‘Uncertain times’: Australians rethink travel to Trump’s America

US data shows the number of Australians and others travelling to America has dropped steeply amid growing horror stories of people being subjected to extreme vetting at airports, including having their laptops and smartphones examined and being detained for many hours or deported.

Travel industry veterans, who asked to remain anonymous because they fear jeopardising their ability to transit through America, said they were “chilled to the bone” by how US border officials were treating an increasing number of travellers, and compared controls under Donald Trump to Iran, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Data from the US International Trade Administration, part of the Department of Commerce, shows that the number of Australian visitors to the US fell by 7 per cent in March compared with last year.

That could be the slip before the landslide. A LinkedIn poll by AFR Weekendshowed 51 per cent of more than 1000 respondents were either reconsidering or had already cancelled plans to travel to the US.

Part of the drop is due to Trump Executive Order 14161, or “extreme vetting”, which impels border officials to screen international arrivals “to the maximum degree possible”.

Trump enacted similar protocols during his first administration. But amid the fallout from his sweeping global tariffs and aggressive approach to border control and diversity issues, Australians realise they are now in the firing line.

The Australian government’s travel safety website, Smart Traveller, updated its advice on April 4 to warn that US authorities had “broad powers” to decide who is eligible to enter. It stipulates that US officials are entitled to inspect electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts of people arriving, and that “if you refuse, they can deny your entry”.

Personal accounts of this new order are harrowing, and travellers without fixed plans are at particular risk.

German backpackers Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, arrived in Honolulu from Auckland on April 6, planning a five-week stay. Their lack of pre-booked accommodation raised suspicion for US Customs and Border Protection.

They were handcuffed, escorted to a deportation detention facility, strip-searched and held overnight. They were then put on a plane to Tokyo, managing to avoid the longer trip back to Auckland, Germany’s Ostsee-Zeitung newspaper reported.

Closer to home, an Australian travelling through New York’s John F. Kennedy airport in March was deported back to Australia, missing his cruise. This left him $15,000 out of pocket, which travel insurance would not cover due to a clause excluding government intervention.

The man was detained for eight hours as his laptop and smartphone were examined. His only red flag for authorities was flying Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong for its well-priced premium economy seat, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

A leading Australian travel writer has just spent three days on assignment in Miami, discovering what the new “extreme vetting” feels like.

“I was interrogated quite aggressively at the gate and then sent to a windowless room for an hour before being interrogated again,” he said of his experience at Miami International Airport.

Heated questioning

He was there to review the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, at the hotel’s expense, but was stopped for not having as many stamps in his passport as the officer would expect of a travel writer. When the traveller pointed out many countries have phased out stamps, the questioning became heated.

“He started asking: ‘which countries don’t use stamps, which ones specifically?’ And as they escorted me off, he said, sarcastically, ‘I’m so sorry for asking you such hard questions’. I probably should have lied and said I was there for a vacation.”

The writer, a frequent visitor to the US who asked not to be identified, said: “I’ve always found US Border Control the least friendly of any country, so I was semi-prepared, but I’ve never had a situation like this before.

“This incident has made me paranoid enough to not want to give their border control any reason to haul me aside again. Compared with what other people have been through it was relatively minor, but I would not go back to the US right now.”

The Trump administration’s hard line on diversity, equity and inclusion has led Australian academics to cancel US travel plans and scrub their social media accounts, as reported by The Australian Financial Review. In March, a French scientist was turned away at Houston airport after a phone search revealed messages critical of Trump, according to French education minister Philippe Baptiste.

Travel forecaster Tourism Economics says the downturn in travel to the US was expected to cost the American economy $US9 billion ($14 billion) this year in international visitor spending, which is down 5 per cent.

Worldwide, travel to the US is down 12 per cent, with steeper falls out of Western Europe (17 per cent). It is a big hit for America’s travel and tourism industry – the nation’s largest services export, and responsible for 9.5 million jobs.

“We must acknowledge the political environment in the US and the influence it will have on where Australians choose to travel,” said Flight Centre Travel Group CEO for global leisure, James Kavanagh.

So far, Flight Centre has experienced only a slight decline in leisure travel, while its numbers for corporate travel are steady year-on-year.

Qantas would not comment, but sources said there had been no decline in seat sales into the US or a rise in cancellations. United Airlines also chose not to comment, although that may change during its earnings call on Friday. However, US-based Delta Air Lines has pulled its 2025 outlook and scaled back growth plans, citing Trump-induced uncertainty.

Travel insurance may not cover the cost of missed bookings as the risk of missed connections and cancelled plans surges.

“Our travel insurance policies have a general exclusion that means a loss arising from any government intervention is not covered,” said Dylan Wilkinson of NIB Travel.

“These are uncertain times. Anyone planning a trip there should check the Australian government’s Smart Traveller website and ensure loved ones are aware of their travel plans.”

Risk management group International SOS advises Australian travellers to be vigilant.

“I’ve been to Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, did my homework and always felt safe, but America is too unpredictable right now.”

Travel industry insider

“My advice is to ensure strict adherence to visas and travel documentation; have the paperwork with you at all times; be prepared for a high level of scrutiny and to have electronic devices searched without a warrant,” said SOS senior security specialist Alexander Murray.

Many travel and tourism businesses contacted for this story declined to comment, such is the level of trepidation in this AI-assisted era.

It is difficult not to be paranoid amid reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is using artificial intelligence to surveil government workers’ communications, looking for dissent.

Burner phones

The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to US-bound staff fearing espionage, a measure usually reserved for travel to China and other authoritarian regimes, theFinancial Times reported.

Travel industry sources, who all asked to remain anonymous, are extremely concerned about the risks of US travel.

“My husband and I cancelled a trip to the States a few months ago,” a researcher in the tourism sector said.

“The border control issues have proved a good, and perhaps necessary, insight into the fear many people live with daily because of where they’re from or how they look. But what have they said online? That’s a new one, and it scares me.”

The Trump administration’s trade war and foreign policy also has some Australians staying away in protest.

“The consequences that are now being borne by the many hard-working, resourceful small business owners I’ve met on my travels in the US trouble me, especially since the target of travellers’ ire remains comparatively unscathed,” one travel media professional said. She is currently reassessing her trip to the US in June, but is not a fan of boycotts,

However, she cites Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that visas are a privilege “extended to those who respect our laws and values”.

“It chills me to my bones. That’s effectively a demand for fealty to laws and values that have been thoroughly redefined since my last visit.”

Another travel industry contact said: “I’ve been to Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, did my homework and always felt safe, but America is too unpredictable right now.”

Asked about her request for anonymity, she said she feared retribution. “And isn’t that bizarre for a country that calls itself the Land of the Free. I’d be less cautious talking about Iran or Saudi Arabia.”

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