It is your responsibility to ensure that your documents are in order when travelling overseas. For visitors to the USA each member of your party (including children) must have their own machine-readable full & valid British passport. It must be valid for at least 90 days from your arrival date if you intend to apply through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) using the U.S. Visa Waiver Scheme. If your passport does not show that you are a British Citizen (for example British Subject), you will need a visa for entry into the U.S.A.  Before making your reservation please see the ‘Passport & Visas’ section of our booking conditions. Should you need the U.K. Passport Agency to issue new passports, we recommend you allow a minimum of 6 weeks for this process. At the time of going to press the US Government has stated that visitors with valid machine-readable passports may continue to travel without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program. Passports issued on or after October 26th 2005 are required to have a digital photo and integrated circuit chip otherwise you will be required to obtain a visa to travel to the United States. The UK Passport Service suggests that ‘if you are 16 or over and haven’t yet got a passport, their recommendation is that you should apply for one at least six weeks before your holiday. The UK passport service has to confirm your identity before issuing your first passport and will ask you to attend an interview in order to do this.’ For up-to-date information, please contact the British Passport Office on 0870 521 0410 or www.ukpa.gov.uk or the US Embassy on 09042 450 100 or www.usembassy.org.uk  If you are flying to or landing in any other country, please be sure and check the government website www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

All visitors must supply certain information online through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) if they wish to enter the USA using the current Visa Waiver Program (the alternative is to obtain a Visa from the US Embassy). ESTA is operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and currently charge $14 payable online for authorization that will be valid for two years. A link to the ESTA website https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ . We strongly recommend that you complete the online ESTA process as soon as you have booked (and at least a minimum of 72 hours before departure) because in the unlikely event that you do not receive an ESTA approval for travel, you will need to apply directly to the US Embassy for a Visa. In addition, The United States Customs and Border Protection require that all airlines collect and transmit certain passenger information prior to departure, using their Advanced Passenger Information Systems (APIS). The information required includes your country of residence, the full address (including the zip/postal code) for your first night’s accommodation in the US. Please ensure that you enter this information via your airlines website before leaving for the airport to ensure that you do not encounter any unnecessary delays. 

With the increase in pre-flight security screening you are advised to be at the check-in desk at least 3 hours before the scheduled departure time. As the scheduled departure may be brought forward for operational reasons you must re-check your departure time either by calling us or calling the airline directly, 24 hours before departure. Please also allow sufficient time to get from the check-in desk to your departure gate at least 60 minutes before your departure time.

These times vary but generally you will be expected to check-out between 10am and noon and check in no earlier than 3pm. You may be able to request a ‘late check-out’ with the hotel front desk on the day of departure but some hotels make a charge for this, which must be settled locally.

Unavoidable changes to scheduled flight times can occur, so we recommend that you reconfirm every flight with the relevant airline 72 hours prior to departure. If your itinerary consists of several different flights and you do not intend to use any one of them you must contact the airline in advance. Not using them in the correct sequence will result in the balance of the itinerary being cancelled.

Name changes (including minor spelling) are not permitted by the airlines and will usually incur a cancellation penalty.

Please ensure that when you receive your travel documentation, you check that you have all necessary tickets and ticket confirmation, accommodation/tour vouchers, itinerary, and take them with you when leaving home. If you believe them to be incorrect or you have queries, contact us immediately. It’s a good idea to photocopy your passport and other documents, keeping them separate from the originals, in case of loss.