Flying from Hawaii to mainland and immigration

[MyriamS]

Hi everyone, this is probably a stupid question but I'd thought I assuage my travel anxiety by consulting travel experts here.

 

My partner and I are from the EU and will in a couple of weeks go on our first Hawaii vacation (very excited about it!). Our ESTA (the travel authorisation citizens of many countries including ours need to prefill to enter the USA) will expire a week into our Hawaii trip, but the official Homeland security website is very clear that it is ok: 

Do I need to apply for a new ESTA if my current travel authorization will expire while I'm in the United States?

No. ESTA travel authorization needs only to be valid upon arrival in the United States.

 

So far so good! Our first port of entry in the US is San Francisco, we go through immigration there, get permitted to stay in the US for 90 days (technically you can always be denied entry by the immigration officer, but it never happened to us), return home three weeks later. We are fine as long as we do not leave the USA and try to re-enter it after our ESTA expired, which we won't do since our itinerary is USA only (Hawaii and mainland).

 

The one niggling doubt in my mind is our return flight. My partner has never been to New York so we decided to fly there, spend a couple of days, then fly back to Munich. So, on our Honolulu to JFK flight, our ESTA will have expired, but my understanding (gleaned from Internet searches) is that it doesn't matter because Hawaii is a US state, all Hawaii-mainland flights are domestic flights and thus, when you fly from Hawaii to the mainland, you are still in the USA despite crossing an ocean.

 

Still I couldn't find any official website stating clearly that there are no immigration checks between Hawaii and mainland USA. Could any of you fine folks that have flown between Hawaii and mainland confirm that those flights are no different from any other domestic flights? The terminal we fly to (T4 in JFK) is most often used for international flights, but there are a few domestic ones as well, so I suppose we will be assigned a gate where we can just walk out of the airport without passing through immigration? 

 

Sorry if I sound paranoid but immigration officers from any country can be harsh on foreigners and I don't to risk getting deported on my holiday. 🙂

Edited April 10 by MyriamS

[jollyjones]

But why wouldn't you renew your ESTA anyway? Do it right now, it's quick, cheap, and simple, then you won't have any anxieties. You don't have to wait for it to expire to get a new one, I think it's only $20. 

 

Make sure you go to the official US Gov website so you don't get ripped off with extra fees from the 'ESTA agency' sites.

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

Edited April 10 by jollyjones

[MyriamS]

Because if I renew it, the new application could get denied and I would have to get a US visa? I don't see why it would be denied, but it is a possibility.

[chengkp75]

Flying from Hawaii to New York is no different than flying between Bavaria and Brandenburg in Germany.  Done it many times.

Edited April 10 by chengkp75

[KeepCalmBearOn]

9 hours ago, MyriamS said:

Still I couldn't find any official website stating clearly that there are no immigration checks between Hawaii and mainland USA

 

There isn't any official website stating clearly that there are no immigration checks between Hawaii and mainland USA because there doesn't need to be. It is a purely U.S. domestic flight, no different than flying from LA to Las Vegas or any other U.S. domestic location.

[princeton123211]

11 hours ago, MyriamS said:

Could any of you fine folks that have flown between Hawaii and mainland confirm that those flights are no different from any other domestic flights? The terminal we fly to (T4 in JFK) is most often used for international flights, but there are a few domestic ones as well, so I suppose we will be assigned a gate where we can just walk out of the airport without passing through immigration?

As stated above, you are departing domestic and arriving domestic.

 

I have flown this flight countless times (and will be doing so again this weekend). Hawaiian 50 (a fun play on the old TV series done by Hawaiian Airlines) arrives as a domestic flight and you exit the plane directly into the terminal. Zero reason to worry about an immigration check. 

 

T4 is mainly Delta and their partner Virgin Atlantic but also a hodgepodge of other international airlines. Frankly it was better when Hawaiian flew out of Terminal 5 which it had one gate in JetBlue terminal. If you do have the gumption after landing (and I'm usually wiped out by this flight) go take a look at the TWA Hotel which is the former Terminal 5 and an architectural masterpiece of mid century design. There is a coffee shop that sells bagels as well as a more formal restaurant for breakfast if you do check it out. 

[Fouremco]

There's no need for concern. It's purely a domestic flight with no immigration or customs processing upon arrival.

[jollyjones]

On 4/10/2024 at 9:24 AM, MyriamS said:

Because if I renew it, the new application could get denied and I would have to get a US visa? I don't see why it would be denied, but it is a possibility.

 

The other posters are quite correct, it is all domestic travel but your concern about an ESTA being denied seems extreme - if you got it once, unless you have indulged in criminal activity since, the chance of it being denied is slim to none.

And if an ESTA was denied for reason, your chances of getting a visa are less than slim to none.

 

[MyriamS]

Thank you for sharing your experiences, everyone. Looks like we have nothing to worry about.