Disaster! - ESTA rejection (for no good reason) - now need to cancel NY trip!

melb

there must be a way around this. try ringing the US embassy in london again and beg them to help you. Ring the people in the US again and beg them to help you. It's bad luck that it's now the weekend as fewer places open to try. Ring upSky news and see if anyone there is interested in trying to help. I know that's a bit silly but I can't bear the thought of you losing all that money.

melb

have you tried seeking advice from customer services at BA?

terribleape

melb wrote: »

have you tried seeking advice from customer services at BA?

Nothing to do with them.

The posters name is on a watch list, he gets refused.

Chances are turning up at the canadian border would get him in, but thats just an aside.

What criteria the watchlist uses is unknown, whether its just the name (as in the case of senator Ted Kennedy who had problems every time he flew - and hes american whos name was actually edward!) or name, d-o-b, place of birth which would seem reasonable. It can't be done on name/passport number as a lot if us have multiple passports.

wdyw

For those of you with names similar to people on watchlists, are you aware of the Redress Inquiry program?

www.dhs.gov/trip

The Department of Homeland Security Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) is a single point of contact for individuals who have inquiries or seek resolution regarding difficulties they experienced during their travel screening at transportation hubs—like airports and train stations—or crossing U.S. borders, including:

• watch list issues
• screening problems at ports of entry
• situations where travelers believe they have been unfairly or incorrectly delayed, denied boarding or identified for additional screening at our nation’s transportation hubs

DHS TRIP is part of an effort by the departments of State and Homeland Security to welcome legitimate travelers while still securing our country from those who want to do us harm.

Certainly when you book a flight with AA there is a box for you to put your redress number in to make it a "smoother" process.

blameyourelf

I filled in the dhs trip form a couple of days ago when I got the first rejection, not heard anything back yet though. If/when they do get back to me it'll be too late!

I found it very difficult to keep calm (although did) when the dhs telephonist was trying to rationalise the fact that my name was the problem. I'm not sure begging is likely to be successful!

ferf1223

blameyourelf wrote: »

I'm not sure begging is likely to be successful!

Unfortunately, I don't think it is likely to be.

I agree with what dmg24 said originally - on US websites, they don't generally make reference to debit cards - 'credit card' covers anything with a Visa/MasterCard/AmEx/Discover/etc. logo on it...they don't differentiate between credit and debit card like they do here.

Toe-Jam

ferf1223 wrote: »

Unfortunately, I don't think it is likely to be.

I agree with what dmg24 said originally - on US websites, they don't generally make reference to debit cards - 'credit card' covers anything with a Visa/MasterCard/AmEx/Discover/etc. logo on it...they don't differentiate between credit and debit card like they do here.

Yes your correct, and a visa debit card is only processed as a debit card if you use it domestically if you use it abroad or in another currency it goes through visanet so you can just select visa and it will work no problems. Even visa electron will work as a visa abroad.