In recent days, I was made aware that the United States has started cancelling some previously approved ESTAs (the mandatory electronic document required for entry to the USA) because the applicant had used a passport photo rather than a current photo taken at the time of making the application, writes Travel Counsellor Emma Savage.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a video about this on my socials @TCEmmaSavage if you would like to hear more about it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure this unwelcome disruption was a blow to passengers who had assumed all was well with their ESTA until they got to the airport. As soon as I heard about this matter, I shared the information on my social platforms and I\u2019m also pre-warning my clients with upcoming bookings to the USA to check their ESTAs.<\/p>\n
Grand Canyon. Photo: Travel Counsellors
Mammoth Lakes. Photo: Travel Counsellors<\/p>\n
The United States on the whole is somewhat unpredictable at present; there have been eye-watering increases in visitor fees to visit 11 of the most beautiful US national parks, including the Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone, Glacier and Yosemite too. New policy from the US government dictates that, from the beginning of this year, if you wish to visit any of these National Parks there is now a surcharge of $100 per person in addition to the park access fee, for any non-US residents. It does sometimes feel they don\u2019t want to encourage visitors to the country!<\/p>\n
These examples show that the landscape of travel is fast moving and things change quickly; no wonder many people find researching and booking a holiday so stress-inducing! Staying up to date and informed is an important part of my role (I doubt those who booked flights on the internet were made aware of this ESTA issue).<\/p>\n
Yosemite National Park. Photo: Travel Counsellors<\/p>\n
It got me thinking about the value a good travel agent adds to your travel experience. I\u2019ve been a Travel Counsellor 14 years and I and my colleagues do far more than make hotel and flight bookings; my business has been built on my reputation for looking after clients \u2013 from the moment we begin discussing your plans to the moment you are home I am your impartial advisor, your advocate and a safety net. I know my clients feel reassured that everything is taken care of \u2013 from arranging airport assistance if needed, to flight check in, from reconfirming hotel stays to adding in special extras for anniversaries and honeymoons. I know what my clients like and dislike, even down to where they like sitting on the plane!<\/p>\n
Emma Savage<\/p>\n
However, perhaps most importantly, I am there when things do not go to plan. When illness strikes, when there are cancellations, strikes or missed connections. All this is far less distressing when you have a personal contact with a travel expert who knows your itinerary and will fight your corner and look after you. That reassurance, protection and personal relationship is exactly where my value shines.<\/p>\n
Happy travels!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In recent days, I was made aware that the United States has started cancelling some previously approved ESTAs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[390,609,224347,391,171893,760,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-765472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-family","9":"tag-human-interest","10":"tag-lincs-surrounding-area","11":"tag-opinion","12":"tag-stamford","13":"tag-traffic-and-travel","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116073006554378666","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}