British Airways passengers beware – Martin Lewis says 'questionable' behaviour could mean OVERPAYING for ESTAs and other travel permits.
Anyone travelling with British Airways (BA) to countries including America, Australia and Canada – or anywhere that requires a travel permit – should check if they are being pushed to overpay for travel documents. This comes after MoneySavingExpert discovered that UK’s flag carrier airline promotes third-party tools which charge more than applying direct via official government sites.
The UK’s leading consumer website was alerted by a reader that BA directed customers to a travel permit tool powered by Sherpa. The third-party firm charges a premium for ESTA and visa-waiver services, even when these can be done for free or cheaper direct through official sites.
Document | Sherpa Price (a) | Official Price (a) |
|---|---|---|
USA ESTA | £51.43 | £30.07 ($40.27) |
Canadian eTA | £16.06 | £3.75 ($7) |
Australian eVisitor | £16.52 | FREE |
New Zealand eTA (NZeTA) | £82.02 | £50.94 ($117) (b) |
Prices converted using the exchange rate on 9 June 2026 via XE.com. (a) For British passport holders travelling from the UK. (b) Price using the official Government app (it costs more using a browser).
On parts of BA’s website, the Sherpa tool is often highlighted in a box, drawing travellers’ attention away from official links, which are buried lower down the page. Crucially, they weren't linked to from any journeys MSE tested on Sherpa. Therefore, official links – which are a lot cheaper – could be easily missed by holidaymakers.
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "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 like a flag ship and a little bit more like a pirate ship. "The innocuous-looking 'check your visa' tool it has embedded on its site looks fine, until it directs you to get a travel permit and gives you a price far higher than people would pay if they just went direct to the official government site. While it does, if you look carefully, itemise the separate government fee and the admin fee, I think it's too easy to miss and misunderstand.
"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." BA isn't the only travel provider doing this, as Sherpa's tool also seen on the Thomas Cook and Virgin Atlantic websites too.
Other travel firms appear to be offering the services of different third-party booking firms. For example, Saga directs customers to a company called CIBTvisas for travel documents. It charges an extra £43.50 for a US ESTA on top of the £30 Government fee.
Customers should look closely at websites to avoid being caught out – airlines and travel firms will often say something like "this is a third-party service provider, which may charge fees". The admin fee is also usually separated out at the checkout stage. For full information on MSE’s findings, whether it’s possible for anyone who unknowingly overpaid to get a refund and tips on how to get travel documents for less, see MSE’s news story.
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