May I have a little moan?! I've booked a holiday to US Parks & Canyons next year & just received a letter pointing out that visitors require an ESTA. The letter explains exactly what is involved & says that JustYou can apply for you at a cost of £24 per person. However it does not say that you can also apply directly to the US Embassy online. The charge is $14 which is only around £10. I applied online earlier this year(when there was no charge). It is very simple & only takes a few minutes. It is also valid for 2 years, which is not mentioned in your letter. I am suprised by these omissions & feel that in this instance you have slipped from your usual high standard.

Regards,

Victor Amswych.

I'm sorry you think we have made an omission here but I think the letter to which you refer says that we 'can' arrange the ESTA for you and then goes on to explain how the process works.

We prefer to help because the ESTA programme did cause a fair amount of confusion among our customers when it was introduced by the US authorities. We are keen to take the stress out of filling in the forms and this service does give peace of mind to travellers who are worried they might fill in the forms incorrectly and be refused admission to the US.

As you say, you are perfectly free to organise your own ESTA application and save money. If you are comfortable with filling in forms and happy dealing with bureaucracy, it's definitely worth doing.

Kind regards,

Olly, your editor