STA Travel www.statravel.co.uk

We booked with STA as they are 'travel experts' in January 2018 for a trip in September 2018. At the face to face appointment we were encouraged to buy premium travel insurance as it covered "all eventualities". On holiday we were caught in a typhoon which cost several hundred pounds in expenses. On our return we were told we did not have natural disaster cover on our policy because we did not ask for it ALTHOUGH IT WAS NEVER MENTIONED OR OFFERED so we didn't know to ask! Very angry

Additionally we bought their cash cards which I CANNOT STRESS TO AVOID ENOUGH. £12 to pay and says its free after that but costs £2.50 PER WITHDRAWAL which we did not realise until we had spent close to £30 on withdrawals alone on our supposedly 'free to use cashcard'.

Finally when we stranded and our plane was cancelled took 9 hours to get through to a representative which was very distressing

Multi flex pass is not as flexible as they lead you to believe.

Trying to make changes is frustrating & expensive & sometimes impossible.

Avoid this company

I booked return flights to new Zealand earlier in the year, multiflex flights came up as an option for my flights as they were considered 'changeable', so after reading the advertisements and the pros of booking the multiflex flight, I thought perfect...just what I need considering my circumstances, so I booked multiflex.

I landed in new Zealand... a couple of months later, I decided on a date of when I would like to return to the UK...emailed to change my flights, to be told I couldn't. I asked questions as to why, the reply wasn't really that clear. After a few emails had been passed I received a copy of the terms and condition, following scrutiny, there it was in the small print much further down the page, that the flights could only be changed to an earlier flight. Important information that should be highlighted in the advertisement in the first instance. Following misleading information given in the first instance I have now wasted my money. I feel that STA travel have portrayed misleading information in order for them to make sales. The lack of attention to important detail as caused an unnecessary purchase.

I have attempted to make a formal complaint following STA travels advice, however I keep getting repetitive emails regarding the process, which I have followed- poor customer service.

The customer services is shocking.

I will not be using STA travel again

Booking my trip through STA was the worst mistake I have made.

Firstly, after paying all of my balance for my trip to South East Asia, I received a call from the branch manager saying I had to pay an outstanding balance (I was not aware of this as I had paid everything which I did explain). I refused to pay and was then told my entire trip including flights would be cancelled if I did not pay. I explained I wanted to speak to the agenct I was dealing with before anything else happens, and I did so this the following week to then be told it was their mistake and no changes have been made. No apology. I can't help but wonder if I paid what was asked then would I have been refunded following your mistake?!

I the best landed in Thailand, and to my surprise I had no transfer booked after being assured this was booked and paid for. I then contacted the STA office in Thailand via the 24 hour helpline to then be told they could not access my details as I had booked in the UK. So what's the point in providing this 24 hour helpline if they cannot acces my details! I the new made my own way to my hotel after incurring a £50 charge on my phone bill no thanks to STA mistakes to THEN be faced with an email apologising that my transfer wasn't there and that they had organised another for me (too late now as I was at my hotel after quite an ordeal).

I booked a 30 day tour with STA, and was told this overall price would also include activities etc, excluding only alcohol and some meals. Again, this was not accurate as NO activities at all were included. I paid close to £2000 for a trip that was supposed to be inclusive of activities etc but instead I spent even more money to participate.

I feel that STA feed you the information you want to hear in order for you to book with them. When the payment is done, they offer absolutely no help to you at all. To add to the frustration, a significantly number of people on the same trip as me agreed this was also their experience. With those who booked with the event organisers directly (G adventures) they were able to report a MUCH better experiences, as well lower cost, significantly better customer service and overall better experience and likelihood to be a returning customer.

Overall EXTREMELY dissatisfied with this service and such a trusted name actually being unreliable, and in fact untrustworthy. I continue to assure friends and family that they should not, under any circumstances, book with STA. luckily my influence has helped others with saving money and planning trips and I will continue to voice my experience.

They lie to get your booking, saying 'yeah, it's ok, you can hop on & off the bus daily' turns out buses are twice a week & prebooked well in advance. This is misleading at best. I gave them the benefit of the doubt after terrible service before. Never again. AVOID, THEY ARE LIE TO GET YOUR BOOKING & DESTROY YOUR ADVENTURE!!

Went into the very quiet Cambridge office on a weekday (no customers). Three agents at their desks. Four or five other empty desks. Approached the first agent and was told her computer wasn't working. The next agent told me he couldn't help because he was a supervisor. The third lady did help and promised to send the details of two air tickets (one to Japan and the other to Sri Lanka). Got home later in the day. No information sent. Rang up and was promised they would be sent out to my e-mail. That was three weeks ago and still no e-mail. If that simple request can't be dealt with efficiently how does STA manage with other more complicated arrangements such as arranging tickets and hotels. Perhaps I was lucky !

Went into the Bristol store, person we spoke with not very helpful. Answered a call half way through our consultation and said she didn't know to many of the questions we asked (about visas and travel within the country) but didn't offer to find out the answers. Ended up booking the flights ourselves when we got home as google was more informative.

Overall pretty happy with my experience. As I said in my previous review, their products are to a large extent charging you money in lieu of the time you might spend figuring things out for yourself - back then, it wasn't worth it to me. This time, I paid £75 odd over the government price of a visa for Australia, which got me a bank account, a contact in Australia over Whatsapp, a deal on workplace qualifications, a tax file number (tricky!), pensions advice, possibly more. For me, this was worth the time and headaches I saved. Customer service was great - got talking to knowledgable agents quickly, who then sat through 20-40 minutes of my questions depending on the occasion! With patience too.

What I have learned, however, about MultiFlex passes from a friend's mistake - the pass has a time limit, but SO DOES YOUR TICKET. THEY DO NOT TELL YOU THIS and they really, really, REALLY should. If you are going for three months, but might want to extend, you can only do so using the pass for the 'duration' of your ticket. If it's a three month ticket, no dice. ASK. BE SOLD THE RIGHT THING. They did help out my friend, but caused him stress and he lost money. They're losing a star from my review because they didn't advise me of this, I had to find out from him and almost certainly would have booked the wrong thing if I hadn't explicitly asked an agent over the phone about it.

Also, for reference, the prices they can offer online and on the phone are different - check both!

Absolutely awful, we asked for a tour to a cathedral in Barcelona, they sent us a different tour completely ! Tried to explain that the girl in the shop knew ( as we had explained fully to her exactly what we required ) but she decided to include many extras that my wife didn't notice.... they are very unhelpful and will try and slip things under the radar to bump up the price, you needn't bother talking to them because you'll get what they want to give and unluckly you if you miss the small print.

After missing my flight it has taken 3 days for me to get someone to reschedule my flight. They are only interested in selling tickets and forget in getting any help unless you are dealing with the office that you actually bought the ticket from.