About STA Travel

STA Travel is the world’s largest travel company offering products that cater specifically to the needs of students and young people. With over 400 branches around the world and Travel Help assistance in over 50 countries, we help you get your clients started on a trip of a lifetime, and stay with them all the way.

Our beginnings however, were much more humble...

In the early 1970’s it became evident to a savvy group of Australians that a number of their country’s young people were traveling to Europe using various forms of transportation. Although European students were known to travel extensively to nearby destinations, a new dimension of long haul travel was introduced by Australian youth and it spread rapidly to students on all continents.

Just about the same time, the Student Air Transport Association (SATA) created a student ticket initially used for charter flights. During this time chartering was recognized as a separate form of leisure travel many years in advance of the mainstream market, providing a flexible and affordable alternative to scheduled air travel. Armed with this unique ticket the Australians began their new travel business, which over the years has evolved into an international company, STA Travel. Although the days of student charters are long gone, we still produce the STA Travel Student Ticket using the standards agreed upon between SATA and IATA years ago. This ticket remains a primary vehicle for specially negotiated student fares, even with the increase in student ARC contracts.

Over the past 40 years, STA Travel has continued to grow due to a solid business practice, committed sales teams, and excellent travel products geared to a unique niche... the student and youth traveler.

In 1983, STA Travel began opening offices in North America. Our North American division is headquartered in Lewisville, Texas and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the STA Travel Group, which is based in London. We currently operate over 70 retail branches throughout the US.

You may be familiar with our wholesale unit, the STUDENT travel network which (since 1995) has allowed you, the travel agent, the ability to offer many of our products to your student, youth, (sometimes teacher) clients. Now at net pricing which give you the ability to control YOUR earnings. We are now offering you an expanded product line, a web site and booking engine, the STA Travel Agent Network. We hope you will find this site to be educational, user-friendly, and assist you in providing a wide range of travel products for your student, youth, and teacher clients.