British man denied flight to USA after ESTA passport issue and missing two hour countdown

A man who was travelling to the US got a rude awakening when he was told he couldn't fly because of an issue with his Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, or ESTA.

Oliver Henry had been set to fly from the UK to the US, but in a video at the airport explained that was not happening as he'd 'been denied check-in' since his ESTA had expired.

Or rather, it hadn't run out as he still had time to travel on it but it was linked to his old passport and he'd just recently got a new one which didn't have the ESTA linked.

So he had a valid passport and an ESTA, but not the two of them linked together in a way he could use.

The traveller explained that he'd submitted an attempt to get a new ESTA in the airport and was hoping he'd get it approved in time to make his flight.

If he could get it within two hours then making it onto his flight was a possibility, but unfortunately for Oliver his very next video had him explaining that it hadn't come through in time and he'd missed it.

Every cloud has a silver lining and he did get rebooked onto another flight so he could cross the Atlantic, and he's done a bunch of videos since then of him being in the US so he did make it in the end.

It's a handy instructive lesson in making sure you've got everything before you travel and being up to date on all the various rules connected with heading for other countries.

If you're headed for the US and you're planning to visit for fewer than 90 days an ESTA will sort you so long as you're taking a holiday or a business trip.

You'll also need one if you're taking a flight that stops over in the US, since you're still travelling there and you might try and do a runner at the airport.

Why a new passport needs a new ESTA

An ESTA can be applied for online and the typical advice is to do it at least 72 hours before you're travelling, though if you're lucky it can be processed pretty much instantly.

That wasn't quite the case for Oliver, though luckily he didn't have to wait three days, and once you've got one it applies for two years at the most.

Here's the snag Oliver hit, if you got an ESTA but then renewed your passport at some point in the two years it's valid for you'll have to re-do your application because it'll be tied to your old passport and doesn't carry over to your new one.

An ESTA is specifically linked to a passport number, not the person who the passport belongs to, so when you get a new one all the information is new.

The moment you replace your passport an ESTA that's tied to it becomes invalid, as Oliver's had done.

So when you're checking to make sure you've got your passport, travel documents and phone charger do spare a moment to work out if you got your ESTA before or after your passport.