Fall 2007
Erin Thomas
Planning Trips through STA vs. Planning Them on Your Own
Since I have been at Susquehanna, I have heard countless stories of other London students’ independent travels and was so excited when it was finally time for us to plan our first trip. Our first free weekend was September 21st and we decided as a small group to go to Dublin, Ireland. The week of, we scrambled online looking for cheap flights and hostels. It was complete chaos to say the least. I would find a hostel that met our needs and as soon as I would go to book it, the information would change and it would not longer be suitable. It was very stressful. Everyone was finding different information, and because there were about ten of us, it was hard to accommodate everyone. We decided not to rush it and stay in London for the weekend and actually plan a nice trip.
After class that Friday, our group went to STA, which is a student travel agency. They specialize in booking flights and hostels that are within a student’s budget. The agent split us into two groups of five because it is easier to book for smaller groups rather than large ones. She made sure we would still be on the same flight and in the same hostel. The first group explained to her what we wanted and what our budget was. She looked for flights and hostels and with our input, after about an hour, everything was finalized. We booked everything for just under ₤150. It was so easy because everything was completed, we had all the necessary paperwork, and the agency was very helpful and knowledgeable. It was such a relief to have everything ready to do for the following weekend. On the 29th of September we all went to Ireland and it was so much fun! We did not have any booking problems at the airport or hostel which was awesome!
For the following weekend, Jackie, Kristen, and I decided to travel to Stockholm, Sweden. We went to STA again because of the positive experience we had from our Ireland trip. We booked our flights (and this time a hotel!), and it ended up being more expensive - just over ₤250. We thought it was worth it so we went through with it. Later, we talked with other students who were traveling to Stockholm and who had booked their trip online themselves and got it a decent amount cheaper. We had an amazing time in Sweden and are so happy we did it.
For another trip, a large number of us planned to travel to Brussels and Amsterdam the weekend of October 12th. When we decided this back in September, I immediately got online and started looking for flights. It takes a lot of time researching and comparing different airlines and their prices. After about two hours of clicking around, I found flights that fit our schedule and our wallet. We are flying out of Stansted and coming back to Heathrow on two completely different airlines. Jackie was in charge of booking our hostels and luckily we are in the same hostel as everyone else, which is awesome! Booking online was very easy. Our tickets were e-mailed to me and all I had to do was print them off. We saved about ₤16 of agency fees by doing it ourselves.
What I have learned so far: Even though STA does the leg work for you, there are probably better deals on the Internet. For the future students of the London Program, I recommend going to STA for your first trip to learn how it is done and from there on do it on your own. Even though STA is cheap, it can be even cheaper. If you split up the work between your friends it’s a lot easier. If one person books the flights and another person books the hostel, it works out great. It allows you to focus on one thing and it is a lot less stressful!
Most likely, it will take you longer to plan your trip, you will be at different airports and on different airlines but that is the fun of it. As long as you get to where you are going and have the time of your life, it doesn’t really matter how it is booked.
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