STA Travel UK 

Absolutely abysmal.

Not even disappointed I can't travel anymore; more regretful I booked through this useless, dismissive company.

Appalled by the level of neglect and disregard of customers welfare.

Disorganised and useless before the pandemic even began.

In retrospect, all very overpriced for what it even offered, actually a joke.

DO NOT SUPPORT THIS TRASHY COMPANY- THEY NEED TO GET SHUT DOWN

I would like to advise you ... STAY AWAY ! I came to them with hopes and dreams in my heart and stars in my eyes . I planned my first holiday to America since I was a little kid and yes.. the travel agent was extremely nice and helpful at the time of booking but when the COVID19 situation hit us , I gave them 2 months of waiting and patience but I have been treated like a piece of crap . They asked me not to ring them and definitely I don’t have the right to ask for a refund . After spending loads of k’s , they forced me to take a credit voucher and to travel in the next 12 months . Due to the uncertainty of this situation and being a key worker , I could not make plans for travel so that meant I had to lose my money.
After months of literally begging them , I decided to make a money claim and eventually send a bailiff to recover my money . It worked eventually but the amount given back was not as much as I paid originally . I settled so I can avoid any further headache .
I am genuinely disappointed and frustrated .
I won’t be booking again .
Please avoid .
Please be smarter than me .

Holly Clark seems to be writing a lot of her own fake reviews, don't believe a word of it

STA travel cancelled my flight from Australia home to the UK. They did not answer emails for weeks at a time. They cancelled my flight and emailed me the same day of doing this, telling me the flight was back on. They have been offered a refund by my airline but refuse to pass this money on, telling me "well you have to come home at some point" in a way to force me to take credit.

They will not confirm credit amount until i agree to accept credit, which is illegal in itself. Please remember the bad practices of this company when you consider booking once COVID19 is over. You never think it'll happen to you, but when your on the other side of the world and it does, it's really stressful and should not be forgetten.

All well in store and online buying flight tickets.
BUT when things go badly wrong only quote company policy.
THEN ignore Regulation and Law put in place to protect the customer both from the UK and EU.

Have contacted TrustPilot that I believe that Fundamentally Dishonest Reviews are being placed on STA Travel page by people with there own agenda to try and counter so many poor reviews.

Beth Rhodes has been amazing at helping me and my friend book a tour to the Philippines! She helped sort all the travel credit and kept in touch! 100% recommend!

Same as every other review left lately. Breaking the law & saying that the rules don’t apply to them. No matter how many times they change their T&C’s doesn’t make them exempt from the law.
They should stop furloughing their staff & start refunding people their money. I hope the UK government take back the furlough payments as punishment for firms breaking the law!
Have constantly been ranked in the top 10 of the WORST travel companies so don’t use unless you’re happy to never see your money again.

If I could give minus stars I would. I am totally disgusted by the behaviour of this illegal company. We will NEVER use them again, although I don't suppose they will survive such unethical behaviour. We don't like lying, cheating thieves.
My 18 year old son finished his A levels and worked and worked to earn enough money for a trip to Australia and Fiji. He spent almost £5000 of his money with STA. Part of this was for flights to and from Australia and Fiji. The initial flight was cancelled by the airline and at that point were in the middle of COVID 19 (mid April 2020). Another part was a STRAY PASS for the east coast of Australia which included hostel accommodation and travel. The pass was 'refundable' providing it was cancelled more than 8 days prior to departure (which is was). STA are now saying that he has a voucher for flights....and a 'voucher' for the STAY pass thing...to be used in Australia in the next year or so. He will never be able to use this because he will be at university and needs his money back...NOT a voucher. How can they change terms and conditions like this? It's against the law. They are also saying that this trip isn't protected because he paid for the flights on a different day to paying for the accommodation. It was a couple of days later because they just wanted to work out a route, but it was all discussed with the travel agent at the same time and booked under the same booking reference. She NEVER highlighted this as an issue.
I feel SO ANGRY for him and the many other people who have had their money taken by this disgusting company.

The way this company have lied and treated customers during this pandemic has been nothing short of disgraceful. I understand that the travel industry has been hard hit but for them to completely ignore the law around refunds and flat out lie to customers is too far.

We booked flights to Australia through the company which were subsequently cancelled. We have confirmed with Etihad that STA Travel received the money from the airline for our cancelled flight but they do not want to return this to us.

They also lie about the type of ticket purchased claiming we bought a ‘blue ticket’ which is not eligible for refunds. Firstly, this policy is breaking the law anyway however we did not buy this type of ticket they claim makes us exempt for a refund and keep spouting this lie to deny us.

Please do not use this company in the future. We are now having to lodge a claim with the small claims court to try and get a refund. Never have I wanted a company to go bankrupt as much as this. Liers and theives!

My daughter and her boyfriend saved for years for a holiday of a lifetime over a year ago. It was for a campervan trip across the USA where she would be doing her uni year abroad. They paid in full to STA over £2700. When the pandemic hit and she was advised to come home which she did in march. The holiday was for the end of may and they would be unable to travel. She checked the terms of the booking and found that she could cancel well within time (40+ days) to get a full refund. They were given vouchers with no choice of having cash.

They can't complete this trip next year or anytime before the vouchers expire and have requested a cash refund as per the agreement. After weeks of failed email addresses and noone answering the phone, she finally hot through. She was told to check with the campervan holiday on their refund policy only to find that STA had paid them zero funds.

She is now being sent round the houses with forms etc with no idea if she'll ever get the money back.

Understand that many companies are struggling to cope under the current conditions but how customers are treated in times like this is a good indicator of a truly terrible service. STA are a disgrace and we will be complaining to the CMA, suggest everyone do the same.

I urge people NOT to book a holiday through STA. I am disgusted at the way they have treated their customers during the covid-19 outbreak. My holiday to Bali was booked three months ago and we have been refused a refund on my occasions. Our efforts to fight this are now being ignored. This companies slogan is “book with confidence” but I can guarantee that you won’t be left feeling confident if a problem arises once your holiday has been booked.

STA are now profiting from this pandemic by not giving their customers refunds, despite their previous policy saying that they WOULD.

STA continue to mislead customers about their legal obligations. Please be mindful that this company is not operating lawfully. Be extremely cautious if considering booking. Far more reputable companies exist.

We booked flights through STA Chester to Singapore onto New Zealand with Singapore airlines and then separate return flights from Auckland back to the UK via Bali and Dubai scheduled for the end of March 2020.
Due to NZ closing borders and UAE suspending ALL flights to Dubai Emirates cancelled all our return flights. STA (Lorand Hunyadi) rebooked us quickly for flights scheduled for the 2 June but Emirates cancelled again on 23 April advising us to seek refund via our STA travel agent: we were fortunate to book and leave on a repatriation flight leaving 24 April.
Email And ‘phone contact with STA has been met with NO response whatsoever, it was my understanding that staff had been furloughed till at least 1 June but I’m wondering if they have been sacked since no one is responding.
The bottom line is that we paid over £1,100 For these flights and STA are deliberately NOT communicating to avoid HONOURABLY refunding the monies.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that folk will have to sue through the Small Claims Court which is the best and effective easy approach to gain redress. I have NO hesitation in doing this as I have had to successfully sue Travel Providers in the past.
Note this was not a package but just flights and an excursion.

An absolutely disgraceful and disrespectful manner for an alleged reputable travel company to be treating its most valuable asset......it’s customers.

Do not under any circumstances use STA Travel. They have been utterly appalling throughout the covid -19 pandemic.

We all get that times are difficult, but STA have broken the law by refusing its customers their entitled refunds. They have repeatedly lied throughout their correspondences and they have absolutely no customer service. Whilst it’s no fault of the individual sales agents, the company itself is a fraud.

This is a business that will not survive.

Also, do not believe the 5 star reviews that have appeared during the covid pandemic. STA do not respond. They do not help. They do not reassure. The 5 star reviews are all by new reviewers too.

Disgusted with staff and company.Despite the law they refuse to refund £7500 for trip cancelled due to pandemic.Lots of dissatisfied customers,all treated like crap yet no one has redress.Fobbed off when I am not interested in a credit note,I cannot take 8 weeks off again to travel.I AM ENTITLED TO A CASH REFUND,THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW NOT GIVING ONE.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

Wish I could give 0 stars. They have taken everyone’s money and refuse refunds despite THE LAW.

They are now ignoring all of my emails even though the holiday I was supposed to go on has been and gone.

THIEFS. DO NOT BOOK and ignore all of the fake 5* reviews on here

Terrible service! It was all sweet honey talk when they were taking my money. When it came to refunding not a damn was given ! Funny thing is if they had given my money back I would have booked another trip.i will never use STA to book another trip! Mercenary greedy and self interested

My grandson and his girlfriend paid nearly £6,000 to STA, Manchester, last year for World Travel this year. They made their own way to South America in January and were supposed to begin using their pre-paid flights in March, but this obviously did not happen because they were locked down in Bolivia. Despite numerous emails, they did not receive any help. My son-in-law went into the branch and explained the kids were in dire straits and was brushed off with "we do not discuss with a third party". Furthermore, the STA Travel Cash Card, was inacessible. STA left them penniless, and did not respond to the desperate emails.

Terrible customer service!

Like many others I am due a refund from STA which they refuse to give. They also refuse to acknowledge the emails, formal letter sent and customer service department impossible to get hold of and just cuts you off. Can’t even discuss the matter. I know there this is an unprecedented situation but there are travel companies similar to STA treating their customers with respect! I never want to deal with this company again but unfortunately they owe me thousands of pounds!

I booked through the oxford branch, they were pretty helpful in making the booking with good follow up communication, they also dealt with the cancellation well over the phone.