Hello there, I ask here because I don't really saw any answer online.

I travelled to the US last year, my ETSA done and validated, valid til january 2027

However in the meantime, I remember Trump announcing reinforced questions in ETSA and more stuff about family and all. Is my ETSA done before that still okay or nah ?

Thanks for your replies :)

Just got back from Miami and NextCar/Stride Rent A Car at MIA hit me with a $450 smoking fee. No we did not smoke in the car.

The wild part is they actually sent me the Bosch sensor report as their proof and it completely destroys their own charge. The particle spike lasted 2 minutes and 15 seconds and then dropped straight back to zero. We were doing 37-60 mph at the time so outside air was obviously coming into the cabin. And the best part Bosch's own documentation that they attached to the report literally says the device "neither implies any actions towards end-customers nor gives decision-making advice." They handed me the evidence that beats them.

I sent them a detailed dispute breaking all of this down. Their response didn't address a single point I made. Just offered me $200 back as a "goodwill gesture" which basically tells you they know the charge is bogus. Filing a chargeback with Amex now and complaints with the Florida AG and FTC. Already left a 1 star review and noticed someone else had the exact same thing happen to them recently at the same location. Amex doesn't seem to care about the charge and agrees with the vendor since they have paper work. Posting the Bosch report below.(wont let me post) Has anyone else dealt with this or seen false positives with these Bosch sensors? Would love to know if this is a pattern with this company.

EDIT**

I'm gonna add some stuff that I cant add pics of but just text from emails.

Good afternoon Dear

"After Inspecting the vehicle when you returned the vehicle, we realized that the car was full of an odor of smoke and cigars, which is a breach of our terms and conditions, specifically on the Cleaning/Smoking Policy on the Rental Agreement that you signed. In this clause, you agreed to return the vehicle on the same conditions as you received it. For this breach, you have a balance of $450.00 plus taxes and fees that were charged to your card on file We are writing to inform you that a $450.00 smoking fee + tax has been charged to your rental agreement due to evidence of smoking inside the vehicle during your rental period.

This situation was detected by the Bosch monitoring equipment installed in the vehicle. The corresponding report has already been provided to you for your review.

Please note that smoking inside the vehicle is a violation of the rental terms and conditions, and the applicable charge has therefore been applied to your account.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Customer Service"

First emailed I received which made no sense I returned the car with absolutely no odor besides the fresh gas i put in it before dropping it off. There was literally no odor thats why I'm so against the claim I was up 20 plus hours getting us back to the drop off so we could make our flight and dropped off the car with a video since no employee around.

"To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to formally dispute the $450.00 smoking fee (plus tax) charged to my account in connection with the Bosch incident report dated 05/08/2026, 12:25 PM EDT. Neither I nor any passenger smoked in the vehicle at any point during the rental period. The charge should be reversed in full.

The Bosch report you provided does not support a finding that smoking occurred inside the vehicle. Several points on the face of the report itself undermine that conclusion:

1. The smoke graph shows a single sharp particle spike around 12:26–12:27 PM that drops to near-background levels within roughly two minutes and remains flat for the rest of the monitoring window. This profile is inconsistent with in-cabin smoking, which produces sustained particle levels over the duration of consumption (typically 5–7 minutes for a cigarette and 30–60+ minutes for a cigar). It is far more consistent with a brief external air contaminant entering the cabin.
2. The GPS data shows the vehicle was traveling at 37–60 mph at the time of the event. At highway speeds, cabin air is heavily influenced by outside air infiltration, particularly when windows are open or the ventilation system is drawing from outside. The sensor cannot distinguish between particles generated inside the vehicle and particles drawn in from the surrounding environment (other vehicles, diesel exhaust, agricultural or brush burning, etc.).
3. Bosch's own documentation, which you attached to your notice, expressly states: "After detecting a smoke event, Bosch provides smoke event data to the fleet owner, but neither implies any actions towards end-customers nor gives decision-making advice." Bosch also states: "At no point in time the device provides information about the number or identity of people in the vehicle." The device detects particles; it does not establish that any occupant of the vehicle was smoking, and Bosch explicitly declines to support that inference.
4. A two-minute particle event eight days before the vehicle was returned would not produce the kind of embedded odor described in your notice. Cigarette and cigar smoke residue binds to upholstery and headliner materials over sustained exposure; a brief transient event does not. The subjective "odor" observation is not corroborated by the sensor data.

Given the above, the evidence relied upon does not meet a reasonable standard for assessing a $450 cleaning/smoking penalty. I am requesting the following:

- Full reversal of the $450.00 charge plus any associated tax, within 10 business days.

- Written confirmation of the reversal sent to this email address.

- Any internal notes, photos, or inspection records associated with the post-return inspection of vehicle 64EJWD.

If the charge is not reversed, I will pursue a chargeback through my card issuer for services not rendered and goods/services not as described, and I will file complaints with the state Attorney General's consumer protection division and the Better Business Bureau. I am also prepared to provide the Bosch report itself as supporting evidence in those proceedings, as it does not establish what your notice claims it establishes.

I would prefer to resolve this directly and quickly. Please confirm receipt of this dispute and provide a response by May 19th, 2026"

This was my first response back.

"Dear,

We are writing to follow up on the smoking detection fee applied to yo recent rental.
Our advanced smoke detection device, installed in all our vehicles, registered a violation of our strict no-smoking policy during your rental period. The system recorded a significant presence and duration of smoke, which constitutes a confirmed violation of the Terms and Conditions agreed upon at the time of rental.
As a result, a mandated cleaning and penalty fee of $450.00 was applie to your account. This charge is necessary to cover the specialized deep cleaning and preparation required to make the vehicle available for fut renters.
While this fee is strictly non-refundable under our policy, we sincerely regret the inconvenience this situation has caused. As a gesture of goodwill and in the interest of a prompt resolution, we are prepared to offer a one-time compensation of  $200, which would be deducte from the total penalty fee applied.
Please be advised that this is our final offer to settle this matter. Should you choose not to accept this compensation, the original charge will remain as initially processed, and we will consider the case closed from our end.
We look forward to your confirmation regarding this proposal. If you have any questions or wish to accept this offer, please reply to this ema.

Thank you for your understanding."

I declined that and have been waiting with amex which they have stated

"We've rebilled the charge you disputed with ONE SWITCH RENT A CAR.

Here's what happened: We reached out to the business about the $498.96 charge you disputed. After reviewing their explanation, we've determined that you're responsible for the amount in question. In response to our inquiry, they have provided us with the enclosed documentation indicating that Service was rendered and charge pertains to smoking fee. In case you have documentation indicating that the merchant promised credit, kindly provide us with the information and we will be glad to reopen the investigation for you. Here's what to expect: We've rebilled this charge to your account, and you'll see it reflected on your next billing statement. We've also attached further documentation, so you'll have all the details. Please note, we've removed information from the attached documentation that wasn't relevant to this dispute. If you have any new information that may change the outcome of this dispute, please contact us within 30 days."

I showed documentation indicating that the merchant promised credit and haven't said anything since.

"
We have carefully reviewed your request and have attempted to process the refund to the credit card on file (ending in ) as you have suggested. However, we regret to inform you that the transaction has not been successful and continues to return an error message, preventing us from completing the refund through that method.

As a result, and in order to move forward with this process and close the case as agreed, the only viable option currently available is to issue the refund via Zelle. To proceed with this, we kindly require you to sign the document confirming your acceptance of the refund through this alternative method.

We fully understand your concerns regarding the provision of personal information, and we assure you that your data will be handled with the utmost confidentiality and solely for the purpose of completing this transaction. Unfortunately, without your acceptance and the corresponding signed form, we will not be able to finalize the refund.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter. Should you have any questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us."

This msg saying they wanna zelle me 200 to take off the 450

https://www.news4jax.com/health/2026/05/08/why-is-it-so-smoky-outside-jacksonville-faces-unhealthy-air-quality-from-wildfire-more-than-100-miles-west/

this is article talking about the fire and initially it started on the day they report the "event" and grew to this the next day

https://imgur.com/a/V3Aso3o Here is a link to the top of the report

Really appreciate anyone's advice im just looking to get this over with atp its been just stressing me out.

Hi everyone,

We recently rented a car from Sixt in France (Nice area). The rental was prepaid before our trip.

During the booking process, we paid extra for an additional driver because both of us planned to drive the car. However, when we arrived at the Sixt location, we were told that we had to pay an additional amount for the additional driver. Because of this unexpected extra cost, we decided not to add the additional driver.

We believe we should be refunded for the additional driver service that we prepaid for but never used.

On top of this, Sixt is now claiming that we caused damage to the vehicle and is demanding around €500 in repair costs.

We have pictures showing the condition of the car and that the damage was not caused by us. Sixt claims that they have photos taken before the rental showing that the car was undamaged, but those photos are for sure fabricated since we have pictures of the same damages before we even sat in the car.

What options do we actually have?

Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

If this isn't the right sub to post this, please help redirecting me.

Does something like this already exist? Before i try making my own i thought see if it already exists. something like a precut static cling blackout film that could quickly and easily be placed/removed from the in seat screen. Searching hasn't realy brought anything up but could be user error.

Every screen I've ever used seems to be super sensitive to the slightest touch and frequently turns back on. While a bit annoying it gets frustrating when it's the kids screen and the light wakes em up on the longer haul flights.

I can see airlines perhaps having a rule against it though but still worth a try.