Originally Posted by
danielonn
Unless its an emergency then apply before departure otherwise its best to always have an active ESTA applicaiton on file even if you are not planning nay US travel within the near future. Why? What if you were diverted to a US airport and were told that there are no flights for three days? With ESTA you can leave the airport and go to a hotel. Without it you would be stuck in an "in transit" lounge.
yes of course it is always best to apply in good time but for some people that’s just not possible.
there was someone here not long ago who lost their passport a couple of days before their flight so needed a new one and was flying to the US so needed an ESTA. They wouldn’t have been able to fly if there was an absolute bar on t-72 hours applications.