Esta rules, phone searches and simple travel hacks: Everything you need to know about US travel in 2025
From London Heathrow to New York JFK on 1 August for a fortnight, Virgin Atlantic wants only £549 return. For a much longer trip on British Airways from Heathrow to Denver, I paid just £620. These are absurd fares for peak summer flights.
The catch is: when you touch down, things may be rather different from your last visit.
As soon as Donald Trump returned to the White House, he signed an executive order demanding that foreigners should be 'vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible' on arrival.
Since then, some high-profile deportations of travellers deemed not suitable for admission have taken place. LGBTQ+ travellers, as well as those who are politically active, may have particular concerns.
These are the key questions and answers.
Will I be able to get an Esta without too much trouble?
Probably – and even if you have no immediate plans to visit the US you should consider enrolling as soon as possible for the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (Esta), to swerve an impending price rise.
After a 50 per cent price hike in 2022, the current $21 (£16) fee is set almost to double to $40 (£30), though no date has yet been set.
The Esta scheme came into effect in 2009. These essential online permits are usually granted within a few hours.
An Esta gives permission to travel to the United States for business or tourism for stays of up to 90 days without a visa. Note that it does not guarantee entry; as the Australian government advises its citizens: 'You can be refused entry if you provide false information or can't satisfy the officials you're visiting for a valid reason.'
The authorities may ask to see your return ticket or one onward to a country that is not Canada, Mexico or a Caribbean nation, and demand proof you have enough money to support yourself during your stay.
What if I have been to Cuba?
It depends when you were on the island. At the end of his first term, on 12 January 2021, President Trump designated Cuba a 'state sponsor of terrorism'. Anyone who is found to have visited Cuba on or after this date is not eligible for Esta and must apply for a visa.
Getting a US visa is a long, cumbersome and expensive process. Travellers with fresh passports have not reported any problems.
Any other 'no-go' countries?
Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen; any visit since March 2011 disqualifies you from Esta.
What if I am a transgender person?
In an Executive Order, President Trump instructed: 'It is the policy of the United States to recognise two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. 'Gender ideology' replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa.'
It is widely believed that arrivals must have travel documents corresponding to their birth gender. But the Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) says: 'A foreign traveler's gender as indicated on their passport and their personal beliefs about sexuality do not render a person inadmissible.'
How onerous is the arrival process?
Many people find it slower (I waited 90 minutes at New York JFK in May) and more thorough than before. Immediately upon taking office, President Trump ordered much tougher controls on 'all aliens seeking admission to the United States,' demanding they are 'vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible'.
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, has flown several times in the last two months to different US ports of entry: Miami, Chicago and New York.
He says: 'Surprisingly, I was straight through – and I wasn't first off the plane. It was very smooth. Now, that's in a slightly less busy period. If you're travelling during July and August, it's peak, so chances are you will have to wait longer when you arrive at immigration. They're asking more questions.'
More in-depth questioning takes up time, which helps explain some very long waits. Paul Charles says one time-saving practice has been adopted: 'They're not stamping passports really anymore because they have all your details digitally from your Esta application.'
Bear in mind that if you are transiting to another country, for example flying London-Miami-Lima, you must clear CBP checks as though you were planning to stay in the US for months.
Will I have my phone examined?
'Officials may ask to inspect your electronic devices, emails, text messages, and social media activity,' the Foreign Office warns. 'If you refuse, they can delay or deny your entry.'
Last year there was a one in 10,000 chance of having your social media history examined. That means from every 30 wide-bodied jets arriving from abroad to the US, one passenger will have their social media scrutinised. The proportion has probably increased. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says: 'Officers may search a traveler's mobile phone, computer, camera, or other electronic devices during the inspection process.
'All travelers are obligated to present their electronic devices and the information resident on the device in a condition that allows for the examination of the device and its contents. If the electronic device cannot be inspected because it is protected by a passcode or encryption or other security mechanism, that device may be subject to exclusion, detention, or other appropriate action or disposition.
'Additionally, the traveler may face longer processing times to allow for CBP to access the contents of the device.'
There are two levels of search, according to the CBP: 'A basic search generally entails an officer reviewing the contents of the device manually without the assistance of any external equipment.
'An advanced search is any search in which an officer connects external equipment to an electronic device not merely to gain access to the device, but to review, copy, and/or analyse its contents.'
The CBP says only 10 per cent of device searches are 'advanced'.
Any hacks to make the experience easier?
Travel to the US via Ireland. At Dublin and Shannon airports, passengers bound for the US are ' pre-cleared ' by CBP officials. You check in as usual, go through one universal security check and a separate enhanced inspection, and then are examined at what is effectively the US frontier.
Any problems can be addressed while you are still on Irish soil, rather than at a US airport where you are at risk of deportation. If you are going to be rejected, better for this to happen before you have taken off.
The vast majority of travellers will be passed for boarding, and at the end of the transatlantic are treated as domestic arrivals – with no wait, unlike the tired masses queuing for CBP checks.
Some good news?
For flights from US airports, it is no longer necessary to remove your shoes at security. The Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, said: 'Ending the 'Shoes-Off' policy is the latest effort DHS is implementing to modernize and enhance traveler experience across our nation's airports.
'We expect this change will drastically decrease passenger wait times at our TSA checkpoints, leading to a more pleasant and efficient passenger experience.
'This initiative is just one of many the Trump administration is pursuing to usher in the President's vision for a new Golden Age of American travel.'
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But there are other longstanding issues, including Nationwide's use of 'quick vote' options, which make it easier to back the board's recommendations rather than cast individual or dissenting votes at its annual general meeting. There are also concerns that Nationwide has retained online-only AGMs, even after Covid lockdowns were lifted, in a move that risks disenfranchising members without internet access. Meanwhile, some members say it can be difficult to get a resolution or election on the ballot, requiring 250 to 500 endorsements from members, whose contact details can be a challenge to access due to data rules. Their signatures only qualify under strict conditions and can be disqualified if their balances or loans fall below a certain level – £100 or £200 in most cases – over the preceding two years. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Edwin Fisher of the Building Societies Members Association says that while Nationwide is the biggest of the mutuals sector, it is also the 'most controversial, and has, in our opinion, the lowest standards of corporate governance'. 'They regularly churn out the line that members are the owners, but we all know that members have no say in anything,' Fisher adds, noting that if the UK faced another wave of demutualisation, Nationwide 'would be ripe' to exit. Nationwide has not expressed any intention of demutualising. But its board says banker-level pay is necessary if it hopes to compete with the likes of Lloyds and NatWest. Fisher says members only want Nationwide to compete with banks on size, but not on pay or purpose. Furthermore, Nationwide's operations are far less complex than most banks: Crosbie does not have to manage an investment bank or international operations, nor relationships with shareholders. Even after the Virgin Money takeover, it remains a much simpler operation focused on mortgages. But Hunt says it would be inappropriate to measure Crosbie and her pay against bosses at much smaller building societies. 'She's the Lionel Messi of British building societies,' he said. 'And she could play for any of the banks, so this is how they keep her in the Nationwide shirt.' The problem for democratically minded members is that the Building Societies Act may not be fit for Nationwide's size. It means that, unlike its listed bank rivals, Nationwide is not required to hold binding votes on new pay proposals, like the one that could hand Crosbie up to £7m. While it could volunteer to hold a binding vote, Nationwide has refused. 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'Henry Ford said that if you'd asked people what they wanted at the beginning of the 20th century, they'd have said faster horses.' Sherwin-Smith said it was the board's burden to keep members informed. 'They should educate people and let them [hold a binding] vote, but to say you're too stupid to have a say is the wrong attitude.' Nationwide declined the Guardian's interview requests, but said it regularly engages with a panel of 6,500 members and surveys 500,000 members each year. It also said members have a chance to vote to re-elect board directors every year. 'From the extensive engagement that we have with our members, we cannot see any evidence that our leading customer service, support for first-time buyers, growing market shares and record member financial value is in any way controversial,' Nationwide said. It previously said pay proposals although advisory, 'always received overwhelming member support' and that Nationwide's strong performance was driven in part by its ability to 'attract, retain and motivate talented leaders.'
