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STA Travel: What does the company’s collapse mean for business and travellers?

Millions of travellers booked formative travel experiences with the company over the past few decades.

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STA Travel UK, one of the biggest names for backpackers and adventurers has gone out of business.

On Friday evening, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that the London-based firm had failed with the loss of 500 jobs.

The news leaves thousands of customers who are owed refunds uncertain about when they might get their money back.

These are the key questions and answers.

What was the background?

STA was launched in Australia in 1971. Five years later it capitalised on the collapse of the dominant British student travel enterprise, NUS Travel, to establish a foothold in the UK.

• Should my holiday be covered by Atol protection?
• Coronavirus puts travel agency STA Travel UK out of business
• Royal Brunei Airlines dropped by STA Travel over anti-LGBT+ laws

The company’s stated mission was: “We are youthful, adventurous and have a desire to experience new cultures.”

Originally its main appeal was in selling cut-price air tickets to students and young people.

But as low fares for all became more common, and online competitors started to take some of that core business, STA Travel moved into providing tailor-made adventures for a wider age range.

STA Travel UK took over the long-haul specialist Bridge the World in 2010.

Before the coronavirus pandemic began, STA had a network of around 50 high-street stores.

What went wrong?

The firm depended on a constant flow of business to pay staff costs and high-street rents, and for decades it succeeded – despite intense online competition.

But like other travel enterprises, STA saw forward sales dry up because of the coronavirus pandemic.

When travel restrictions started coming into effect in March, many trips were cut short, or did not begin.

Long-stay trips to distant destinations, the mainstays of STA Travel, have since been near-impossible to undertake.

Instead of selling, staff face demands for refunds from thousands of increasingly frustrated customers.

How have customers been affected?

With intercontinental travel almost at a standstill, there are believed to be a negligible number of STA Travel customers abroad. Many abandoned their long-haul, long-stay trips in the spring and flew back to the UK.

Others were not able to start their trips due to the coronavirus pandemic.

There are relative few customers with forward bookings, because STA Travel has sold virtually nothing since March. Most future trips, such as they are, will be the result of customers postponing journeys rather than demanding a refund.

My trip booked with STA was cancelled due to Covid-19. How do I claim a refund?

Most STA sales were package holidays: typically a flight plus some accommodation and one or more adventure tours. Those are covered by the Atol scheme, administered by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Many customers whose trips were cancelled have been trying to claim money back for months, with the company offering only partial refunds and/or vouchers.

Assuming you have a correctly written “ refund credit note ,” you will be able claim for any outstanding monies owed by STA Travel under the Atol scheme.

The CAA told customers: “Consumers that have accepted valid refund credit notes or are due refunds for the cancellation of their Atol-protected booking will be able to submit a claim to Atol through our online portal.”

What about flight-only tickets?

Abta, the travel association, says: “You will need to contact the airline about your booking. The airline is responsible for your booking and this should proceed as normal.”

If your flight was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and you have been trying to get your money back from STA, you will need to make a claim direct with the airline concerned.

The CAA broadly concurs, saying: “If consumers have a flight-only booking that was Atol protected, they will only be able to make a claim if they are still due to travel and have not received a valid ticket.

”Otherwise, consumers should speak to their airline, including if the flight has been cancelled or they have received a voucher for a cancelled flight.”

I booked a holiday through STA Travel but a different company is providing it.

Where an Atol-protected package with another tour operator has been booked through STA Travel, your Atol certificate will say “package sale” in the bottom right-hand corner.

Abta says: “You will need to contact the tour operator named on your paperwork or Atol certificate (listed under ‘Who is protecting your trip?’). “Your tour operator should be able to confirm that your booking will proceed as normal.”

How significant was STA Travel?

One of many expressions of sadness was tweeted by Michael Rogers: “I bought a very reasonably priced Round [the] World ticket from STA about 15 years ago and it changed my life. Very grateful for that and very sad news.”

Dawn Smith said: “Booking student travel at STA opened the door to a new and exciting world. Happy memories.”

And Alice Brown wrote: “They sparked my love for travel when I was 21 and planning my first-ever trip.”

Are more travel casualties expected?

Sadly, yes. Travel restrictions are stifling business. In the UK, the rules on different European destinations keep changing. Due to the uncertainty this creates among prospective travellers, sales are not picking up as anticipated.

On Thursday Qantas said it did not expect to start flying intercontinental routes until the second half of 2021 – signalling the continued closure of a key market, Australia, to UK travel firms.

STA’s holding company said there was no prospect of any improvement this year.

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Help! My Travel Agency Shut Down and I’m Out $2,000

Our columnist investigates whether there is any recourse for a canceled flight booked through STA Travel, which filed for bankruptcy in August.

By Sarah Firshein

Dear Tripped Up,

Earlier this year, I used STA Travel to book a British Airways flight from Tucson, Ariz., to South Africa, scheduled to depart in March. Then the pandemic hit, one of the flight legs was canceled and I canceled my trip. After some back and forth, STA secured a refund from British Airways. I was told by an STA representative that my airfare — $2,059.36 — would be credited back to my credit card account within 60 days. Two months came and went. Then I learned that STA had gone out of business. Kaitlin

Dear Kaitlin,

When I first read your email, I was hit with an inkling of hope that your credit card company could rush in and save the day. Still, I set off to learn more about the laws and policies at play, so I did what I usually do when I start a Tripped Up column: I emailed some industry sources and started a Google Doc to organize my thoughts.

The notes became a rabbit hole , expanding with news coverage of STA’s collapse, a list of potential interview subjects, email addresses for international press offices and lengthy financial documents. From the chicken scratch, one truth emerged: Anyone attempting to recoup funds from an out-of-business company will likely confront uphill battles, tall orders and every other cliché in the book.

“In general, when a company goes into bankruptcy, basically it’s the vultures picking over the bones,” said Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. “The last people who will get a piece of those bones are going to be the unsecured creditors: the consumers.”

Formerly a major travel agency for youth and student trips, STA Travel filed for bankruptcy in August after a crippling flurry of pandemic-related cancellations; it was the first major travel agency to fall because of the pandemic. Although STA’s Instagram account has been dormant for more than two months, the comments live on as a record of unanswered questions and in-limbo refunds: “I have a student that is needing an update on her refund status and there is literally no way to reach anyone,” wrote one user. “I wonder how many people got robbed of their hard-saved holiday money,” lamented another.

From the start, your case felt like a maze of sharp corners and dead ends. First I visited the STA Travel website: shut down. Then I emailed the customer service agent you had corresponded with: bounceback. When I reached out to the press office of Diethelm Keller Group, STA’s former parent company that is based in Switzerland, and I got the following statement back: “As STA Travel Holding AG is in insolvency proceedings, Diethelm Keller Group is not in a position to provide further support or information.”

I contacted the Arizona Attorney General’s office after discovering one address for STA in Arizona — possibly a franchise — but was told by a spokeswoman that all consumer complaints are confidential.

I considered calling British Airways, but decided against it; after all, the airline had already canceled your tickets and refunded your money (to STA). Customers hoping to cancel active reservations might have luck by appealing directly to the travel company in question, but anyone waiting for an in-process refund from an intermediary like STA probably would not.

I also thought about what would happen if you were to file a complaint with the Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, but decided that the particulars of your situation would almost certainly translate into more wasted time. There are simply too many layers of gray areas: Only one of your flight legs was canceled by the airline, you purchased tickets from a third-party seller and your refund had already ostensibly been approved.

Travel insurance wouldn’t have necessarily been a magic bullet, either, said Jennifer Fitzgerald, the co-founder and chief executive of Policygenius , an online insurance marketplace. Even when policies do cover the financial default of a travel supplier, they come with loads of caveats, restrictions and conditions.

“Not every travel insurance policy includes financial default protection, and not every provider will be covered,” said Ms. Fitzgerald. “For example, third-party sellers, like travel agencies, will tend not to qualify as travel suppliers, so travel insurance financial default protection won’t cover them.”

I got about 10 pages into a 90-page bankruptcy document outlining the liquidity ratio of STA’s New Zealand arm before (to use another cliché) going back to square one: the credit card company.

Some credit cards include financial insolvency protection (designed to help cardholders when a travel merchant goes bankrupt) in trip cancellation insurance. Others, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve card you used, exclude financial insolvency protection from insurance, handling it through standard disputes channels instead.

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase said, “A cardmember can submit a dispute as a result of merchant financial insolvency, which we review on a case-by-case basis.”

The Fair Credit Billing Act, a federal law enacted to protect consumers from unfair credit billing practices, doesn’t have a specific carve-out for a merchant’s financial insolvency, but it does consider “charges for goods and services you didn’t accept or that weren’t delivered as agreed” one of several types of billing errors that consumers have the right to dispute . And although every credit card dispute hinges on the particulars, this is the easiest, most actionable move for lone consumers battling a company that has all but evaporated.

You might wonder, as I did, whether things are more complicated because you’re an American citizen trying to get a refund from an insolvent Swiss company for a canceled British flight. But so long as the consumer’s account with the credit card issuer (a bank, most likely) is based in the United States, and credit is issued to a United States resident, the transaction is covered by the billing error rules of the F.C.B.A.

To protect your rights under the F.C.B.A. in the Before Times, you would have had 60 days from the statement with the billing error to dispute the charge. But these times are hardly normal. That’s why a representative at JPMorgan Chase — citing “your atypical situation with this merchant” — issued you a full refund.

My quest unearthed other tips: Even if you’re filing a dispute through a credit card’s online channels, be sure to also submit the dispute in writing, via snail-mail, to the address the card issuer specifies for billing errors (a condition of the F.C.B.A.). The Federal Trade Commission has a good sample letter online. If you’re not making headway, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has jurisdiction over the country’s largest banks.

One final word of advice — and one final cliché — from Mr. Rheingold: “It’s about the squeaky wheel, right? Putting something out on social media: ‘Can you believe what this company did to me?’ Or saying, ‘I’ve been a cardmember for the last 20 years and I’m getting rid of it from now.’ That’s not legal advice — that’s just practical. That’s when you get your money back.”

Sarah Firshein is a Brooklyn-based writer. If you need advice about a best-laid travel plan that went awry, send an email to [email protected] .

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation.

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News that STA Travel has become the latest to fall victim to the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted an outpouring of sadness and nostalgia from former customers and staff.

Known for its enthusiastic staff and its budget round-the-world plane tickets, generations of students would flock to STA Travel stores to book gap years and summer breaks through the company – or simply to gaze longingly at the adventures it promised.

Its bright yellow and blue signage has been a familiar sight on high streets and university campuses for decades, but now after it confirmed it had ceased trading on Friday, 54 UK stores look set to close their doors, putting 500 jobs at risk.

Lowri Lloyd Owen from near Aberystwyth worked for the company for 10 years, first as a travel expert and then as a store manager. She said she felt “extremely saddened” when she heard the news. The job enabled her to move to Australia, where she lived for eight years and started her family.

“The 10 years I spent working for this company taught me so much, took me to places far and wide and I met lifelong friends along the way, many of whom are still employees and will be facing very difficult times ahead,” she said. “Selling travel is the most awesome thing you can sell someone.”

She was not surprised by the reaction to the news. “Whether you were an STA customer or an employee, it was a company that supported young people often at the start of their travels or career and that stays with you,” she said.

Tim Walker, who runs Beaumont Music and lives in West Sussex, was one of the company’s loyal customers when he was a student in the early 2000s. He used the travel agent from the age of 18 to 22 to book his gap-year adventure as well as summer trips while at university.

“I remember booking flights to Mexico and the staff member calling over a colleague who had just returned from their own trip. We were excited anyway but as this guy launched himself over the desk towards us, his enthusiasm was ridiculously infectious and all they wanted to do was to make sure we had a fantastic time.”

UK retail and hospitality job cuts on back of Covid-19 crisis

Marston's - 2,150 jobs 15 October: Marston's  - the brewer which owns nearly 1,400 pubs, restaurants, cocktail bars and hotels across the UK - said it would cut 2,150 jobs due to fresh Covid restrictions. The company has more than 14,000 employees. 

Whitbread - 6,000 jobs 22 September: Whitbread, which owns the Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre chains, said it would cut 6,000 jobs at its hotels and restaurants, almost one in five of its workforce

Pizza Express – 1,100 jobs 7 September: The restaurant chain confirms the closure of 73 restaurants as part of a rescue restructure deal.

Costa Coffee – 1,650 jobs 3 September: The company, which was bought by Coca-Cola two years ago, is cutting up to 1,650 jobs in its cafes, more than one in 10 of its workforce. The assistant store manager role will go across all shops.

Pret a Manger – 2,890 jobs 27 August: The majority of the cuts are focused on the sandwich chain's shop workers, but 90 roles will be lost in its support centre teams. The cuts include the 1,000 job losses announced on 6 July.

Marks & Spencer – 7,000 jobs 18 August: Food, clothing and homewares retailer cuts jobs in central support centre, regional management and stores.

M&Co – 400 jobs 5 August: M&Co, the Renfrewshire-based clothing retailer, formerly known as Mackays, will close 47 of 215 stores.

WH Smith – 1,500 jobs 5 August: The chain, which sells products ranging from sandwiches to stationery, will cut jobs mainly in UK railway stations and airports. 

Dixons Carphone – 800 jobs 4 August: Electronics retailer Dixons Carphone is cutting 800 managers in its stores as it continues to reduce costs.

DW Sports – 1,700 jobs at risk 3 August: DW Sports fell into administration, closing its retail website immediately and risking the closure of its 150 gyms and shops.

Marks & Spencer – 950 jobs 20 July: The high street stalwart cuts management jobs in stores as well as head office roles related to property and store operations.

Ted Baker – 500 jobs 19 July: About 200 roles to go at the fashion retailer’s London headquarters, the Ugly Brown Building, and the remainder at stores.

Azzurri – 1,200 jobs 17 July: The owner of the Ask Italian and Zizzi pizza chains closes 75 restaurants and makes its Pod lunch business delivery only

Burberry – 500 jobs worldwide 15 July: Total includes 150 posts in UK head offices as luxury brand tries to slash costs by £55m after a slump in sales during the pandemic.

Boots – 4,000 jobs 9 July: Boots is  cutting 4,000 jobs  – or 7% of its workforce – by closing 48 opticians outlets and reducing staff at its head office in Nottingham as well as some management and customer service roles in stores.

John Lewis – 1,300 jobs 9 July: John Lewis announced that it is planning to  permanently close eight of its 50 stores, including full department stores in Birmingham and Watford, with the likely loss of 1,300 jobs.

Celtic Manor – 450 jobs 9 July: Bosses at the Celtic Collection in Newport, which staged golf's Ryder Cup in 2010 and the 2014 Nato Conference, said 450 of its 995 workers will lose their jobs.

Pret a Manger – 1,000 jobs 6 July: Pret a Manger is to  permanently close 30 branches and could cut at least 1,000 jobs after suffering “significant operating losses” as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown

Casual Dining Group – 1,900 jobs 2 July: The owner of the Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas restaurant chains  collapsed into administration , with the immediate loss of 1,900 jobs. The company said multiple offers were on the table for parts of the business but buyers did not want to acquire all the existing sites and 91 of its 250 outlets would remain permanently closed.

Arcadia – 500 jobs 1 July: Arcadia, Sir Philip Green’s troubled fashion group – which owns Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Evans and Wallis – said in July 500 head office jobs out of 2,500 would go in the coming weeks.

SSP Group – 5,000 jobs 1 July: The owner of Upper Crust and Caffè Ritazza is to axe 5,000 jobs , about half of its workforce, with cuts at its head office and across its UK operations after the pandemic stalled domestic and international travel.

Harrods – 700 jobs 1 July: The department store group is  cutting one in seven of its 4,800 employees because of the “ongoing impacts” of the pandemic.

Harveys – 240 jobs 30 June: Administrators made  240 redundancies at the furniture chain Harveys, with more than 1,300 jobs at risk if a buyer cannot be found.

TM Lewin – 600 jobs 30 June: Shirtmaker TM Lewin  closed all 66 of its outlets permanently, with the loss of about 600 jobs.

Monsoon Accessorize – 545 jobs 11 June: The fashion brands were  bought out of administration by their founder, Peter Simon, in June, in a deal in which 35 stores closed permanently and 545 jobs were lost.

Mulberry – 470 jobs 8 June: The luxury fashion and accessories brand is to cut 25% of its global workforce and has started a consultation with the 470 staff at risk.

The Restaurant Group – 3,000 jobs 3 June: The owner of dining chains such as Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s has closed most branches of Chiquito and all 11 of its Food & Fuel pubs, with another 120 restaurants to close permanently. Total job losses could reach 3,000.

Clarks – 900 jobs 21 May: Clarks plans to  cut 900 office jobs worldwide as it grapples with the growth of online shoe shopping as well as the pandemic.

Oasis and Warehouse – 1,800 jobs 30 April: The fashion brands were bought out of administration by the restructuring firm Hilco in April, with  all of their stores permanently closed and 1,800 jobs lost.

Cath Kidston – 900 jobs 21 April: More than 900 jobs were cut immediately at the retro retail label Cath Kidston after the company said it was permanently closing all 60 of its UK stores.

Debenhams – 4,000 jobs 9 April: At least 4,000 jobs will be lost at Debenhams in its head office and closed stores after its collapse into administration in April, for the second time in a year.

Laura Ashley – 2,700 jobs 17 March: Laura Ashley collapsed into administration , with 2,700 job losses, and said rescue talks had been thwarted by the pandemic.

Walker says the demise of STA Travel was a “real loss” to future students wanting to go on their first big trips abroad as they won’t be able to benefit from STA’s experienced staff.

Ronke Adewa-Faboro, a wedding planner from Essex, was an international student studying at De Montfort University in Leicester in the 90s when she went to STA Travel to book her dream holiday. “I booked to spend Christmas in New York. I had always wanted to do it and I asked a couple of friends to go but they didn’t want to. So I was a little discouraged, but decided to go anyway.”

STA Travel made her feel more comfortable about going on her own. They produced flyers about solo travel for women, which Adewa-Faboro studied before going. “I was a solo traveller, aged 19, and my family in Nigeria thought I was crazy. But I thought I only live once so I just decided to do it. STA made me feel really safe about it. I had six magical days there.

“The team were amazing in making a foreign student from Nigeria’s dream come true. Money was tight so they booked me into two separate hostels to save me money. They were brilliant.”

It wasn’t just students booking gap years and post-university travels. STA Travel, founded by two Australian backpackers in Melbourne in 1979, originally stood for Student Travel Australia, but it branched out to a wider customer base and rebranded itself to become Start the Adventure.

Sophie Butler and her husband, Nick, booked their honeymoon with STA Travel in 2012 and have used them for other holidays since, including a trip to New York. “We chose them [for the honeymoon] because we were going to Australia so knew they would be experts. Also, for me, I never did the whole gap-year thing so it was my chance to travel as much as possible.

“I remember going to their store in Covent Garden and a lovely lady – Annie, I think – helped us plan out the whole trip.”

Butler, who runs the Sugar Tea Room in north London , said: “We were both sad to hear about STA travel closing because it wasn’t just for students, they had the best prices for long-haul travel.”

Afsaneh Parvizi-Wayne, the founder of the period product brand Freda, who lives in London, has fond memories of using STA Travel to go to the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Bissau when she was a student more than 30 years ago.

She said: “We used to have an STA in the University of London Union in the 80s when we still had holiday brochures and you could discuss your trip in person with someone who’d probably done that trip already. It wasn’t just the student discount but also the student perspective and tips in a non-internet era. I’m so sad to see it go.”

Another former customer, Ellie Dix, a board game designer from Hertfordshire, has been reminiscing about Camp America, which she booked through STA Travel in the 90s.

“I was at Birmingham University from 1994 to 1997 and we had an STA Travel on campus. I remember going and just gazing at the options as a sort of escapism from student life. I did Camp America for two years running in 1996 and 1997 and STA dealt with the travel.

“I don’t remember actually thinking there was any other way to travel as a student other than with STA. It was STA or nothing.”

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Toll-Free Phone: 1 (800) 781-4040

Emergency Helpline: (800) 781-4040

Customer Service Request: Submit a customer service request via a form on their website .

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Overview of STA Travel

STA Travel is the world’s largest student travel organization helping students travel in over 90 countries. They offer real value and flexibility, as well as genuine advice and first-hand experience. They are dedicated to providing young people with products and services that make travel fun, affordable, and safe. Site features include flight booking, hotels, hostels, travel insurance, global rail as well land tour products. Information on activities and destinations. Special deals, both domestic and international. STA Travel has more than 200 stores around the world, helping more than 2 million students annually.

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Reviews 2.2.

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If you have the quality of the quality

If you have the quality of the quality, you can uncover the business

Date of experience : September 27, 2020

Airfare refund delay

My airfare booked with STA Australia due to covid-19 has not been paid after 82 days even though I am eligible for a refund after 60 days. They keep telling me the same excuses “backlog” whenever I asked them about my refund.

Date of experience : July 10, 2020

The knowledge of the staff at STA makes …

The knowledge of the staff at STA makes them really useful when booking your trip. The flight prices are very competitive, especially if booking a round-the-world trip, but don't bother with their add-ons. The reason for 4 and not 5 stars is that some of their staff (they obviously get incentives for extra sales) are a little too pushy trying to sell packages that are much cheaper to organize when they get there...unless that's your thing.

Date of experience : March 31, 2017

STA complaints dealing is shocking!

Has anyone here have their complaint resolve with STA travel? The complaint resolution with this company is absolutely disgusting! They're trying to wriggle they way out of the complaint to try and avoid liability. If you guys have any similar complaints or complaints that remain outstanding, let me know. Let's try and band together and expose this company for what it is! Contact me on Facebook - Marie Shakespeare. If we try and deal with this as a group they might finally try and resolve our complaints. Or better yet take to Dailymail.

Date of experience : September 26, 2017

Rude and ineffective

Wrong dates, luggage not included twice, no rude or late response to emails. Now been four months if complaints and still not had an apology or a refund for the additional luggage charges. Would advise against using them.

Date of experience : August 27, 2019

Superb STA Covent Garden agent Catryn Scantlebur

I had the pleasure of working recently with STA Covent Garden agent Catryn Scantlebur for a holiday booking to Greece. Cat was SUPERB. She stayed on the phone with me for nearly an hour initially identifying flights and hotels in Athens and Santorini that would suit my schedule and budget. She also spent additional time looking up alternative hotel options until we settled on the most appropriate arrangements for me. Cat was incredibly personable and conscientious, going beyond what I believe is the extra mile. I will definitely be using her services again in the future.

Date of experience : July 01, 2019

Don't get and STA travel card

Ordered an STA travel card. I'am pretty sure that the card has been cloned and we've been robbed of over £150. When contacting the "customer service team" I get painfully slow responses and have so far been unable to get any useful information. Great you can cancel the card and investigate. What help is that while I am still in Vietnam. Absolutely dreadful and disgustingly slow response. Since getting the card we have been unable to top it up, I had to call one of the stores in the UK so that we could have money on it as the website wasn't working, which was a fun unexpected cost and we have had the transaction list not work too which delayed us realising that we had money stolen by half a day.

Date of experience : April 19, 2018

Great service!

I booked a 5 week trip through STA and they were fantastic. Emma from the Newcastle branch dealt with my booking and organised everything including flights, tours, accommodation and insurance which made the whole experience very easy and enjoyable. The staff have a real passion for travel and are extremely knowledgeable so can tailor everything to your individual needs. I’d highly recommend and will definitely use again in the future.

Date of experience : August 23, 2018

DO NOT USE STA

We were mis sold an upgrade for a trip we booked with them, when speaking to them regarding the complaint they kept ignoring the main point we were trying to complain about and making it seem like our fault. Once they have taken your money they literally do not care and do not respond to your emails or phone calls. Had an email from my agent saying she would call in 15 mins when she had figured out how much our upgrade would be as she was just converting it into £! 3 weeks later I got an email after sending her email after email after email. STA travel card was also a joke didn’t work, wouldn’t let me load money onto it wasn’t showing my transactions. Emailed my agent surprise surprise NO reply so had to call the travel card people from America which cost me a lot just to try and sort it out, which after 5 days was working again. AVOID USING STA!

Date of experience : April 24, 2018

Terrible support when things go wrong

Can't help when anything wrong happens with your flight. Made our whole situation worse and even stopped the airline from helping us. Then took no responsibility. AVOID.

Date of experience : June 19, 2019

"No stress " visa

Going to Australia in a few weeks time . Purchased the "no stress" visa package . No stress ? Should be done for CPR . The visa passed off fine which was good but the set up of a bank account , atrocious . They booked me in for two different appointments and missed them both . I've had to call up to try get this sorted and the guy from Aberdeen had no idea and transferred me to the Cambridge branch which I have no affiliation with as I booked in online . I've called up the online team today after receiving the correct number . He said leave it with me I'll get back to you , this was at 9am and i haven't received anything . Do not buy the no stress visa package unless you want to pay about 80 quid more than just doing it yourself and probably saving you the trouble of going with this one . Please remove the no stress from the slogan .

Date of experience : September 13, 2017

I have had the worst possible service …

I have had the worst possible service from STA. I had booked onto a tour in India, I had several confirmation emails from them, and a reminder of the tour 10 Days before I was due to travel. the day before I was due on the tour I called to check some details and was told by the tour company, not STA, that my place had been cancelled off the tour. I asked STA what was going on and to try and fix it, the day I arrived in India they apologised, recognised they had made a mistake but said they couldn’t get me on a the tour as it was now full, I was left with no accommodation as a single woman travelling on my own arriving in Delhi with nowhere to stay that night and all they did was offer me a refund which would take 14 days to go through. They ruined what was meant to be an amazing trip to India and offered no help whatsoever.

Date of experience : January 30, 2018

Terrible service and no after sales…

Terrible service and no after sales service! Booked and paid for a package at one rate, friends booked and paid for the same package after us and got a cheaper rate. When asked why, the agent said nothing can be done. Then booked and paid for a hotel in Argentina, facilities were fine, then got moved due to renovations which we get, but then got moved a third time because STA had overbooked the hotel as per the branch manager? When asked why can we not be moved to a hotel with the same facilities as we initially sign and paid for we were informed that we would be liable for costs? Friends who booked after us have been fortunate enough to stay at this hotel while we were moved out. Then also to be told by the BM that we can ‘just walk 350m’ to the sister hotel if we want to use this facility??? How is this normal to share with your clients??? All I received today was an email to say sorry we cannot accommodate you at your requested hotel... Unacceptable follow ups and service which is very poor to say the least! We fly next week and this is extremely unsettling!

Date of experience : September 06, 2018

Absolutely shocking company to deal with

Absolutely shocking company to deal with post booking. Take my advice & do not use them - their service after booking is awful.

Date of experience : August 20, 2017

Don’t trust this company

Don’t trust this company because they are awful. Health warning - dont buy multi leg flights because you get trapped and they don’t care !!!

Date of experience : February 18, 2019

STA Travel keeps a promise, even when it costs them money

Just had a very positive experience with James at STA Travel.com (the American website--seems to be different staff for different countries?). I had spent an hour or so going through various flight aggregator / search engines to find good prices / times on a fairly complicated trip, and STA had the best prices. I put a flight in my basket, entered my payment info, clicked pay and ... received a confirmation screen showing a price $500 than the price that had been shown in my basket. Suspecting that I had just entered into what was going to be a budget airfare nightmare, I said a few (many) pretty choice words, screenshotted everything, and fired off a blistering email to STA telling them there's no way I was paying this. James from STA got back to me and told me that the fare-class I was buying expired literally as my transaction was processing (midnight 30 days before departure), meaning that STA was on the hook for the $1400 ticket, and their computer system didn't have any record of the previous price, only the final sum. I sort of grudgingly accepted that this kind of thing happens when you try to book cheap tickets, and was going to just initiate a chargeback, write a pissy review and let Visa deal with it. However, James got back to me and told me that he had gone to bat for me with a higher-up, and that STA would eat the $500 difference, charging me $900 for a flight that would now cost them $1400. This was, to my mind, a pretty phenomenal bit of customer service--a company willing to lose a not insignificant sum of money to keep a promise to a customer--and I thought it was worth writing it up so that others would know about it. Thanks, James.

Date of experience : July 07, 2016

Would highly use again!

Used this site to go to the states. Amazing prices and really easy to use site. Made it easy to travel to the states and would highly recommend.

Date of experience : November 20, 2017

STA Travel is absolutely unhelpful and …

STA Travel is absolutely unhelpful and they have a terrible attitude my boyfriend and i booked a package through them 6 months ago paid in full at the end of August we then started following the Bali issue over the past weekend we then found out that it was really bad in Bali we contacted STA Travel Menlyn this morning and spoke to or Travel expert Dohne who was so unhelpful and still hasn't given us feedback as to what we should do if we cancel we don't get any money back which i believe is ridiculous i hope this gets to the correct people because i'm deeply disappointed and unhappy we have no time left and this company decides to have a don't care attitude with us it completely disgusting and unprofessional

Date of experience : November 27, 2017

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STA's fare system has had a major upgrade!

The Connect fare system brings all-new options and money-saving features for STA bus and Paratransit riders:   

• Contactless payment tools
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Keep your fare on a Connect card or on a virtual eConnect card stored in the STA Connect App on iOS or Android .

Just tap a Connect card or scan your phone at a fare validator to pay and ride when boarding the bus.

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Add value, check your balance, set up autoload, view your card activity and get access to additional features using the STA Connect App or the Connect account website.

You can even manage multiple cards in the app or website.

Pay as you go

A Connect card allows you to pay as you go and save money using fare capping .

Fare capping ensures you never overpay.  Once you reach the cap, you earn unlimited rides for the day or the month!

New discounts

Reduced & Zero-Fare discount options are available on our Fixed Route services to seniors, students, military veterans and more! Zero-Fare is available to riders 18 and under.

Find out if you qualify and apply today. 

Getting started

There are several ways you can get a Connect card, and starting an eConnect card with the STA Connect App is even easier. View how-to videos to help you get started here.

eConnect cards are completely virtual and exist only in your mobile phone, and have separate balances and fare capping totals from physical Connect cards.

Create a virtual eConnect card in the app on iOS or Android .

Purchase a Connect card at STA Plaza.

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Order a Connect card online and have it sent to you by mail. 

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Pay with a card.

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Paratransit customers can use Connect cards to pay the fare too. Find out how.

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Watch and learn how to use the STA Connect app and account website and find out about all of the features available to you.

More how-to videos about the app and the account website are available here.

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STA accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover at STA Plaza and online in the STA Connect App or Connect account website. Please note, EBT is no longer accepted as fare payment at STA Plaza.

Legacy paper passes will continue to work until the value on them is depleted. 

The fares at colleges will continue to work the same after October 1, 2022, until the school has made a plan to switch to the new system. After October 1, colleges will be coordinating with STA to determine the timing for switching over to the new Connect system and will make an announcement on when that switch will occur.

Employer smart card programs can transition to the new Connect card system as early as October. Current employer smart cards will continue to work until STA has worked with the employer to transition their employees to the new card system.

UTAP programs will continue to work the same. Single-use passes will be available as a Day Pass, 7-Day Pass, and 1-Ride Pass which is good for a two-hour window.

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For immediate assistance, contact Customer Service at  (509) 328-RIDE (7433) , TTY 711.

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The Journal of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

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U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Account for 2018–2022

By Hunter Arcand and Paul Kern  |  April 29, 2024

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The travel and tourism industry—as measured by the real output of goods and services sold directly to visitors—increased 21.0 percent in 2022 after increasing 53.6 percent in 2021, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). 1 By comparison, the broader economy, as measured by real gross domestic product (GDP), increased 1.9 percent in 2022 after increasing 5.8 percent in 2021.

BEA released new national-level travel and tourism statistics for 2022, with updated statistics from 2017 to 2021. These new and revised statistics primarily reflect the incorporation of source data from the 2023 comprehensive update of BEA’s National Economic Accounts. Improved Estimates of the National Economic Accounts: Results of the 2023 Comprehensive Update ,” Survey of Current Business (November 2023)."> 2 Combined with new and revised tourism-specific source data, these improvements allow BEA's Travel and Tourism Satellite Account (TTSA) to capture the dynamics of this sector more accurately. In addition, the reference year for the chained-dollar estimates is updated to 2017 from 2012.

Highlights from the TTSA include the following:

• As the industry continued to recover from the COVID–19 pandemic, travel and tourism's share of GDP increased from 2.76 percent in 2021 to 2.97 percent in 2022 (table A).
• The travel and tourism industry's real output increased $197.1 billion in 2022 but has not fully recovered from the pandemic. Travel and tourism's real output for 2022 was 94.2 percent of its 2019 level (table B).
• In 2022, real output increased for 22 of 24 commodities. The largest contributors to the increase were domestic passenger air transportation services, international passenger air transportation services, and gasoline.
• Prices for travel and tourism goods and services increased 12.2 percent in 2022 after increasing 6.9 percent in 2021. The largest contributors to the increase were domestic passenger air transportation services, gasoline, and shopping (table C).
• The TTSA is available on the BEA website; see the box “ Data Availability .”

The remainder of this article includes a discussion of trends in travel and tourism output, prices, value added, and employment.

Trends in Output and Prices

Real output.

Travel and tourism real output increased 21.0 percent in 2022. The largest contributors were domestic passenger air transportation services, gasoline, international passenger air transportation services, and traveler accommodations (table B and chart 1). The increases reflect the continued recovery of the travel and tourism industry after the COVID–19 pandemic.

[View larger chart]

Travel and tourism prices accelerated in 2022, increasing 12.2 percent after increasing 6.9 percent in 2021, with prices of 20 of 24 commodities contributing to the increase (table C and chart 2). The acceleration was led by increases in domestic passenger air transportation services, gasoline, and shopping.

Total output

Total tourism-related current-dollar, or nominal, output increased to $2.32 trillion in 2022, up from $1.72 trillion in 2021. In 2022, total output consisted of $1.36 trillion in direct tourism output and $963 billion in indirect tourism output. The 1.71 ratio of total output to direct output in 2022 means that every dollar of direct tourism output requires an additional 71 cents of indirect tourism output (chart 3).

Direct tourism output includes goods and services sold directly to visitors, such as passenger air travel. Indirect tourism output includes sales of all goods and services used to produce that direct output, such as jet fuel to fly the plane and catering services for longer flights.

Tourism Value Added and Employment

Value added.

A sector's value added measures its share of GDP. The travel and tourism industry's share of GDP was 2.97 percent in 2022, 2.76 percent in 2021, and 2.15 in 2020 (table A). This pattern indicates that travel and tourism industries contracted and expanded disproportionately to non-travel and tourism industries during the COVID–19 pandemic and that travel and tourism industries are still slightly below pre-COVID–19 levels.

Direct employment

Direct tourism employment refers to jobs that are directly related to visitor spending on goods and services. Airline pilots, hotel clerks, and travel agents are examples of such employees. Overall, direct employment increased by 1.0 million jobs in 2022 after increasing by 1.3 million jobs in 2021. This was after decreasing by 2.9 million jobs in 2020. The largest contributors to the 2022 increase were traveler accommodations, which gained 244,000 jobs; food services and drinking places, which gained 213,000 jobs; and shopping, which gained 176,000 jobs (chart 4 and table D).

Total employment

Total tourism-related employment (the sum of direct and indirect jobs) increased to 9.4 million jobs in 2022 from 8.9 million jobs in 2021. The 9.4 million jobs consisted of 6.6 million direct tourism jobs and 2.8 million indirect tourism jobs (chart 5). While direct tourism employment includes jobs that produce direct tourism output, such as airline pilots, indirect tourism employment is generated by the businesses that supply goods and services to the tourism sector, such as refinery workers producing jet fuel. Data for 2022 indicate that for every 100 jobs supported directly by the travel and tourism industry, an additional 42 indirect tourism jobs are also required.

• All measures of travel and tourism activity not identified as being in “real,” inflation-adjusted terms are current-dollar, or nominal, estimates.
• For more, information see “ Improved Estimates of the National Economic Accounts: Results of the 2023 Comprehensive Update ,” Survey of Current Business (November 2023).

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