Martin Lewis, known as the Money Saving Expert, has criticised British Airways for ‘pushing people to overpay for ESTAs and other travel permits’.
He said the airline uses a ‘check your visa tool’ on its website that directs customers to a third-party portal, Sherpa, which charges them far more than if they used the official government websites.
In a post on moneysavingexpert.com (MSE), Martin said: “I doubt most people would really pay £17 for an Australian e-Visitor doc if they knew they could easily click to get it for free from the official route. So I suspect a material number of people who do pay don’t know they needn’t.
“So beware British Airways’ site, and elsewhere too, as these portals seem to be popping up on more and more flight booking sites as another way to get a further bite out of your travel cash.”
MSE found other travel sites, including Virgin Atlantic and Thomas Cook, provide links to Sherpa, while Saga uses another third-party site called CIBTvisas.
When MSE checked, it found Sherpa charges £51 for an ESTA for travel to the US, which costs about £30 when bought on the official US government-owned site. A $7 Canadian eTA costs £16.52 with Sherpa and it charges £82 for a New Zeand eTA, almost £32 more than on the government website.
MSE said it understood that Sherpa splits its service fee with its travel partners. “If so, British Airways will be making money from the excess,” said the consumer site.
Martin added: “British Airways is our national flag carrier, one of the UK’s big legacy brands, with a supposed reputation for quality and service. Yet, with this questionable practice, it feels to me a little less a flag ship and a little bit more like a pirate ship.”
While BA does also include links to official permit websites, MSE said these were featured less prominently than the Sherpa link.
BA told Travel Gossip: “We serve customers travelling to hundreds of different destinations where entry requirements vary by nationality and route taken, with some requirements changing at short notice.
“We offer an optional third-party service to assist with this and check requirements all in one place, and for some destinations an optional service to help with applications.
“We make it clear that customers must check the full entry requirements with the relevant government directly. It is clear that Sherpa is a third-party provider and may charge fees, and customers can always apply directly via official government channels also linked on the same page, which are clearly displayed.”
Sherpa said: “Those who opt to use Sherpa often do so because they find the government portal confusing, difficult to use, prone to errors and unsupported.
“Our approach is to simplify the application process and make it more accessible, with 24/7 support, transparency on progress, and an AI supported feature-set that reduces the likelihood of error that would invariably lead to multiple applications needing to be submitted.
“We are transparent about the difference between the government fee and Sherpa’s service fee, and depending on the integration we often give the option to go directly to the government system.
“Before payment, Sherpa provides an itemised receipt showing the different costs, including a government fee and its fee. The latter of which is split between Sherpa and its airline partners.”
