Spring Break
The Daily OrangeThe answer to all travel problems: prank phone calls
By Seamus O'Connor
Posted: 10/10/06, 11:57 PM EST Section: Feature
I travel frequently. I used to book my flights through STA Travel. Not anymore.
This Sunday, I found a cheap fare on STA and attempted to purchase it. Its Web site kept giving me an error message despite repeated tries. By Monday, the situation had not changed, so I called its help line and spoke to a young Italian man who apparently had no patience for, you know, customers looking to book travel.
Italian boy suggested the flight had possibly sold out and the site just hadn't updated yet.
Me: But the fare's been on there for over 24 hours!
Him: Why didn't you buy it 24 hours ago, then?
Me: (steam bursts comically from ears; a train whistle sounds)
Apparently, STA doesn't want to "book you a flight" so much as "have a snooty European give you sass." Wholly enraged, I decided on a mature, responsible reaction: prank call the hell out of them.
My first victim was Michelle (not her real name), who was actually quite polite:
SO: Hi, I'm a senior in college and I wanted to plan myself a vacation as a graduation gift. But I have a problem: you guys don't list any flights to Tajikistan.
STA: (Pause) I don't think we have any tickets in there.
SO: Really, nothing into Tajikistan?
STA: Sorry, no, I'm not really … usually, that part of the world is tough to get into.
SO: Man, people really hate the 'stans, huh?
STA: They don't hate them, they just don't go there. We pretty much have fares for parts of the world for making money. I guess the people who make our airline reservations don't really care.
(Interestingly, she never bothered to ask why exactly I wanted to go to Tajikistan, so my great joke about "scoring some cheap Soviet heroin" went tragically by the wayside. But note to Kanye West: STA Travel does not care about Tajik people.)
SO: OK, well, the other place I wanted to go to was the Federated States of Micronesia. But I can't decide if I would rather go to the Kapingamarangi Island or to the Mortlock Isalnds. I think Kapingamarangi would be more like a resort, but my hunch about the Mortlock Islands is it's actually the Morlock Islands. You know, Morlocks, those blue people from that movie about the time machine?
This Sunday, I found a cheap fare on STA and attempted to purchase it. Its Web site kept giving me an error message despite repeated tries. By Monday, the situation had not changed, so I called its help line and spoke to a young Italian man who apparently had no patience for, you know, customers looking to book travel.
Italian boy suggested the flight had possibly sold out and the site just hadn't updated yet.
Me: But the fare's been on there for over 24 hours!
Him: Why didn't you buy it 24 hours ago, then?
Me: (steam bursts comically from ears; a train whistle sounds)
Apparently, STA doesn't want to "book you a flight" so much as "have a snooty European give you sass." Wholly enraged, I decided on a mature, responsible reaction: prank call the hell out of them.
My first victim was Michelle (not her real name), who was actually quite polite:
SO: Hi, I'm a senior in college and I wanted to plan myself a vacation as a graduation gift. But I have a problem: you guys don't list any flights to Tajikistan.
STA: (Pause) I don't think we have any tickets in there.
SO: Really, nothing into Tajikistan?
STA: Sorry, no, I'm not really … usually, that part of the world is tough to get into.
SO: Man, people really hate the 'stans, huh?
STA: They don't hate them, they just don't go there. We pretty much have fares for parts of the world for making money. I guess the people who make our airline reservations don't really care.
(Interestingly, she never bothered to ask why exactly I wanted to go to Tajikistan, so my great joke about "scoring some cheap Soviet heroin" went tragically by the wayside. But note to Kanye West: STA Travel does not care about Tajik people.)
SO: OK, well, the other place I wanted to go to was the Federated States of Micronesia. But I can't decide if I would rather go to the Kapingamarangi Island or to the Mortlock Isalnds. I think Kapingamarangi would be more like a resort, but my hunch about the Mortlock Islands is it's actually the Morlock Islands. You know, Morlocks, those blue people from that movie about the time machine?
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 7
Christi
posted 10/12/06 @ 1:34 PM EST
Hey Seamus,
Sorry you had a dissapointing experience, at least you had some fun with it. We hope you enjoy your free ticket to Chicago courtesy of STA Travel. (Continued…)
Christi
posted 10/13/06 @ 3:46 PM EST
Hey Seamus,
Sorry you had a dissapointing experience, at least you had some fun with it. We hope you enjoy your free ticket to Chicago courtesy of STA Travel. (Continued…)
caracarp
cara
posted 10/13/06 @ 3:58 PM EST
I feel your pain. I had the same experience with sta - tried to book online, always get errors, and when I called I got brushed off by multiple agents. (Continued…)
Manee
posted 12/20/07 @ 11:00 AM EST
I had some experience with STA tooo.
I booked the flight online and I called one of their staff .... Believe it or not .... they asked more money for fixing the problem . (Continued…)
Anya
posted 12/31/07 @ 2:49 PM EST
My husband is from tajikistan and the only way he knows to fly there and back is to book a flight to Moscow, and when you're there book a flight to Dushanbe, TJ. (Continued…)
Amelia Bryan
posted 8/03/09 @ 12:04 AM EST
Hi my experience with sta travel has been infuriating and expensive. i bought a 3060 dollar ticket to Mexico planning to return back to australia in July. (Continued…)
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