Woman makes common travel mistake when booking Disney trip that puts holiday at risk

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A woman made a huge mistake when booking a trip to Disney World that put the holiday at risk.
Becky, @thegeordiedisneyma, had applied for Estas for her family five months before the departure date to ensure they were prepared and ready.
Estas, Electronic System for Travel Authorization, allows tourists from certain countries to visit the USA without a visa.
In a TikTok video, she explained how she 'double-checked them, triple-checked them, checked them again before you even got to the airport'.
However, things took a turn right before the family boarded the plane when it became clear one key detail wasn't correct.
Becky's husband's date of birth had been inputted incorrectly on the Esta.
She shared how she felt 'slightly traumatised' by the experience and described it as 'hell on Earth'.
'Basically we got to the airport, went to check him in and his date of birth was wrong, the day of his birth,' Becky recalled.
'I don't know how it happened, I scanned the passport, that's what the information got put in from.'
Despite both Becky and her husband checking the Esta, somehow the date still managed to be put through incorrectly and approved by officials.
'We went to check in with TUI and they said they couldn't let us board because the date on the Esta didn't match his passport,' she explained.
'When I tell you my heart was in my throat and my stomach was in the other end would be an understatement of how I felt.'
The family then had to repack their four cases to ensure Becky's husband's clothes were all in one in case he couldn't join them on the flight.
They called various officials including border control and the US Embassy to try and resolve the issue.
'By some divine intervention the flight was delayed three hours,' Becky revealed.
They still had to go through security and be ready for the flight to depart.
'I was sobbing at this point, my daughter was sobbing, my son wouldn't speak to us and he's [Becky's husband] smiling, it's fine, things happen for a reason,' the mother-of-two said.
Becky and her family made their way through the security gates while her husband attempted to contact officials for help.
'The TUI representative ended up getting through to someone on Homeland Security who basically said you had to cancel the Esta before you could reapply because you can't change or cancel your own Esta once it's been approved, it has to go through them,' Becky recalled.
'So he fast-tracked it, it took an hour so it didn't come back until 12.'
Becky's husband was then told to put a new Esta application in which could take up to three days to be approved.
'It gets to 1pm and we're like, if it doesn't come through now he's not going to be allowed on the plane,' Becky recalled.
Fortunately, the flight was delayed again meaning they had another hour for the Esta to come through.
'At quarter to two, the Esta came through and he legged it through security and got through departure,' Becky revealed.
'As it happens the flight was delayed again until 4pm because there was then an emergency announcement in the airport and everything kind of stopped for ages.'
Still in shock from the turn of events, Becky gushed: 'I still can't actually believe that that happened, it was like some kind of fever dream if I'm honest I still can't believe he's here.
'Moral of the story, even if you've triple checked your Estas, check them again please because that's something I never want to repeat in my whole life.'