ESTA doesn't require a consular visit, right? It seems like there is a real difference here.

There is no difference. The ESTA is an e-visa for $14 and valid for two years. The ETIAS is an e-visa for €7 and valid for three years. Neither requires a consular visit, they are completed online.

For the implementors, “visa” is a 4-letter word because it would eliminate all kinds of reciprocity agreements where EU nationals get visa-free travel.

Usually they claim some loophole like you don’t need it to hitchhike/drive, just to board a commercial plane/ship/bus in.

Those flying in a private jet need not worry about such issues.

Did you even read my full response or the top post in this thread?

Neither does the ETIAS system that the EU is introducing. The article for some reason decided to ignore the existence of ESTA altogether and then call the identical (but cheaper) ETIAS system a visa.

"There is a separate dispute between EU and US, because US imposes visas on five EU states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Cyprus). According the EU law, all EU countries should be treated equally or otherwise reciprocal measures should apply. There have been calls within the EU to respond tit for tat and impose EU visas on US citizens, if the issue does not get resolved soon."

That is what I, and presumably several other commentators, have been responding to.

Edit: I see that one post referred to the ETIAS initiative. But what you’re saying makes perfect sense now. I’m only talking about the visa. My apologies.