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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.

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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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'We knew they were experts': STA Travel clients and staff look back

As company falls victim to Covid-19, travellers reflect on joy of experienced people helping to book holidays

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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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Strong geomagnetic storm reaches Earth, continues through weekend

NOAA space weather forecasters have observed at least seven coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun, with impacts expected to arrive on Earth as early as midday Friday, May 10, and persist through Sunday, May 12, 2024. 

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a Geomagnetic Storm Warning for Friday, May 10. Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend.

• The First of Several CMEs reached Earth on Friday, May 10 at 12:37 pm EDT.  The CME was very strong and SWPC quickly issued a series of geomagnetic storm warnings. SWPC observed G4 conditions at 1:39 pm EDT (G3 at 1:08 pm EDT).
• This storm is ongoing and SWPC will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional warnings as necessary.

This is an unusual and potentially historic event. Clinton Wallace , Director, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center

CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona. They cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth. Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface , potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations. SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action.

Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth . A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California.

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