STA Travel UK 

Well my big mistake was thinking that using a travel agent would be some protection against losing all your money if problems occur ...because despite Covid 19 cancellations and disruption STA travel still hang on to all your money and even the refunds from EasyJet ( it’s all in our terms and conditions Madam !!! ) So I have no choice but to try to claw it all back via the bank .... and you companies wonder why people don,t use you anymore !!!

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY EVER. They are absolutely useless. They happily take your money but the minute anything goes wrong they don’t even pick up the phone.

Cathay Pacific cancelled our return flight and advised a full refund would be available via Sta Travel. They sent back an email saying we were not entitled to a refund but could have a voucher for £300 to use against other services. An ABSOLUTE SCAM!! The airfare was £862. How is the return a straight £300 and also they claim we are NOT allowed a refund ANOTHER SCAM.

Do not use the airfares might look good but they are the worst company I have ever dealt with. I really question who has written the 5 star reviews!!

Wouldn’t recommend this company! Spent over £3,000 with them and they refused to give my money back. I have been forced to accept a voucher from them, despite repeated attempts to get the money back. The customer service is terrible and the staff don’t seem to know what they are doing. I was left stranded alone at the airport after they booked me onto a flight that had a layover in a country I wasn’t allowed to enter due to Covid restrictions! I told them my concerns prior to boarding after reading the government website but they told me it would be fine. I then had to pay over £600 for a new flight and none of it was covered by the £200 travel insurance they sold me. Absolute rip off company I would take your money elsewhere!

Don’t believe the recent 5-star reviews, they are all fake as this company has no customer service & is breaking the law.
They’re stealing customers money by refusing legally entitled refunds to stop them from going bankrupt.
I had to go to small claims court to get my legally entitled refund after 4months of no contact from anyone at STA “cares”.
Absolutely abysmal customer service & will never use them again & will make sure no one I know does ever again!

Hi
I am currently in Australia. I arrived in Feb 2020 and still here (Aug 2020) due to the Pandemic and my return flight getting cancelled.
I booked my flight through STA Travel and it was operated by Emirates.
I initially prolonged my return flight myself for a month when the virus was starting as at that time it was advised not to travel but was largely thought to blow over.
STA charged me £275 Admin fee to change the date along with a further £50 fare difference. This flight was then cancelled by Emirates as everything got grounded.
During email conversations with STA I was advised in late May that Emirates were offering travel vouchers for the flights with a promise of no additional fees
regarding re-bookings or fare difference. I was asked how I would like to proceed.
I quite clearly stated in email that I would be requiring the travel voucher as per the Emirates policy.
I wasn’t after any monetary refund. Quite simply the flight I had already paid for when flights resumed again.
I have now tried to book my flight home but been told by STA that they took it upon themselves to fully cancel my flight and have a credit with them now, and not the airline.
I can rebook with them using the credit available but there will be a fare difference that I have to pay of double the amount of credit.
(credit offered = £345. Cost of new flight = £710). I shouldn’t have to be paying another £365 for a flight I already had and THEY cancelled.
They have said if I don’t like that option and require a cash refund of £345 I would have to apply in writing and wait 60 to 90 days. (The legal requirement is 14 days)
They had already told me on a previous occasion they had received the funds back from the airline of £379.
This is obviously a ploy to stay in business and transfer customers money in to their own account.
I had already found found STA a very bad company to deal with when trying to change my initial flight but this appears to be also illegal.
Unfortunately Trustpilot doesn't provide an option for a negative rating or this company would be off the negative scale for me

Will never book with STA again, my girlfriend and I have been waiting for a refund for over 4 months! If we ever recieve the refund it won't even be for the full amount! Almost £2000 of our trip has to be given as a credit note...
When you eventually manage to get hold of someone you get told the same rubbish everytime about processing and high volume of customers.
Please anyone that is considering booking with them don't.

I would like to thank the online team, specifically Ryan Chandler, for assisting me when I had to change flights for my daughter’s flight. He was always quick to respond to emails and sorted out all my queries and bookings efficiently.
I was so grateful to have one person to contact who knew the situation, and the whole process would have been so much more stressful without his assistance. He initially arranged for a partial refund from a Thai air flight to be credited towards a new flight with Emirates. If I had booked directly with
Thai air I would most probably still be waiting for my refund. He then helped me rearrange the new flight when circumstances changed (a number of times). I know people wIll have had very difficult experiences during this time but I have no regrets using STA travel and being able to talk/email to a knowledgeable member of staff makes their service stand out.
Thank you Ryan!

DO NOT BOOK WITH STA - THEY DON'T PASS ON REFUNDS FOR CANCELLED FLIGHTS.

My flights to Japan on 3rd April were cancelled at the end of March. As of 7th August I still haven't received my refund of £1,204.66 and keep getting fobbed off with a credit note, which I don't want for personal reasons. I would have been far better off booking directly with Cathay Pacific. I've tried Cathay Pacific, my insurer, chargeback (which STA are disputing!) and ABTA. Everyone says STA are legally obliged to refund the money. My next step is a small claims action. MONTHS later I am still out of pocket. I'd used them for years but I absolutely will NEVER use them again.

Incidentally their Privacy Policy also doesn't comply with GDPR (no contact details for their DPO) and they haven't responded to my Subject Access Request (which goes via their generic customer feedback route). A sign of how poorly they treat their customers.

Genuinely shocked at how bad customer service is. I have used STA for years, and always believed that booking via an agency gave an added layer of protection. Instead, I've wasted months trying to get money back from cancelled flights, being lied to and fobbed off by STA and, when I finally get the money refunded, have 140 skimmed off the refund amount. The airline (Qatar) agreed to a cash refund immediately but said it would be processed through STA. STA initially tried to claim I could only get a voucher. Travelling companions were told different information and it took sending their communications plus proof from Qatar for STA to then change their minds but still took 3 months (with numerous chase-ups) to get anything back. I'm still arguing the missing money but will never use STA Travel again. I understand it is a difficult time, but unbelievable behaviour - just tell the truth and most people will be willing to wait instead of lying and stealing!

I would never advise anybody to ever book through STA travel. First of all their service is absolutely appalling with rude travel agents who are completely unhelpful. Secondly they hold your money!!!! I have been in contact with the airlines about my cancelled flights and they tell me they have refunded STA for the flights, yet sta REFUSE to refund me my money back. They are the worst most dishonest travel company I have ever flown with and I will never be using them again.

Bottom line I wouldn’t advise anyone to use this company whatsoever. When you book certain flights and holidays through this company they then in turn use a 3rd party to book through who then book through the actual airline itself. Cut long story short yes I know the co vid situation has slowed things down but it’s no excuse my flight got cancelled months ago and I’m still waiting for my refund which as you can guess I’m getting nowhere with. Not only that I was told today that I need to wait on it getting refunded through all the above channels before it gets to me.And don’t get me started on the overpricing rubbish company rubbish customer service I will not be going near them in the future

I will never use STA again. It’s the worst customer service I have ever experienced!! STA were more than happy to take our money, however my agent was aggressive, rude and patronising when it came to asking for assistance when our trip had to be cut short because of Covid. The only way I managed to get my money back was by submitting a small court claim, through which I received a refund in a matter of weeks. Shame it had to take months of hassle before this, causing me additional stress. Be wary of the good reviews, they are all by someone of the same name and don’t make sense when you read them- clearly fake.

Still waiting for a cash refund since February, been given various dates since February when I would receive a refund which turned out to be lies,now told I can only have a credit note which is no good for me so will have to take matters further, definitely will avoid STA for future travel plans, before booking anything would advise to look at the comments on their Facebook page from others still waiting for refunds.

Avoid STA Travel

Was due to fly to Thailand in April, booked through STA and then COVID hit! Only initially offered credit when legally they have to offer a cash refund! Only way to get them to meet their regulatory requirement was to threaten court action! STA causing people mental health issues by not adhering to clear laws and regulations when they cannot fulfil on their contracts! Trying to use force majeure which they know isn’t applicable to refunds to delay and try and get out of giving customers their own money back! They are a disgrace!

Unfortunately my return flight with Cathay Pacific is no longer available. STA as you will no doubt know, went out of business due to Covid. I asked Cathay Pacific if they would honour my return flight, but was told I should have used it within a year. So something out of my control - the Australian government banned all international flights - I get penalised by Cathay Pacific for something out of my control! So think again if using Cathay Pacific. They don't care about their customers it would seem.
My original review for STA, which at the time I gave five stars: I’m so glad I booked my London to Sydney flight with STA. Who would know back in November what would happen in 2020! The travel industry is trying to cope with COVID-19 chaos, it can’t be an easy job dealing with clients stuck around the world. I was very fortunate to have Becca from STA help sort out my travel return. She has always stayed positive and suggested solutions to my travel problems. I highly recommend STA.

Callum Stacey was brilliant. Really personable. I’ve had two lots of flights cancelled and feel very nervous about rebooking and further disappointment. Gareth dug in deep and explored every avenue of possible flights, possible consequences, further possibilities, best prices , best and easiest routes, single fares, return fares, covid. He has empathy and understands the ups and downs of travel and what it is to want adventure but be nervous about the present situation. Gareth tried really really hard to find a solution to my flight concerns and deliver a resolve. Well done Gareth. I’d definitely use STA again. Let’s hope now my flights go ahead. When I’m due to return I’ll be ringing Gareth to sort out my return flight. Thanks!

I would just like to share with you my appreciation for the truly exceptional level of customer service I received recently at the hands of your incredible employee Calum Stacey!

I am currently in Costa Rica and was due to return from a sabbatical year from Mexico City but had to change my flight due to the whole Corona situation.

I was feeling anxious, not knowing what the deal would be with changing my flight or even if I would manage to get on a flight at all during this unprecedented global situation.

Calum was so reassuring, responsive, efficient and thorough in the way he dealt with sorting out the necessary changes to my flight details.

I felt SO well looked after by him and he went ABOVE and BEYOND for me, responding to my messages even out of his working hours because of the time difference.

He even turned his computer back on when he had packed up for the day and was about to leave work a few weeks ago after I messaged him, so that he could try to contact KLM for me before they closed.

I literally couldn’t have asked for more! He got me on the perfect alternative flight, sent me all the updated flight details accompanied by a lovely message of well wishes.

He truly is an exceptionally helpful young man.

I’ve been a loyal customer for years. Since covid-19, they don’t care about their customers at all.
£800 down the drain. And they don’t care.

Never using again

Still waiting for refund after 14 weeks.
It was obvious in April that our once in a lifetime camper van holiday to the USA in early May would not be possible. As we are both over seventy years old with pre existing health conditions we made it abundantly clear that a voucher or credit note would be no use to us. A refund was needed even if we had to wait. And wait we did! The flight refund arrived after 12 weeks but we are still waiting for the camper van refund. STA had originally claimed that they could only give vouchers, which of course is untrue and they have delayed unnecessarily and I think deliberately. On reflection I wish we had booked independently. I think we could have saved money and definitely we’d have sorted the refund quicker.

Really disappointed with this company, Received £1000 travel voucher through a employment scheme working for BT, booked flights to Italy for our family of 7, they already charge £15 a head booking fee, so £105 which isn't great but fair enough, BA flights cancelled due to coronavirus but I'm not allowed to personally receive the BA voucher to book again,it has to go back to Sta travel who are now going to charge me another £105 to rebook flights, even though I could of quite easily have done it myself for nothing had I received the voucher, terrible company would not reccomend and I will never use again, 21% of my travel voucher gone in booking fees because Sta are taking advantage of the virus, disgusting!