STA Travel UK 

Sta travel are holding my refund and taking a long time to return it, when I should have had it months ago! They need to be taken to court.

I will never recommend sta travel again.

Booked refundable tickets at before the begining of COVID to fly in April. Despite being refundable tickets, flights being cancelled, and not being allowed to fly out of New Zealand, I am still fighting to have my money refunded 3 months later.

Had a very poor experience with STA. Poor communication, untrustworthy and refusal to issue refunds.

Terrible !!

My flights were cancelled to Bali for obvious reasons. Long story short, the airline refunded STA travel, but STA travel want to give me a travel voucher instead of my full cash refund. Spouting nonsense about blue tickets and a load of other foolishness to keep your money.

I have gone through my credit card who have refunded me the money. HOWEVER !! I have to wait 90 days for it to be permanent as STA travel could dispute it at any time. So over a grand is currently in Limbo and i can’t touch it as these scam artists could take it back

I understand it's unprecedented times but STA have really fought back on not giving refunds. My friends and I were all booked on the same flight and they insisted we could only have credits and gave us separate stipulations for each credit. One friends was told her credit expired in 18 months, another a year, whilst I was told I had until the end of 2020 to use mine. They could use theirs for any airline whilst I could only use mine for Delta (whilst I know Delta run through Virgin Atlantic, I booked with Virgin Atlantic so would expect a credit with them if I were to get one?!) Whenever I confronted them about how my credit was really limited compared to my friends, they just kept telling me that there are different rules for different flights... Hello, we were booked on the same flight all sat next to each other! I kept insisting for a refund and in the end had to do a chargeback via my credit card company. My friends booked via debit card and haven't been able to get the money back via their bank and are still waiting for refunds, it's now been 3 months. I understand they must be under enormous pressure but the customer service has been shocking, the communication has been lacking seeing as we didn't even receive anything from them about our flights being cancelled and I really won't be booking through them again.

Refusing to give refunds!
The fact that this company is aimed towards students and young people but then rips them off by constantly changing policies and refusing refunds is disgusting. They’re targeting people who’ve probably spent the majority of their savings on a trip!

I understand they’re obviously afraid of going bust, but by refusing refunds now they’re only losing customers in the future. Not to mention they face being taken down considering the amount of people I’ve seen who’ve taken them to court.

If this company has any common sense they’d give people back their money!

DO NOT book with this company!
I’m assuming all the positive reviews are from employees... because they completely breach contracts by updating policies after you’ve paid which is illegal.
Not to mention the staff are exceptionally rude and blame the customer for complaining on top of being really unhelpful. I have yet to receive a refund but will not stop complaining until I do, even if I have to take them to court. They should not be allowed to get away with this and they need to be taken down!

I would like to thank Ben Greasby for helping me throughout the last couple of weeks who has been liaising with the airline with regards to flight cancellations and refunds, and regularly communicating with me with updates via email. He has been persistent, attentive, sympathetic and helpful and was able to confirm the refund. He is an asset to the STA customer service team. I am still awaiting for my refund though but I am hopeful that will be forthcoming. I will update when and if that happens but for now, it has been good.

After my flight being cancelled on the 16th March to New Zealand, I am yet to receive a refund. I was initially told I had to take a voucher which had to be spent before September. (how can you reorganize a whole trip to New Zealand that quickly). After finding out I was entitled to a refund they agreed and since then I have been given numerous different time scales on how long it will take. Originally told "several" months which I queried and then 2- 3 months which has been and gone. They give me no updates and ignore any emails I send apart from responding "we are busy and the airline are in the process of refunding". You would of though after being one of the first flights to be cancelled, I would of received my refund by now or been given a realistic time scale. Very frustrating and feels like I am never going get my money back....

I paid for my daughters flights to camp thialand for her 21st birthday. She should have been departing this week, however,her flight was cancelled.
She has tried to claim a refund but has been told she cant have one. She could have a credit note but as this is her final year at university she can't rearrange this trip.
My daughter is a student and has no income. I am an NHS nurse and am annoyed that my hard earned money is being kept by STA. They are acting illegally. STA should refund our money and do the right thing. They haven't fulfilled their contract we will be reporting them to the CMA and ABTA

Can only add to everyone else’s comments - steer clear of this company- quick to take your money but useless aftercare . Singapore airlines notified me two months ago that there was a refund for my flight which my travel agent must claim . They are still holding the money . I suspect they are in financial trouble since they were supposed to be so busy yet now I hear that staff have been furloughed .

Booked and paid for a flight to Botswana via South Africa several months ago. In March it became clear that the trip would not happen due to Coronavirus. I knew that travel companies would be very busy at first so left it a month before contacting them on 23rd April. Finally got a reply on 13th June telling me that a refund is "not possible". I pointed out that as the flight was cancelled by the airline I have a legal right to a refund and was told that if I am not happy with their response I need to "escalate" the matter via a link. I did this and received a response saying that response times exceed 28 days - that will be almost 4 months since the flight was cancelled!

Of course, if I weant to book a new flight they can deal with that instantly. So much for "@ STA Cares we are 24/7/365".

so, a review below states - " It's disheartening to read the below negative reviews of STA and the team who are working hard to look after their clients, whilst also navigate their way through these weird times in their personal lives."

How about "It's disheartening to read that STA Travel UK are breaking the law in refusing to work hard and refund customers" ??? I think that makes a much better review of reviews.

It is quite simple, invoke Section 75 if you paid more than £100 on a credit card (even if total cost was higher, as long as you have spent at least £100 on a credit card then liability rests with your credit card company). OR, ask your bank to initiate a Chargeback if paid by debit card. OR, take them to court through MCOL (money claim online). AND, as a previous poster said, report them to ABTA and the CMA.

This lot must not be allowed to get away with this, as they are clearly making things up to suit themselves as they go along.

They are hitting customers where it hurts, it is time to hit them back where it hurts and then they may, just may, sit up and listen - but I have my doubts.

This company are absolutely appalling. They have, for the last three months refused to refund costs for a package cancelled due to Coronvirus. They now state that in retaining this money, the customer is being told that vouchers are given and refunds are not available. I would certainly not give this company the time of day, and urge would be customers to pick a company with more integrity than this one. They are an absolute disgrace.

It's disheartening to read the below negative reviews of STA and the team who are working hard to look after their clients, whilst also navigate their way through these weird times in their personal lives.

Travel is one of life's most magical blessings and these are the people who will one day (hopefully soon) be helping you organise your next adventure. Isn't the purpose of travel to discover and experience life, rather than accumulate things of monetary value? Remember this, and let go of your anger towards missing out on your trip and £££ and instead move this energy towards hope and wanderlust for the endless opportunities of future travel. Be kind to all the people you meet on your journey, including those who help you initiate your adventure.

With that said, thank you to Holly (and the rest of the team) for your amazing customer service. Thank you for helping me get home from Australia! Your response times are almost instant, you remember each client as an individual and you always want the best for your clients!

Sarah X

I would give this Company 0 stars if I could.
Same problem as everyone else. Asked for refund for flights to the US. STA travel have refused.
Everybody please take note:
Please report to ABTA where possible and CMA (competition and markets authority). CMA will not investigate individual companies but will take action when there are a sufficient number of complaints against the same company. It has worked well against several other travel companies recently and forced them to give refunds.

After our trip to New Zealand was cancelled 2 months ago, we have been repeatably ignored by STA staff and refused a refund for a rather random and colourful selection of reasons which are quite clearly all made up. This company is a total joke and are illegally withholding money from thousands of customers. I know the airline and campervan company have refunded STA yet they are refusing to return the money to us. Complete criminals. Do not book with this company ever.

Banging my head against a brick wall trying to get my money back for the cancelled trip scheduled for March. I'd be more sympathetic if they simply said they are in financial difficulty (which they clearly must be) and can't afford it. What kind of reputation they have left after all of this remains to be seen.

Would give 0 stars if possible.

They’re probably going to have sales & try to get people to book with them for 2021 but AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.

My flight was cancelled and the airline refunded the money but STA have decided to hold onto it & are only giving me credit with them. Terrible customer service - just get ignored or sent template emails.

Would NEVER recommend them.

Myself and my partner booked our flights with STA Travel, for a 4 month trip around South East Asia/Australia, amounting to about £4,500. Back in February when the only travel restrictions in place were in China, where we were due to visit, I asked our STA consultant whether we would be entitled to our money back if the flight was cancelled, to which she confirmed we would. Fast forward two months and the firm did a 180, stating we would only be entitled to a credit note, and that the terms we booked under were no longer valid. A new consultant also confirmed that STA had retrieved all of our money from the airlines, but were only issuing ourselves with a credit note (entirely illegal). When I asked multiple consultants to forward me the terms and conditions under which we originally booked, they all only sent the updated terms, and no one was able to confirm exactly what protection we would have with the credit note.

Entirely frustrated from the situation, we submitted a complaint with ABTA on their website, submitting all emails received from STA outlining the wrongful activity, and after about 1/2 months of waiting we have just been informed that STA are processing a full refund.

Equally as relieved to not have to engage with this company again, as to get our money back. If you are in a similar situation it is definitely worth submitting a complaint to ABTA and fighting your case!