Passport Day is coming! Do you have one?

Saturday April 9th is Passport Day. U.S. Passport agencies and participating passport acceptance facilities will be open to serve you. Savvy travelers know a passport is required for entrance in to the United States. No big news there. What some travelers don’t know though is how easy it can be to get a passport and the benefits of having one.

Right now is a great time for to apply for a first-time passport or renewal. The U.S. Department of State estimates processing times of 4 to 6 weeks. I recently had my passport renewed, sending the paperwork off on January 16th and had a new passport in my hand three weeks later. Look for processing times to increase as we get closer to the busy summer travel season.
The cost of your U.S. passport will depend on the type of passport you request and how quickly you need it. Adults will pay $110 for a passport plus a $25 execution fee for first-timers. Renewals pay the $110 passport charge only. The passport people recommend paying an additional fee for overnight delivery which allows tracking of your passport once produced. I did that and the total came to $124.96 for my renewal.

Passport Services recommends that those with family living or traveling abroad, thinking about a vacation abroad, or those with a job that could require international travel maintain valid U.S. passports.

U.S. Citizen cruise travelers sailing on itineraries that begin and end in the United States can get away with not having a passport. This is not always a good idea though and those people could end up kicking themselves for not going ahead and getting a passport.

Yes, you can board the ship, get off at the ports and get off the ship upon return to the United States with an original birth certificate and photo ID. But if you should have to fly back in to the country for some reason, you would be in trouble.

When heavy fog kept ships at sea, unable the dock at the Port of Galveston last month, passengers on the next sailing were mad. While safety-first is an admirable quality the cruise lines all share, it is of little consolation to those (literally) waiting for their ship to come in. In the case of some Carnival Cruise Line passengers, they could have taken advantage of Carnival’s exclusive Vacation Guarantee:

“Simply book your cruise vacation and sail away on a “Fun Ship.” If you are not completely satisfied with your cruise vacation experience, all you need to do is notify us before arrival at the first port of call and you must debark at your ship’s first non-U.S. port of call. Carnival will refund the unused portion of your cruise fare and pay your flight back.

These people, rightfully or not, were very upset but had used birth certificates to board the ship and could not take advantage of the cruise line’s generous offer because without a passport they could not board a plane outside of the United States for their free ride home.

That’s a pretty good benefit of having a passport.

Passport Cards are another matter altogether. They can get you into territories in the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which includes Canada, Bermuda, Mexico and the Caribbean, but by land and sea only. Passport Cards cannot be used to gain entry into countries if you’re flying internationally. The lower price ($55 for first-timers, $30 for renewals) is attractive but Passport Cards are not good for much. Bite the bullet and get a book, then you know you are covered for any travel, anytime, anywhere.

Flickr photo by Dyobmit

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American teacher accused of being a spy: Hold onto that passport and register it to be safe

Perhaps you’ve come across this story of Michael Lee White, the American teacher at a business college in China who has been accused of being a spy involved with the CIA and having a role in the recent small scale war in Georgia. Those teachers. Just kidding. White doesn’t seem much like spy material from the description in the AP article.

He wears T-shirts that say “Save The Whale,” for example. And if he is a spy, I certainly hope he would have better digs somewhere else. He’s cramped up in a small apartment without a lot of furniture. Where’s the glamor? This doesn’t sound very James Bond like.

The reason White is under scrutiny is that his passport was found in the basement of a house in Georgia along with other items belonging to soldiers who high-tailed it out of there.

According to Michael Lee White, he lost his passport on a flight from Russia to the U.S. October 2005. And, he has never been in Georgia. Besides that, when the war was happening, he was back in the U.S. taking care of his sick father. The CIA also says that White is not in the CIA.

It seems to me that White will be cleared, and this will be chocked up to a weird travel story snafu, but it does hammer home the point, guard that passport carefully.

I know people who have lost their passports and it has always caused a problem. The good thing is that with a lost passport, you can create a paper trail to back up claims about your whereabouts.

Here are the four situations people I know have lost their passports. White’s is similar to number 1. The others were the result of robbery.

1. Left behind at the Milan train station when buying a ticket.

2. Taken from a backpack while the person was sleeping on a train in France.

3. Taken from a backpack while the person was sleeping on the beach in Vietnam.

4. Passport slipped off his neck when he ducked out of his shirt to foil a robbery attempt in Fez, Morocco. When robbers grabbed his shirt, he threw up his arms, ducked out of his shirt and ran. The passport pouch that also held his money and train pass came off along with the shirt.

If your passport is stolen, or if it goes missing because you left it somewhere, make sure you report it missing immediately in order to cover yourself. Your passport will be canceled so no one else can use it (ideally).

There is a form to fill out. Here’s the link for that. You can also call to report it missing or stolen–or you can do that on line at www.travel.state.gov

One way to add protection in case your passport goes missing is to register at the American embassies or the consulates in the countries where you will be traveling.

If you lose your passport, this may speed up getting help. If there are problems when you travel, registering may also help the embassy or consulate serve you better. Here’s the link to the page about registration.