Methodology: how the data is sourced and verified

Every number a BorderTrip tool shows — a fee, a deadline, a Watt-hour limit, a liability cap — comes from a versioned dataset inside that tool, and every dataset row carries two things: the primary source URL it was taken from, and the date it was last verified against that source. The guides on this hub follow the same rule and print both dates (“Last updated” and “Data verified”) at the top of the page.

Primary sources only

Regulatory figures are verified against the issuing authority, never against secondary coverage:

• EU border systems (EES, ETIAS, Schengen): European Commission — Migration & Home Affairs, travel-europe.europa.eu, and the consolidated regulations on EUR-Lex.
• US entry (ESTA, fees): CBP and the Federal Register.
• UK entry (ETA): gov.uk and Home Office factsheets.
• Aviation liability and battery rules: ICAO (Montreal Convention, Doc 9284), IATA DGR, the IMF SDR valuation, and each airline’s own published dangerous-goods or baggage policy.
• Commercial prices (eSIM plans, card fees): the provider’s own published pricing page, captured per-row with its date.

Verification dates are real, not decorative

A date only changes when a human re-checks the figure against the source. Datasets that have not been re-verified keep their older date visibly — we do not bump dates to look fresh. Where a regulator changes a figure (for example the ESTA fee’s CPI adjustment to $40.27 on 1 January 2026, or the Montreal Convention baggage cap rising to 1,519 SDR on 28 December 2024), the dataset records both the new value and the effective date.

Staleness is surfaced, not hidden

Each dataset declares a staleness threshold (30–120 days depending on how fast the domain moves). When a tool’s data exceeds its threshold, the tool badges the result as potentially stale rather than presenting it with false confidence.

Corrections

Found a figure that disagrees with its cited source? Write to [email protected] with the tool URL and the source link. Corrections ship as dataset updates with a fresh verification date.

See also: about this project and the full tools directory.