STA Group Travel in Los Angeles booked the group flights for my daughter’s study abroad program:</p>
<p>New York to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires to Beijing
Shanghai to Bangalore, India
Bangalore to New York</p>
<p>The flights went without a hitch. They used US carriers, Singapore Air, and Emirites Air. They were responsive in providing faxed confirmation of ticketing to Chinese Embassy for visa purposes. No complaints – except for lost luggage on two different legs!</p>
<p>Thanks! The STA Travel I am looking at is on the Internet, and I am not sure what city its office is located in, although I have been speaking to agents over the phone.</p>
<p>My kids have also used Ryanair. Be very careful of the baggage weight restrictions on Ryanair and Easyjet. Excess weight charges can be outrageous and completely nullify the ticket savings.</p>
<p>STA travel is great!!! DD has used it, and we used council travel 20+ years ago to travel. The best part is that for a small fee you can change your return flights (I think 25$) This is very useful if you are traveling and wish the option to extend your dates.</p>
<p>STA Travel - Paoulo is the travel agent you want to use. Even though they work on commission, he will try to help you find the best deals. Very competent and also well traveled, so full of good advise. I used him several months ago and he was great! Main number is on their online website, which I think is in L. A.</p>
<p>“STA travel is great!!! DD has used it, and we used council travel 20+ years ago to travel. The best part is that for a small fee you can change your return flights (I think 25$) This is very useful if you are traveling and wish the option to extend your dates.”</p>
<p>My d. in fact had to change twice (a travel fellowship extended her stay.) The first change was $25; the second was $75, and Council went way out of their way to find a flight (high season).</p>
<p>Council Travel<br>
4311 University Way NE
Seattle, WA
Phone: 206-632-2448</p>
<p>Ask for Lisa or Marci. (Doesn’t matter where you are calling from: they are STA Travel reps in the area as well.)</p>
<p>I second the motion on Ryan Air and Easyjet. S travelled fairly extensively on both airlines and didn’t have any problems. He did say that STA (London) was a mixed bag. He didn’t think that he got the best deal on a particular accommodation in one of the cities that he was travelling to, and I remember that when he told me about it, it didn’t sound that great, so I had him try to get a refund, and I had him book somewhere else - sometimes I just can’t stop myself from being my own travel agent!</p>
<p>Just today my D traveled on both Ryan Air and Easyjet. She makes all of her own arrangements and was the one that found these airlines in the first place when in Europe last year. They definitely are cheap from what she tells me.</p>
<p>You can get some amazing prices on flights between European countries especially if you book well in advance. One important thing to look out for when flying budget airlines is the airport location. For instance we are flying from Barcelona to London in October (booked it today 16pounds per person - actually way cheaper than the train from my Mums house to Dover where our cruise departs). Ryanair and Easyjet both had better prices than the ‘big’ airlines. But Ryan Air flies out of airports over an hour out of Barcelona while Easyjet flies out of the main Barcelona airport. It can make a considerable difference in the cost of connecting from the airport to the city. So book in advance and check the airport location.</p>
<p>Those who had students who used STA after the thread got started last summer, how did it go? S is talking about Buenos Aires over spring break. Did anyone use the STA last minute packages?</p>