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20% off BA Gatwick Flights
British Airways has a flash sale for 20% off fares on a wide range of European destinations from London Gatwick. The 20% reduction is applicable to the fare component (excludes taxes, fees and charges) versus the previously available fares (excluding taxes, fees and charges) on routes included in the promotion. It is only available on economy fares as well and although it says you can’t use it in conjunction with upgrades, I’d assume that refers to getting 20% off an upgrade rather than not being able to upgrade afterwards, but it is not 100% clear.
The routes included are:
- Agadir
- Marrakech
- Dubrovnik
- Paphos
- Nice
- Menorca
- Turin
- Verona
- Bari
- Gran Canaria
- Salzburg
- Bordeaux
- Montpellier
- Seville
- Ibiza
- Mallorca
- Malta
- Thessaloniki
- Mykonos
- Santorini
- Kos
- Dalaman
- Antalya
- Algiers
- Tenerife
- Jersey
- Crete
The offer ends at midnight on 4 June. You can find the offer page here.
Last Minute ESTA
If you travel to the US with a UK passport, you can get entry with the visa waiver scheme by applying for an ESTA online. I recently travelled to the US and, beforehand, was convinced that I had 6 months left on my ESTA. I only checked at the very last minute when I suddenly had a sinking feeling that I may be wrong. So, I thought it was worth recounting my experience and the research that I did in case someone ends up in a similar situation.
I looked on line and was interested that one website was saying over 99% of people get approved for an ESTA instantly. I’ve held an ESTA since they came in, and I have never been approved instantly, nor have I known anyone else to be either! However, the general reports online for people who applied for an ESTA at the last minute, even at weekends or in the middle of the night, was 2-3 hours. Obviously, if you have something that is more complicated, such as ticking yes to one of the questions, it could take the full 72 hours to hear back.
My ESTA was approved in just under an hour. I have Global Entry and have held an ESTA for many years so I don’t know if that helped. I applied using the ESTA app, which I would recommend as it allows you to scan your passport rather than having to type it all in and risk making a mistake.
But obviously the moral of the story is don’t do what I did and have to sweat over whether the approval will come through before your flight, check in plenty of time!
Have you had a last minute ESTA emergency? Let us know your stories in the comments below.
American Express sign-up and referral offers
Sign-up bonus
American Express has launched several limited time offers, including a boosted new Cardmember offer on the Amexยฎ Gold Card, offering up to 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards points for taking out the Card, 10,000 more points than the usual sign up offer.
Until 16 July, 2024, new Amex Gold Cardmembers will be able to earn 25,000 points, boosted from the usual 20,000, when they spend ยฃ3,000 in their first three months. New Gold Cardmembers can then earn a further 5,000 points when they make a transaction of any amount in the fifteenth month of Cardmembership, taking the potential bonus points available to 30,000.
30,000 points can be redeemed for ยฃ150 in gift vouchers at a range of shopping, travel and lifestyle partners, used to offset purchases made on the Card, or redeemed against flights and hotels with Amex Travel. Membership Reward points are extremely flexible as you can transfer them into a wide range of airline and hotel loyalty schemes including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Hilton and Marriott.
The Gold Card is free for the first year.
Gold Cardmembers have access to a wide range of travel and lifestyle benefits in the first year and beyond, including:
- ยฃ5 back on Deliveroo twice a month;
- Four Priority Pass accesses to 1,300 global airport lounges;
- Access to exclusive experiences
- The ability to earn at least 1 Membership Reward point for every ยฃ1 they spend, plus 2,500 additional points for every ยฃ5,000 spent, up to 12,500 additional points.
โInvite a Friendโ offer
American Express has also launched an enhanced referral bonus when existing Cardmembers invite friends to become new Cardmembers. Running until July 2024, different offers are available across multiple Cards (see table below for Cards, offers and end dates which vary across July), where both the existing Cardmember and the referred friend will earn enhanced points or cashback. There are also opportunities for many referrers to earn โacceleratedโ points as they spend.
For example, an existing Amex Gold Cardmember who invites a friend will have their bonus increased from 9,000 to 14,000 Membership Rewards points for each successful referral. On top of that, for the first referral, they will receive an additional 2 points for every ยฃ1 spent, for 3 months, up to ยฃ6,000. The invited friend will also receive 30,000 points, up from 22,000, if they spend ยฃ3,000 in the first 3 months of Cardmembership.
Referral can be done via the existing Cardmemberโs Amexยฎ App or website, where Cardmembers will find their unique referral link. Cards that are part of this offer include the Amex Gold Card, The Platinum Cardยฎ and The American Expressยฎ Rewards Credit Card. I recently did a couple of referrals and the points were credited within a day of the other person being approved, so it could be a great way to top up your balance quickly.
The American Express Gold Card has an 88.8% APR variable.
19 comments
Every ESTA Iโve ever applied for has been approved in ~45 mins. They probably consider that โinstantโ. I donโt have global entry if that counts for anything.
I had a similar horror when I arrived at LHR to fly to Sydney in April 24
I was certain my evisa was still valid ….then when there was an issue at checkin, it slowly dawned on me that on my last visit in Sept23 my previous visa HAD still been valid ….from March 23 ….but not now.
A very calm checkin agent supported me as I applied online on my small phone screen, trying hard to remember previous logins/passwords….. it took a good while to complete…..but eventually sent.
I braced myself …… the acknowledgement came through immediately …PRECEEDED by the visa itself!!
Huge relief – applying had taken well over an hour
Grateful we’d arrived at LHR 4 hrs before flight
Lesson learned
Phew
Glad itโs not just me that does stuff like this!
I received an email reminder from the US Border Patrol recently that my ESTA would expire in 30 days, which was helpful to avoid last minute panic.
Yes for some reason I either never got one or it went in junk mail.
Do you still need an Esta with Golbal Entry? I thought that Global Entry negated the need for an Esta as well.
Yes you do, the two systems are mutually exclusive.
You get a TSA membership with Global entry for free. I applied for Global Entry a couple of weeks ago using GovUK.org as the gateway and the whole thing took about a week. Except for the interview, of course, but I will be entering the USA at MIA in a couple of weeks and there is an interview desk there.
I came off a cruise in St Martin, checking in to fly to NYC and onto London and was informed I did not have an esta ๐ฑ, ok eventually calmed down and thought all my previous estaโs were granted straight away, literally minutes, so got online and applied, I enjoyed my extra three days in St Martin while waiting for my new esta $$$$ ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ
We recently travelled to Seattle, May 19th. At checking in at the executive area at T5 my wife was told there was no esta even though we had printed proof of having applied for one. So we applied again there and then, by scanning her passport and then manually changing her maiden name which is on the passport to her married name which is also on her (Singaporean) passport . Once the application was completed we showed the completion email to the ba official who had been helping us and he took us through to the first class check in area and started to complete the check in process and said it usually takes a while for the application to be verified and accepted but as he said this it literally came through and we could see from his expression how surprised he was at the rapidity of the acceptance. In the meantime he had changed the name on my wifeโs ticket from her married name to her maiden name. This meant she has not accrued avios nor tier ponts for the entire trip and most annoyingly to her had to gain entrance to the lounge as my guest. We are still to chase up the points issueโฆ it was pretty stressful waiting but we tend to check in ridiculously early at heathrow so we did have some buffer time.
My understanding is that your esta only has to be valid up to and including the date of travel. It only relates to your entry requirements and does not need to be valid for the whole duration of your trip. Iโm not sure where your 6 months comes into it as that would be the required validity of your passport expiry date on the date you tried to enter the US. I just renewed mine recently and it came back within 30 minutes with a great big thank you for the $21 fee of which clearly every cent is spent on making the entry as slick as possible. Also as per DaveP i also got a reminder that it was due.
Mine had actually expired as I thought I had 6 months left before it expired but I had the year wrong!
Every ESTA I’ve done has taken under an hour.
In January this year I applied not realising my existing ESTA had 8 months remaining so I currently have TWO ESTAs lol
It may be obvious but if you obtain a new passport then you also need a new ESTA to match the new passport number. I found out the hard way at the airport soon after the ESTA scheme was first introduced in 2008/9 but in those days, luckily enough, the online confirmation came back almost immediately.
The CBP website says that your ESTA expiry date only needs to cover your arrival date and an ESTA can expire while you are in the USA. It’s your passport expiry date that needs to cover the trip and six months.
Yes mine had expired as I had assumed it expired in 24 not 23
With an ESTA now costing $42 for two years itโs more cost effective to apply for a 10 year US Visa at $180 if you can easily get to the Embassy in Battersea.
The Esta certainly does not cost $42….
I paid $14 for mine….
We had a major issue in April when we were checking in for the lunchtime service to JFK as the agent said you don’t have a valid ESTA and so you can’t board the flight… I said I did not realise that the ESTA is linked to your passport and not you personally. We were both travelling on brand new British passports and I didn’t even think of this!! We both, with the assistance of kind and patient BA personnel, applied on my laptop whilst sitting next to the BA check-in desk, and as previously mentioned both ESTAs were delivered within the hour, and after a very long lunch in the lounge, departed on teatime service to JFK………Truly a lesson learnt as I will not be travelling to the US on my Irish passport either……..
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