ESTA's now or wait?

[Smilesonfaces]

Originally Posted by Sharapova

It's a WAIT from me. A lot can happen between now and then. Eg. Change of hotel, holiday dates, etc. It takes only a few minutes to do ESTAs. You'd have to start from scratch and pay again if something did change.

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Your esta is valid for 2 years. It doesn’t matter if you change holiday or hotel or dates. All that matters is that your esta is in date. People travel several times on one esta. Applying should not be delayed. There is another thread on here where a poster has made a mistake on the application. He is now having to apply for a visa. Fortunately he applied in plenty of time so should get the visa in time for his trip. Good job he didn’t leave it until the the last minute.

[john2202]

Always make sure you have the ESTA in place before you book, the same goes for travel insurance 👍👍

[Peko]

Originally Posted by Sharapova

It's a WAIT from me. A lot can happen between now and then. Eg. Change of hotel, holiday dates, etc. It takes only a few minutes to do ESTAs. You'd have to start from scratch and pay again if something did change.

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No, you wouldn’t need to start from scratch unless you got a new passport or your trip dates changed so much that the ESTA would have expired before the new trip departure date. Changing travel arrangements would not require a new ESTA

[mick]

Originally Posted by Smilesonfaces

Your esta is valid for 2 years. It doesn’t matter if you change holiday or hotel or dates. All that matters is that your esta is in date. People travel several times on one esta. Applying should not be delayed. There is another thread on here where a poster has made a mistake on the application. He is now having to apply for a visa. Fortunately he applied in plenty of time so should get the visa in time for his trip. Good job he didn’t leave it until the the last minute.

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I was a little confused as well. As you say you can travel on an ESTA that's 1 day old and one that's 729 days old (if my maths are correct ) and 50 times in between if you like.

Neither does the accommodation matter. Dozens of Dibbers put "Unknown" on the application and I guess 90% of us never change it. The API informs the authorities of your first night accomodation.

Just like you over the years my opinion has been do them 6 months in advance in case of a rejection so time to do a visa. Also before you commit any serious money. Insurance will not pay cancellation costs if you can't travel due to no ESTA.

Unfortunately over the years I've seen far too may people refused for all sorts of reasons. Answering "yes" to an obvious "no" question or being trapped by the major software failure at SFB a few years ago.

Mick

[Big Dog]

Originally Posted by john2202

Always make sure you have the ESTA in place before you book, the same goes for travel insurance 👍👍

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Travel insurance yes, ESTA I disagree unless you are going within 6 months.

[Big Dog]

OP, it's a wait from me too

[Barnstormer18]

Don't do the ESTAs until the last minute as the clock on their expiry starts ticking as soon as you complete and pay for them. They last 2 years.

[Smilesonfaces]

Originally Posted by Barnstormer18

Don't do the ESTAs until the last minute as the clock on their expiry starts ticking as soon as you complete and pay for them. They last 2 years.

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Ha ha yes because on holiday costing up to £10k you wouldn’t want to waste $14 would you.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Barnstormer18

Don't do the ESTAs until the last minute as the clock on their expiry starts ticking as soon as you complete and pay for them. They last 2 years.

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And if your ESTA is refused (due to an error or a genuine reason) you won't be going on holiday - you will also lose all your money since travel insurance won't pay out for this reason.

Apply for an ESTA in plenty of time so that if it is refused you can apply for a full VISA. This process can take months so leaving an ESTA until the last minute is a bad plan.

I'd rather lose 6 months on a $14 ESTA than £1000's on a trip to the USA.

[alibeau]

Originally Posted by Barnstormer18

Don't do the ESTAs until the last minute as the clock on their expiry starts ticking as soon as you complete and pay for them. They last 2 years.

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