Voided ESTA,S

Ganga

We paid for new USA ESTA,s back in March 2020 ,i was taking my wife to NewYork for her birthday ,along came Covid and BA cancelled the holiday and returned all of our money BUT the US government cancelled the ESTA,s barring travel to the USA from the UK.
They never returned the cost ,does anybody know if they have either re-instated these are has anybody been refunded ( i know it was not a lot of money but we are now planning holidays again and would like to go back to New York )

400ixl

Esta's were only cancelled if the person holding it tried to use them by doing the pre-flight passenger registration with the airline. For anyone that didn't do that they were just not usable during the period of the travel ban. So, were you notified by Customs and Border Protection that it had actually been cancelled?

They have not re-imbursed anyone and there will be no re-imbursement and any cancelled will not be re-instated. However if it was not actually cancelled then they are live and can now be used. 

Check on the site to see if you still have a valid Esta. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/individualStatusLookup

Sandtree

As far as I am aware the ESTA were never cancelled, you just couldn't use them to enter the US if flying from the UK. A UK passport holder however could still enter the US if they had been outside of the UK and other listed countries for 2 weeks... whilst we were in Mexico know a couple that went up into US on their UK passport and ESTA without issue (dont know when the ESTA was issued).

ESTA are valid for 2 years and so if you bought in March 2020 it has now naturally expired. 

You can check your status at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/individualStatusLookup 

photome

Was you ESTA cancelled ?  I bought 2 just before COVID hit, mine were never cancelled, but have now expired without use, I have recently bought 2 more, for travel this year.

even if they werent cancelled they will have expired, no chance of a refund from the US Gvt

Ganga

photome said:

Was you ESTA cancelled ?  I bought 2 just before COVID hit, mine were never cancelled, but have now expired without use, I have recently bought 2 more, for travel this year.

even if they werent cancelled they will have expired, no chance of a refund from the US Gvt

We purchased the ESTA,s   January the 22nd 2020 ,we received an e-mail on 17th March saying " There has been an update to your ESTA application please the web site to check.
I know the USA government stopped all visitors to the country in March or even slightly earlier so the use of the ESTA,s was voided ,only 28 dollars down the drain so not a fortune.

CKhalvashi

It may be that the ESTAs were still valid, simply not from the CTA or Schengen area (which is where the travel restrictions were placed from at differing times).

There's not going to be a refund under the ESTA terms and conditions in any event.

Sandtree

Ganga said:

I know the USA government stopped all visitors to the country in March or even slightly earlier so the use of the ESTA,s was voided ,only 28 dollars down the drain so not a fortune.

No it didn't, it stopped visitors who had been in the UK and EU in the last 2 weeks who didn't have residency in the US.

It was possible to go via a third country such as Mexico where you could still enter the US using an ESTA rather than a visa. Obv a lot of people cannot afford to extend their holiday with another 2 weeks in Mexico but that doesn't change the fact it was possible. 

Ganga

All answers are true-ish but the bottom line was the US gov took our money and then stopped people visiting the US from the UK , as i have stated several times we have written the money off as the USA did not invent Covid19 ( well i hope not ) but was just interested in other peoples view ,thanks everyone.

jon81uk

Ganga said:

All answers are true-ish but the bottom line was the US gov took our money and then stopped people visiting the US from the UK , as i have stated several times we have written the money off as the USA did not invent Covid19 ( well i hope not ) but was just interested in other peoples view ,thanks everyone.

Claim your loss from your travel insurance.

400ixl

Insurers won't pay out. As others have mentioned the US did not stop UK or EU citizens entering the US, they just wouldn't allow them to enter unless they has spent a prescribed amount of time in an acceptable location as part of the arrival process.

The ESTA was usable throughout Covid, just not directly. Is a bit of a loophole for the travel insurer but one they can legitimately use.

CKhalvashi

400ixl said:

Insurers won't pay out. As others have mentioned the US did not stop UK or EU citizens entering the US, they just wouldn't allow them to enter unless they has spent a prescribed amount of time in an acceptable location as part of the arrival process.

The ESTA was usable throughout Covid, just not directly. Is a bit of a loophole for the travel insurer but one they can legitimately use.

I follow Noel Phillips on YouTube and he did a number of videos in the US I this time having spent time in Mexico for filming, so this is completely true.

I get why people are annoyed, but at the end of the day $12 is very little compared to the cost of a flight to the US, but not necessarily compared to a country in Europe (indeed I've had flights costing less than this return in the past few years).