MSE News: Esta site struggling ahead of new US tourist tax

Lady_S

It has just taken me 2 hours,but I have just registered our six. However, we do have a holiday planned so it is justified.

Equaliser123

time2waste wrote: »

21.00 and it is still down. The people who cause this unneccessary pandemonium need to sit back and think what they are really doing. If you can afford to fly to the USA and stay in either paid accommodation or with relatives and treat them to a Wendy Burger by way of a thank you, are you REALLY so short of cash that you cannot afford $14????? So what if it is $14 x 4 people; you've paid 4 airfares! Come on lets use this site for what it was meant and lets have more mature postings of real worth....2 for 1 pizzas and convoluted bank account applications that take hours to apply for and then you close them after 1 month for the sake of £20 are ridiculous.
It is immature in the extreme to whip gullible people up into a frenzy so that they think they won't get into the USA if they don't beat the 5AM deadline.
Please stop trying for an ESTA unless you have booked your flights.........

Not sure it is really for you to say who should apply and who shouldn't. I'm planning on going to the US in October but don't have flights booked. So I should wait and pay on your analysis?

This situation has not been helped by one Mr Lewis on TV this morning advising to "crash the site". Cheers mate.

dandydog

After a couple of hours trying, I have managed to get past the first page a dozen or so times but can't get any further than the disclaimer. Travel agent said we had plenty of time to get this cleared because we don’t fly until March ’11. She didn’t mentioned that we would have to pay for it after a certain date, (although we did book up in April so she may not have known).

I guess it’s a case of keep trying.

dazcroshaw

we went to califonia last year and completed the esta. However, we are travelling to florida this year and not sure if we need to fill in a new one as we are going to a different state?

Equaliser123

dazcroshaw wrote: »

we went to califonia last year and completed the esta. However, we are travelling to florida this year and not sure if we need to fill in a new one as we are going to a different state?

You don't have to - the ESTA covers the entire United States.

Equaliser123

Found Firefox was much easier to apply with than Internet Explorer. Also, use the "resend" function (after refreshing) and it eventually works.

mondeo_man

Agree totally with time2waste. $14 is less than a tenner - sure, if some website is going to let me save £10 I'll give it a go, but it's not worth getting stressed about if it doesn't come off - especially if you only actually save the $14 if you spend hundreds first on flying to the states. In the overall scheme of things $14 doesn't even tough the edges, I've just booked a Vegas trip and it cost about £1000 each. If you can afford to go on holiday to the US then saving a tenner is not really an issue for you is it.

ferf1223

Rob_Edmunds wrote: »

Whats p1ssed me off is ......

Why wasn't this mentioned earlier by the TV....surely Martin should have been on a show a week ago explaining this !!

or by my travel agent...i've recieved no details that this was a requirement

Usually when travelling abroad you get told to complete the visa etc......

I've been to the US for the last 5 years and was told by US customs last year that ESTA was only a trial at certain airports and wasn't going to be implimented !..

Then I had the printed ESTA forms but still had to complete a green visa wavier card...as they US customs wouldn't accept them..

Thank god i'm just passing through the US....I never have liked them much....:mad::mad:

hope you all get sorted out

Rob

I've read about it all over...here, papers, magazines, other websites, my company's intranet...the info is out there...pretty sure that I read somewhere that Martin was on TV a week or two ago talking about this - pretty sure some folks posted here after that? why your TA didn't mention it is a question for them (I would probably be annoyed with them but this is why I do things myself so I don't have to rely on someone else to tell me what to do and when). As for your experiences recently, there's plenty of information about this (including in Martin's ESTA guide) - the new system being phased in, the green forms being phased out, there being cross-over between the two...many (most?) US airports have now phased out the green form now...but hey, always OK to have a go at the Americans, eh?

leew

Sites down for me :mad:

My current one has an expiry saying 20/02/2011, maybe looking to go in November that will do won't it?

dannodw

Just managed to do this. Only took a few attempts.

Passport has expired for the other traveler, and we are still awaiting the new one, so another expense.

Still £9 saved.