Any experience with these student discount travel agencies?
Apr 14th, 2008, 04:28 PM
#1
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Any experience with these student discount travel agencies?
My daughter is going to London in July to study for three weeks. The university emailed her and recommended she look into the following two companies for cheap flights (and other travel services).
I'm guessing if they're recommended by the University, they're totally legit, but it might be nice to know if anyone's had any experience with them
They are STA Travel and Student Universe.
(I'm not sure any of this is going to work, anyway, as she's hardly got a simple itinerary. She's flying SFO to LHR, then 3 weeks later London to Paris or Bergerac or Toulouse, then 3 weeks later Paris back to SFO (or OAK)). Yikes.
I'm guessing if they're recommended by the University, they're totally legit, but it might be nice to know if anyone's had any experience with them
They are STA Travel and Student Universe.
(I'm not sure any of this is going to work, anyway, as she's hardly got a simple itinerary. She's flying SFO to LHR, then 3 weeks later London to Paris or Bergerac or Toulouse, then 3 weeks later Paris back to SFO (or OAK)). Yikes.
Apr 14th, 2008, 05:10 PM
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Student travel agencies, at least in my experience, didn't always have the cheapest airfares. I found a ticket for my trip (YYZ-LON-PAR-YYZ) for $624 from Expedia, while Travel Cuts (the CAN equivalent of STA) quoted $700+ for a similar flight.
I would check the usual stops, as well, and not just automatically go with STA, just because she's a student.
I would check the usual stops, as well, and not just automatically go with STA, just because she's a student.
Apr 14th, 2008, 05:22 PM
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I agree with the previous poster. Student travel agencies market themselves very cleverly, but can cost more than a regular travel agency. If you have time, check around. She will be hitting prime travel season and cannot expect discount fares. I hope she has a wonderful time in Europe.
Apr 14th, 2008, 05:42 PM
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I can tell you that STA has been around for years, so it definitely is legit. I used it when I went to London for junior year abroad, but we're talking about an era before www and before the Chunnel.
Apr 14th, 2008, 06:12 PM
#5
The benefit of STA is their ability to book open-end tickets without the big change fees. DD was studying in Spain for five months with return date to be determined. At the time (2006) they allowed a return change for only a $25 fee (airlines charge $200 for international change) so we booked a round trip and later changed the return date. I think you also need to buy the ISIC card, but it's good for discounts and even food on some campuses. Most colleges have an STA on campus. For a short trip like you've planned, I'm not sure I see any advantage.
