Packing up and sending yourself of to Japan should be something of an exciting and dream like…read moreprocess but I ended up dreading any appointment I had with STA. I don't mind idle chit chat, but I always left feeling like a toddler. 'Are you alright mate? Is someone going to be looking for you?' They did do a lot of work for me and the travel costs seemed to be reasonable and as cheap as anywhere else, until they stung me with an international student card or something, which cost around £20 and was never used or asked for.

Having recently booked a big trip at this branch of STA over numerous appointments, I feel well…read moreequipped to review their services! Initially I found the service friendly and helpful. I wasn't overly confidant that our travel agent knew her stuff...she didn't seem to have a great deal of knowledge about Central America, but her enthusiasm won me over nonetheless. And despite a lack of firsthand knowledge, she did give us leaflets and talked us through different options for the cheapest way to plan our route. When we dithered and changed our route, she was accommodating, though I did begin to feel her patience was waning when we refrained from making a hasty booking. Whatever...people have bad days and she was never rude to us at all, just a little snippy at times. And bearing in mind that her job involves booking other people's fun trips all day every day, I'm gonna cut her some slack! STA is the cheapest and probably the easiest way to book both single flights and multi-flight trips. If you're 25 or under, you get their young person's discount, which is ultimately why we chose to use them. However, most travel agents aren't as willing to research your trip options for you. It would have been much harder and time-consuming to figure out a route and timescale, had we not had STA's help. So, despite the fact that we didn't have the best travel agent, I would recommend STA, especially for students wanting to save money!

As a child of the internet generation, I pretty much make most travel arrangements on line…read more However, I do also lament the loss of face-to-face interaction. Possibly not enough to haul my ass down to One Stop Travel though. That has more to do with my laziness than the service they provide, however. One Stop is a good place to go for all regional travel info...the staff are helpful and can advise on the best route and mode of transportation to get to wherever you're going. They sell weekly and monthly bus passes, as well as train passes, which will save you money on daily ticket purchases. They also sell coach tickets, which are cheaper bought in advance. However it is worth bearing in mind that One Stop might save you money, but it will rarely save you time- the queues are long and every customer seems to have their own long and complicated situation, which can get tedious. However, the places does have it's uses. You can pop in for bus timetables and leaflets promoting organized day trips to places of interest across the country- probably quite useful for tourists and anyone who likes hassle-free tour holidays.

The one stop travel shop is part of the Brighton and Hove bus company, and is the place to go for…read moreextended bus passes, as well as coach journeys to London, and various day trips throughout the year (Bath, Isle of Wight, Calais...). Even though I haven't been on any of their day trips/short breaks, they do seem pretty good value for money, for example £200 for 3 nights/4days travel, accomodation and some food/entertainment in the Lake District - although I expect these trips attract an older audience (I know my grandparents went on the turkey and tinsel one last year). The shop itself is pretty chaotic and I'd avoid it if you can (you can buy online or buy weekly tickets at your college/uni if you're a student), with long queues most of the time, occasionally out of the door! If you do need to go, I'd reccomend you get yourself there early - that is before 9 - as it's a pretty dull place to hang around for ages. Saying that, they do have a charming array of gift ideas at the moment - if you're a public transport fan, then find brighton bus themed pens, mugs, bags, calendars...!