The Site: StaTravel.com
- “World’s Largest” Student and Youth travel company
- Exclusive STA Travel Blue Ticket™: Gives students flexible and affordable worldwide air travel
- Round the World student trips
- Student flight and airfare deals
- Teacher deals
- Adventure student travel
- Special programs for students and young people, such as study abroad programs, volunteer programs, and language programs.
- Discount travel insurance
- Rail passes
- Exclusive International Student Identity Card (ISIC): 35,000 international and domestic discounts including airfare, accommodations, tours, shopping, dining and entertainment with partners such as Target.com, Apple Store, Virgin Megastore and The Body Shop.
- Global cell phones
- Spring Break student deals
The Good: STA Travel’s International Student Identity Card (ISIC) is awesome! Are you a parent? Even if you are not under 26 & a full-time student or teacher, it is worth the money to buy one for your kids. Kids can get one after they turn 12. That way they you can save cash every time you shop for them or go to restaurants with them. Kids are expensive, and we think this is a great way to save. 11% Off* Macy’s and 50% off * the Apple Store. ISIC cards are only $22* for a full year! Go, get one here. We also love STA Travel’s cheap student travel deals for spring break. These prices are hard to beat.
The Bad: Many of the “student” flight prices we searched for didn’t garner cheaper results than competing sites. However, they were competitive.
The Fees *: The STA Travel Guarantee: If you find a cheaper student flight, they will match it PLUS give you an ISIC Discount card good for 1 year. You must be a full-time student and under the age of 26 to qualify for student discounts and the ISIC discount card. $50+ Fee to Change or Re-issue airline tickets. $100+ Cancellation fee for airline tickets.
*Based solely on research done by TravelSiteCritic.com, these figures may be inaccurate and are subject to change.Verify policies with the website before you book. Please be aware of airfare taxes & fees, applicable to any booking that includes airfare.
The Deals:
Please be aware of airfare taxes & fees. TravelSiteCritic.com is a marketing affiliate of STATravel.com. Read our review disclosure.
I wrote a lengthy report of what my boyfriend and I experienced when he purchased a ticket to Poland through STA Travel: http://bit.ly/statravelfail
In a nutshell, we contacted STA Travel to find out what we could do once the ticket was canceled and we were given a different answer every single time we called. We were also promised a full refund TWICE. They made numerous customer service mistakes in handling our situation and we ended up losing $1200. I would absolutely recommend booking flights directly through the airlines. STA Travel does nothing to help you out as a customer.
I felt that STA travel went out of their way to help me get a ticket for the right price. I found them friendly and symathetic to my situation and genuinly concerned if I had a problem.
STA is misleading and takes advantage of inexperienced student travelers. Initially, I had a good experience booking my Fulbright ticket to Tirana through STA. They understood Fly America requirements for US-sponsored aid programs and found me a flight that departed from Washington, D.C., as I had requested.
I realized when I was booking my flight that my travel plans might change. Makayla, the agent who booked my flight, informed me that changes to my ticket, if made prior to 30 days before the flight date, would be $50 plus the difference in fare. Sounds great, right? Flexibility for the student life style.
What Makayla did not mention is that the phrase “changes to your ticket” only applies to changes in date- not to changes in city of departure. Today, I tried to change the city of departure on my ticket from Washington, D.C. To Chicago. This was not permitted by United, the US carrier that STA had booked the ticket under; I was later told by customer service rep Ken and manager Megan that “It’s actually not really allowed to do rerouting at all anymore.”
In order to make the change that I had requested, my ticket would need to be refunded and then rebooked with a charge of $400. I asked if STA would consider waiving the $400 refunding fee, since I felt that I had been misled when I booked the ticket. Megan refused.
In conclusion, your STA ticket is not as flexible as your STA agent may make it seem. You ought to be cautious about the terms and conditions when booking through an agent, online or on the phone, if the flexibility of the ticket is what’s holding the appeal for you.