Cancelled Esta

DisneyPain19

Hi, my 5 year old daughter and I have just been through the worst experience ever. We were going to Disney in USA for her 5th birthday, had all the correct paperwork, Esta's for both of us approved and boarding cards after we checked in at Heathrow. As we were boarding a man from Homeland security asked to check our documentation then said we could not board as my Esta had been cancelled. He gave no reason and just said to discuss it we had to go to the US embassy in London. Virgin Atlantic would not help and we were left at the departure gate, my daughter in tears and no idea what to do. We went to London hoping to resolve this but the UIS embassy would not see us without an appointment so we lost our holiday. Over £10k! Now the insurance say they wont pay out as it is not a specific issue listed as to why it was cancelled so we have lost everything. Can anyone give any advice please?

la531983

Not sure why you would have expected Virgin to help, visa issues are between you and the country, nobody else.
Your name has flagged up more than likely, nobody on here can tell you the reason why.

Mark_d

Prior to my trip to the US in April, I received email updates about the status of my ESTA application so that I could take necessary action and arrange/attend interview as necessary.  Did you hear nothing until you were boarding your flight?

swingaloo

Did you enter your passport number into the flight booking details before the day of the flight? I would have thought the refusal for entry would have been flagged up well before travelling to the airport.

DisneyPain19

Hi, all paperwork was correct. We were issued boarding passes. We had our Esta's approved and printed - They wont tell me why they were cancelled. I am looking for a way to try and get my money back

DullGreyGuy

DisneyPain19 said:

Hi, my 5 year old daughter and I have just been through the worst experience ever. We were going to Disney in USA for her 5th birthday, had all the correct paperwork, Esta's for both of us approved and boarding cards after we checked in at Heathrow. As we were boarding a man from Homeland security asked to check our documentation then said we could not board as my Esta had been cancelled. He gave no reason and just said to discuss it we had to go to the US embassy in London. Virgin Atlantic would not help and we were left at the departure gate, my daughter in tears and no idea what to do. We went to London hoping to resolve this but the UIS embassy would not see us without an appointment so we lost our holiday. Over £10k! Now the insurance say they wont pay out as it is not a specific issue listed as to why it was cancelled so we have lost everything. Can anyone give any advice please?

Since when was there US Department of Homeland Security in Heathrow Airport?

How early were you that you could get from LHR to the US Embassy and hope to solve it and get back again in time for the flight? 

DisneyPain19 said:

Hi, all paperwork was correct. We were issued boarding passes. We had our Esta's approved and printed - They wont tell me why they were cancelled. I am looking for a way to try and get my money back

Who the US will allow in or not is a matter exclusively for them to decide. Travel insurance won't typically cover it, its not the fault of the airlines so no remedy from them and you've a snowballs chance of getting anything back from the US Government even if they subsequently admit it was their error. 

Did you actually speak to the VS customer service? You have no "rights" but they can be sympathetic at times... when we turned up and someone had forgotten their passport the check in people just told us to go away but the telephone staff allowed us to move the flight even though clearly our fault and the flight had left by the time we got onto them so its not that they could have resold it. 

Would make sense to resolve the ESTA problem with the US embassy before trying to rebook anything else you could just be on for a repeat perfomance

SW17

This sounds very strange. It should not be possible for an airline to issue a boarding pass for a flight without a valid ESTA in the system for that passenger. If VS issued boarding passes, it suggests there was a valid ESTA at that point, which was cancelled by the time you got to the gate..?

You mention having a printed copy of the (presumably approved) ESTA, how long before travel did you print this. When you log in to check your ESTA status now, what does it say with regard to approval?

Also, was the ESTA application and your attempt to travel on a British passport or another country's passport?

Wonka_2

All seems a bit strange/unusual - especially if the ESTA was accepted for check-in and boarding passes provided.

Given there was only you and child travelling does anyone have any reason to have tried to stop you travelling ?

TELLIT01

The only way you are going to get an answer is to make an appointment and visit the US Embassy in London to get things cleared up.  If you don't do that you are unlikely ever to gain entry to the USA as you have had an ESTA withdrawn.  As for chances of getting money back, absolutely none.

badger09

Incredible story. 

Westin

Very strange.

Presumably the ESTA application was made to the same passport that you then attempted travel on?  Anything on your ESTA application that perhaps wasn’t 100% correct that perhaps the authorities subsequently could have discovered?