everyone knows about STA Travel, but i was wondering how you guys have found it to be. in my experiences i have typically avoided travel agencies. i usually find that i can do it cheaper and most agents dont really understand the backpackers prospective when traveling.
STA on the other hand is geared toward students and backpackers and i've heard some really good things about them. i've never actually used them, and usually i'm still under the impression that if i hunt around on the internet and make some phone calls i can still get a better deal. but who out there has used them and is convinced that STA got them a deal that they couldnt have gotten themselves.

i was talking to a girl at STA the other day about a RTW ticket and they seemed like they had some pretty good deals. but i'd like to hear about some positive or negative experiences with STA.

I wouldnt know about actually calling up and talking to a person, but i just bought my plane ticket on statravel.com and it was by far the cheapest of anything i've looked at. hope you find something cheap!

I was going to buy my RTW ticket from STA here in the UK. They were going to throw in a free visa for Australia. We found the service not to be too great though, so we were put off slightly.

We found somewhere else to buy our ticket from, it cost almost exactly the same, and when we told them STA were going to give free visas, they gave us them free too.

In the past, I've been into a more local branch of STA (the one we went to was in my boyfriend's hometown) to chat to them about various things, and they've been very helpful.

In terms of service, I'm sure it varies from branch to branch. For flight deals, I guess it depends on the sort of flight you want!

After months and months of intensiv rtw ticket search, I chose STA travel offer. They had the best deal for me, and I was 35 years and no student. The agent and I spoke on the phone and emailed back and forth for over a month and she found me a one year-open return ticket Montreal-Sydney, with stopovers in Frankfurt and Malaysia, that did exactly what I needed, without the RTW fare. Total CAN$ 2500.

I bought additionnal tickets in SEA Asia (Bangkok, Laos, Hanoi) once in Asia. Worked perfectly !

Just booked my first RTW ticket with them. Have always had good luck and prices. Lots of help too!

When I was really set on going to Italy last year with only a limited amount of money I looked on STA travel one day and found a one way ticket at the end of May for 3oo dollars and it made my trip possible. I was very happy, but then when I wanted to book one from Italy to the U.S. I couldn't, but if I wanted to go one way I dont think I can find anything as cheap and it routed me to Toronto which was cool.

I really like them - I'm usually an internet flight booker but for this next trip it wasnt a simple return ticket I needed so I thought I'd just go in and ask for their opinion, and ended up getting my ticket from there for a pretty good price. It varies though cause the girl I always talk to is really lovely and we get along really well (actually she said I could get a job there when I get back from europe) but if she happens to be away the girl at the desk next to her doesnt seem too helpful at all... but other than her I have had completely positive experiences at STA, I figure I'm going to be doing enough organising myself while I'm overseas, I may as well get as much help as possible before I go