ESTA Query

[Didosdadsdogsdead]

Am flying LHR to Auckland via Vancouver next month, my Travel Agent has advised getting an ESTA visa for the US of A 'just in case of diversion', does anybody think this is worthwhile or just a waste of money ?.

[ExXB]

Assuming you are on the non-stop NZ flight YVR-AKL I see no reason why you would need ESTA. Even in the unlikely event the flight was diverted to a US airport, they have procedures in place to deal with such situations.

Does your agent charge a fee for this 'service'? Perhaps you need another agent.

Oh, if your flight has a scheduled stop at a US point you would need ESTA, even if you aren't stopping. You will be required to pass US immigration. (This happened to us when we flew NAN-YVR on FJ which stopped at HNL) But I don't think anybody offers Canada-SW Pacific flights with a US stop.

[Gibon2]

I also don't think it's necessary - is there a story behind the agent's recommendation? A previous client got delayed or stuck somehow?

On the other hand, since an ESTA only costs $14, takes a few minutes to obtain online, and is valid for two years, if there's any chance you'll be visiting the US in the coming months, you might as well get it now. Be sure to go to the official site: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

[Davef68]

Does it cross US Airspace? Might be a precaution in case the OP is on the no-fly list and gets stopped at the gate!

[ExXB]

Literally 10s of thousands of passengers transit US airspace every day without need for an ESTA. Every flight from Europe to Caribbean, Mexico, C. America, from Canada to the Pacific, Mexico, C. and S. America, domestic Canada, etc.

Not saying the airlines don't provide pax names to US authorities, but ESTA and no-fly list are different things.

[cavortingcheetah]

An electronic ESTA costs a statutory $14. What is the doubt? You'll never need it but were you to do so for whatever reason, you'll wish you'd spend the £8.33.
It's the price of a cup of coffee at Heathrow while you wait to board your long and very expensive flight. False economy is a phrase that springs to mind.
One means to say, you might crash in the Pacific and be washed up upon western American shores. If the natives don't catch and cook you or hold you as a sex slave, you'll wish you had the proper paperwork to prove you're not a wetback or an agent of Godzilla's enemy Mothra and the Masuras; Godzilla being a good guy and having the freedom of San Francisco which makes him a gay blade indeed.

[Hartington]

Doesn't ESTA ask for a US address?

[cavortingcheetah]

Any hotel address works.

[NWSRG]

Any hotel address works.

So are you suggesting supplying the address of a hotel on an official US document, despite never intending to stay there? Economic with the truth perhaps.

To the OP, if you are not on a flight to the US, then you don't need an ESTA. Don't worry about a diversion...otherwise frequent fliers would need visas for every country on the face of the globe...just in case! Think your Travel Agent is being a bit melodramatic...

[jackieofalltrades]

You can also state "In Transit" on the ESTA if you don't plan to be in the US for more than 8 hours. So no need for an address.

[Heathrow Harry]

As you have to put the Flight number into the ESTA you are opening another potential can of worms

"Why did you state in an official US Govt document that this AC flight is going to the USA when it isn't? Are you planning to hi-jack it? Why put "in transit" when you won't be doing this??"

Best leave off IMHO

[Gibon2]

I'm always impressed how complete ignorance is no barrier to posting advice here, even when the truth can be found in seconds with a few mouse-clicks.

From the ESTA help page (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/WebHelp/ESTA_Screen-Level_Online_Help_1.htm#ta7):

Can prospective travelers apply to ESTA for a travel authorization without specific travel plans if they want to be able to travel to the United States on short notice?

Visa Waiver Program travelers are not required to have specific plans to travel to the United States before they apply for a travel authorization. If a traveler’s destination address in the United States is unknown when he or she completes the application in ESTA for the travel authorization, the traveler should enter the name of the hotel or approximate location he or she intends to visit. Travelers may update this information when their plans are finalized, but they will not be required to update their destination addresses or itineraries should they change after their travel authorization has been approved. DHS recommends that applications for travel authorization be submitted in ESTA as early as possible, as soon as, or even before travel is planned. ESTA will accept applications from last minute and emergency travelers – those Visa Waiver Program travelers that arrive at the airport without an approved ESTA.

[cavortingcheetah]

A $14 ESTA effectively acts as a multiple entry visa.
The US is full of Irish in uniform. The Irish know all about Murphy's Law and are not sympathetic to those who, while travelling in their neck of the woods, have not taken basic precautions to make everyone's life easy. You can enter the USA unofficially with temporary permission with an ESTA. The thing has power.
It is a useful five minute exercise to complete for the price of a six pack of Root Beer. Especially when you know that the diversion for CYVR will most likely be KSEA. If you're worried about declaring a hotel, you could always enter Double Tree Hilton, Seattle Airport?/TBA and the date of your intended landing in Vancouver. It does get very foggy up there sometimes. You'd enjoy the bus ride between the two airfields.
Do let us know what you decide to do and what happens if you don't were circumstances to dictate that you should have.

[Donkey497]

As Cheetah says, the ESTA basically acts as a pre-screened multi-entry short term visa. All it effectively does is get your personal details to Homeland Security to check if you are on a no-fly list or have other potential issues that might "interest" them & disbar you from entry.


My last ESTA has now expired, but when I renewed it, I used my usual flight details [EDI-EWR on CO] and my usual hotel in the woodlands, Houston.
Haven't actually stayed at that hotel since & my first entry on the ESTA was LHR-IAH, no updates ever done to original ESTA details.

[ExXB]

Come on now …

An ESTA is NOT REQUIRED (sorry for shouting) if you are not travelling to or via a US airport. You will need one if travelling LON-AKL on NZ's through flight which stops at LAX, you do not need one flying LON-AKL on connecting flights via YVR.

An ESTA is NOT REQUIRED (ditto) if your flight transits US airspace without landing.You do not need one travelling YVR-AKL on NZ.

You do not need an ESTA just 'in case' your flight to/from Canada might be diverted to the US. Most diversions will be to another Canadian airport in any case.

If you were to request an ESTA when you don't need one, it might be considered suspicious. (testing the system, perhaps?) Doing so may require you to be 'economical with the truth' something you should never do with immigration authorities. That might come back to haunt you in the future.

Save the $14 and buy yourself a beer, or two, at YVR.

[wiggy]

ExXB

Agreed. ....IMHO the advice given to the OP is slightly silly.....you could extend the travel agent's "just in case" argument to every passenger having to obtain Visas for every country overflown en route on any flight, in case of a diversion for technical or medical reasons.....(done that)...:bored:

Diverting across political boundaries can be a real PITA (especially if your signature is on the Gen Decs and the countries aren't the best of friends....done that as well ) but most countries have a work around.

[NWSRG]

Exxb and Wiggy.

Good to see some common sense replies! :ok:

[Didosdadsdogsdead]

Many thanks for the replies, much appreciated, the consensus seems to be that if the LHR - YVR flight diverts to a US airport then the authorities would have a planeload of pax without ESTA landing in their laps and have contingencies in place to handle it ?.

[cavortingcheetah]

There are few contingencies for the innocent from Homeland. You'd possibly spend the night in the holding tank steaming up the undergrowth on a hot summer night before being plane loaded out the next day. Spring the $14 and stay in the Hilton at the airline's expense or suffer the uncontrolled urges of the Seattle mosquitoes with no Boeing tour thrown in as compensation? Who knows and who can say?
Of course the other correspondents are quite correct. Your aircraft will never divert and anyway, by extension of that argument, you'd need a Russian visa to fly from London to Peking. Common sense dictates that you do nothing. Prudence and precaution might suggest a different path since the way is paved with so few thorns.

Edited to correct the most appalling error of grammar which had absolutely and accidentally slipped in. Just like the fog in Vancouver.

[Donkey497]

In a word, yes, a contingency will be in place, most likely keeping you all quarantined airside until you can move on to your intended destination. In the balance though the chances of your particular flight diverting are slim as a slim thing that's been on a diet. However, if the weather forecast is such that a diversion does become a likelihood a day or so ahead of your travel date, and you feel uncomfortable, then do as Cheetah suggests and speculate the fourteen bucks.

[cavortingcheetah]

Well, you never know, Godzilla might have moved up to Vancouver.

[ExXB]

And the diversion choices for YVR are YXX (Abottsford) which has a couple of long runways and YYJ (Victoria) both with Canadian immigration and Customs as well as YQQ (Comox) which is also an Air Force base.

En route YVR AKL, HNL would be one diversion choice, but not the only. Christmas Island, W. Samoa, Fiji, etc. would all be available.

Use the $14 to stimulate Canada's economy, not to feed the TSA.

[cavortingcheetah]

Do you need a visa for Christmas Island if it isn't pudding season?

[jackieofalltrades]

As Cheetah says, the ESTA basically acts as a pre-screened multi-entry short term visa.

Not at all. The ESTA clearly states that it is not an entry visa, and possession of an ESTA does not necessarily permit entrance to the USA. It is a requirement to have before boarding a flight that is scheduled to land in the USA.

If for some reason your flight to Canada is diverted to a US airport and you don't have an ESTA, upon reaching the nice person at Immigration and you are from a visa-waiver country, they will give you one of the green I-94W forms (the ones you used to fill before ESTA) to fill out and then process your entrance to the USA. At least, that is what happened to me in 2012. I presume things haven't changed in 18 months.

Back to the question of the original poster; do you need an ESTA to fly to Canada "just-in-case" - No.
Should you get one? - Depends if you plan on flying to the US anytime soon.
Does it hurt to get one? - It's $14. You decide.

[cavortingcheetah]

That makes sense doesn't it.

[Didosdadsdogsdead]

Do you need a visa for Christmas Island if it isn't pudding season?Dunno, I'm worried that I'm addicted to eating Christmas food.

I've even tried going cold turkey, but it's just making matters worse....... :)

[cavortingcheetah]

Christmas food on the island concerned is long pig. By all accounts it's very tasty and it doesn't give you worms, unlike the real deal meal.