How a Little-Known Passport Rule Could Ruin Your Vacation, Costing Thousands

[QuotaMan]

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/passport-rule-ruin-vacation-costing-thousands/story?id=24931436

 

 

 

 

 

 

How a Little-Known Passport Rule Could Ruin Your Vacation, Costing Thousands

Aug 12, 2014, 11:22 AM ET

By MEGHAN KENEALLY

 

 

 

 

Jack Edelstein and his family were excited about their two-week vacation to Israel in June but it never got off the ground. Unlike many others whose travel to the region was delayed because of rising tensions, the Edelstein family trip was thwarted by the upcoming November expiration of 13-year-old son Jesse’s passport, meaning that it had less than six months of remaining validity.

 

 

“We were stunned as I had never come across this issue in over 40 years of international flying,” Edelstein, an Ann Arbor-based real estate developer, told ABC News.

 

Edelstein is one of a growing number of Americans who make travel plans not knowing that passports effectively expire for travel to certain countries months before the listed expiration date.

 

The policy is technically a matter of reciprocity: The United States requires foreign visitors to have six months validity on their passports when they travel to America, and now many of those countries have returned the favor to American travelers. Recent changes to requirements for countries in the European Union’s Schengen area, which includes tourist-heavy countries likeFrance, Italy and Spain, have caused some travel heartache.

 

“In the last few months, we have heard of many U.S. citizens having their travel plans disrupted due to some European countries, particularly those in the Schengen area, strictly enforcing passport validity requirements,” Elizabeth Finan, a spokeswoman for United States Consular Affairs, told ABC.

 

“Additionally, some E.U. countries are requiring passports to have six months’ validity because they assume travelers will stay the full three months allowed for visa-free visitors.”

 

The State Department lists the passport requirements on each country’s travel advisory website, though few travelers seek the information out unless they have concerns about the safety of a region or possible visa requirements.

 

For their part, travel sites like Expedia and Orbitz make mention of passport expiration restrictions on their sites, but there is no notification or alert that warns passengers of possible problems before they arrive at the airport.

 

"Requiring that information at the time of booking just isn’t feasible,” Orbitz spokesman Chris Chiames told ABC. “Someone sees a bargain online. Makes an impromptu decision to go to Paris next April. Buys the ticket and worries about the passport later. Happens all the time."

 

Airlines are in a similar situation, as a representative from British Airways said that “it is the responsibility of the passenger to ensure they acquire the proper documentation before departure” and United's spokesman said that it "encourages" passengers to make sure they have all proper documents.

 

American Airlines provides similar information for customers who seek it out, though spokesman Matt Miller admitted that it is more difficult for them to control what users know when booking through third-party sites.

 

“The onus is on the passenger to know where they’re traveling and what that country requires,” he told ABC.

 

 

 

[Sexyfarangman]

No problem, I just got a new passport which is good for 10 years.

[GorGuy RIP]

Easy as... You need 6 months left in your passport to travel to many countries.

 

If you have less than 6 months, get a new one.

 

I once went to Thailand with a passport that had 3 months left, but they let it go, as I had a return ticket a month later. 

 

They often like 6 pages left in your passport (if working in another country), I only have 3 pages left, so I will need to get a new one soon.

[kash buc]

Been aware of this for a long time. I always renew my passport at the nine year mark. I'm on PP #4 now, Jeez I;m getting old!

[biggles]

Some years ago I was at the Coolangatta airport in Australia and a family were checking in for a flight to Thailand via Kuala Lumpur. One of the young daughters had less than 6 months left but the check in staff said they would make some calls. They did and were given approval to leave, much to their relief. I have no idea who they rang but it worked.

[jaynewcastle]

Hard to believe that anybody who travels doesn't know about this to be honest.

[Edge]

Not sure how traveller could be unaware of this one if they can read.

 

However this was about Americans and most of them dont even know what a Passport is so....

[vimto66]

Hard to believe that anybody who travels doesn't know about this to be honest.

Agreed,i`ve known about it ever since i got my first passport as a teen,will be ok for my next trip then its renewal time.

[Mick Pattaya]

Not sure how traveller could be unaware of this one if they can read.

 

However this was about Americans and most of them dont even know what a Passport is so....

  touché

[nice to visit]

It's a well known rule in Aus.

[momomo]

I actually don't know any country you can apply for a visa (and the stamp at Swampy is a visa) with a passport that is valid less than 6 months. It's really a universal rule.

[Daddee]

Not sure how traveller could be unaware of this one if they can read.

 

However this was about Americans and most of them dont even know what a Passport is so....

better than being a cranky old git from Australia...

 

[SLEUTH]

As edge says,

 

A septic with a passport is as rare as a 70s pop star with a unencrypted computer

[momo5]

There is nothing obscure about this rule at all. Thr difficulty is that the requirements vary by county; country of entry that is. Mr Edelstein is a fucking idiot - simple as that - he should have been aware of entry requirements for where they were going. Clearly didn't learn much in 40 years.

[Daddee]

here we go with the america bashing,  fuck off the lot of ya.  

 

many Americans don't travel out of the country because the fucking place is HUGE and offers so much, from Hawaii to the Grand Canyon.  

 

world class skiing to surfing can be done in the same day.

 

plus we don't have to put up with a bunch of snotty aussies and brits playing their stupid name calling rhyme games... fuck, you guys are like a bunch of grade schoolers...

 

[sunsandsurf]

Thought everybody knows this that has a passport.  Except for the stupid people.

[SLEUTH]

here we go with the america bashing,  fuck off the lot of ya.  

 

many Americans don't travel out of the country because the fucking place is HUGE and offers so much, from Hawaii to the Grand Canyon.  

 

world class skiing to surfing can be done in the same day.

 

plus we don't have to put up with a bunch of snotty aussies and brits playing their stupid name calling rhyme games... fuck, you guys are like a bunch of grade schoolers...

 

 

 

 

 

That was like...an awesome reply! 

[Daddee]

 

Record Number Of Americans Now Hold Passports

Comment Now 

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Yep, you definitely need one. Image by Getty Images via @daylife

When I was a college kid backpacking through Europe, my European fellow travelers were aghast that so few Americans held a passport, while passports were virtually de rigueur for citizens across the pond. “What are Americans afraid of?” one even asked me.

Times have changed. “More Americans have passports now than ever before,” says Ken Chavez, spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the US State Department. Over one-third of the population to be exact, or nearly 110 million out of 313 million Americans. That’s more than double the number of US passports in circulation in 2000 (48 million) and around 15 times 1989’s 7 million. At that last number (under 3 percent of Americans), you can sort of understand why my European traveling buddies were scandalized.

And yet, one thing always struck me as false about their logic: whatever you think of the idea of American exceptionalism, America is exceptionally large. You could fit mainland France, plus Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg (total about 261,000 square miles) inside of Texas (269,000 square miles) and still have room for a passel of Alps. It takes nearly an hour longer to fly between New York and LA (about 5 hours) than between Lisbon and Helsinki (about 4:10), and the spaces in between are vast and varied. To paraphrase the (oft misquoted) line from the Treasure of the Sierra Madre: “Passports? We don’t need no stinkin’ passports!”

We didn’t even need them when traveling to Canada or Mexico – at least until recently – and that change accounts for much of the sudden rise. Americans used to be able to cross our northern or southern borders “as quickly as they might go to the corner grocery store,” notes Alec Levenson, Research Scientist at the Center of Effective Organizations of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. An oral declaration of citizenship would suffice.

Then the 9/11 attacks happened, and concerns over terrorists entering by land prompted the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Implemented in 2007 for air travel and on sea and land borders in 2009, it required passports for US citizens entering from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.

No surprise then, says the State Department’s Chavez, that 2007 set the record for the number of US passports issued: 18.3 million (up from 7.3 million in 2000 and down to 12.6 million last year). “There is no sharp increase to my knowledge in people going elsewhere,” other than Canada or Mexico, says Daniel Serwer, a former State Department official now with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director and COO of the Global Business Travel Association, adds “I would bet that a significant portion of the increase in passport issuance is due to business travelers.” As companies seek ways to grow revenues, particularly out of the recent recession, they’ve looked overseas. “Business travel has led, and will continue lead, the growth in international travel,” including well beyond America’s immediate borders.

McCormick notes growing participation in trusted traveler programs like Global Entry, which speed up immigration and customs procedures stateside. The GBTA is also advocating an expansion of the visa waiver program, under which travelers to and from certain countries can avoid the expense and hassle of getting a visa for a short stay.

USC’s Levenson also points to demographics for the rise in passport holders: notably population (248 million Americans in the 1990 census to an estimated 313 million in 2011) and globalization. “We certainly have become no less of an international society than we were 30 years ago,” he says. “People are more likely to be traveling abroad and working abroad. Passport issuance is the ultimate measure of those people.”

[Edge]

better than being a cranky old git from Australia...

 

Couldnt agree more........

 

..........but who are we talking about?

 

The flag is still flying :-)

[999Baht]

Still 6 years to go on mine. 

Can you post another thread like this in 5 years time to remind me thanks.

[Buddy Edgewood]

For my December/January trip, I'll nearly be on the cusp... my passport expires in July 2015.  I should be okay for that trip, but I'll definitely have to renew as soon as I return home because I'll be returning to LOS in June.

[Macawber]

here we go with the america bashing,  fuck off the lot of ya.  

 

many Americans don't travel out of the country because the fucking place is HUGE and offers so much, from Hawaii to the Grand Canyon.  

 

world class skiing to surfing can be done in the same day.

 

plus we don't have to put up with a bunch of snotty aussies and brits playing their stupid name calling rhyme games... fuck, you guys are like a bunch of grade schoolers...

 

 

 

Record Number Of Americans Now Hold Passports

Comment Now 

Follow Comments 

 

Yep, you definitely need one. Image by Getty Images via @daylife

When I was a college kid backpacking through Europe, my European fellow travelers were aghast that so few Americans held a passport, while passports were virtually de rigueur for citizens across the pond. “What are Americans afraid of?” one even asked me.

Times have changed. “More Americans have passports now than ever before,” says Ken Chavez, spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the US State Department. Over one-third of the population to be exact, or nearly 110 million out of 313 million Americans. That’s more than double the number of US passports in circulation in 2000 (48 million) and around 15 times 1989’s 7 million. At that last number (under 3 percent of Americans), you can sort of understand why my European traveling buddies were scandalized.

And yet, one thing always struck me as false about their logic: whatever you think of the idea of American exceptionalism, America is exceptionally large. You could fit mainland France, plus Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg (total about 261,000 square miles) inside of Texas (269,000 square miles) and still have room for a passel of Alps. It takes nearly an hour longer to fly between New York and LA (about 5 hours) than between Lisbon and Helsinki (about 4:10), and the spaces in between are vast and varied. To paraphrase the (oft misquoted) line from the Treasure of the Sierra Madre: “Passports? We don’t need no stinkin’ passports!”

We didn’t even need them when traveling to Canada or Mexico – at least until recently – and that change accounts for much of the sudden rise. Americans used to be able to cross our northern or southern borders “as quickly as they might go to the corner grocery store,” notes Alec Levenson, Research Scientist at the Center of Effective Organizations of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. An oral declaration of citizenship would suffice.

Then the 9/11 attacks happened, and concerns over terrorists entering by land prompted the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Implemented in 2007 for air travel and on sea and land borders in 2009, it required passports for US citizens entering from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.

 

No surprise then, says the State Department’s Chavez, that 2007 set the record for the number of US passports issued: 18.3 million (up from 7.3 million in 2000 and down to 12.6 million last year). “There is no sharp increase to my knowledge in people going elsewhere,” other than Canada or Mexico, says Daniel Serwer, a former State Department official now with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director and COO of the Global Business Travel Association, adds “I would bet that a significant portion of the increase in passport issuance is due to business travelers.” As companies seek ways to grow revenues, particularly out of the recent recession, they’ve looked overseas. “Business travel has led, and will continue lead, the growth in international travel,” including well beyond America’s immediate borders.

McCormick notes growing participation in trusted traveler programs like Global Entry, which speed up immigration and customs procedures stateside. The GBTA is also advocating an expansion of the visa waiver program, under which travelers to and from certain countries can avoid the expense and hassle of getting a visa for a short stay.

USC’s Levenson also points to demographics for the rise in passport holders: notably population (248 million Americans in the 1990 census to an estimated 313 million in 2011) and globalization. “We certainly have become no less of an international society than we were 30 years ago,” he says. “People are more likely to be traveling abroad and working abroad. Passport issuance is the ultimate measure of those people.”

 

 

 

Make up your mind ... 

[gitteyman]

here we go with the america bashing,  fuck off the lot of ya.  

 

many Americans don't travel out of the country because the fucking place is HUGE and offers so much, from Hawaii to the Grand Canyon.  

 

world class skiing to surfing can be done in the same day.

 

plus we don't have to put up with a bunch of snotty aussies and brits playing their stupid name calling rhyme games... fuck, you guys are like a bunch of grade schoolers...

 

 

here we go with the america bashing,  fuck off the lot of ya.  

 

many Americans don't travel out of the country because the fucking place is HUGE and offers so much, from Hawaii to the Grand Canyon.  

 

world class skiing to surfing can be done in the same day.

 

plus we don't have to put up with a bunch of snotty aussies and brits playing their stupid name calling rhyme games... fuck, you guys are like a bunch of grade schoolers...

 

Don't get all worked up ! A lot of bms forget. That septics lack a sense of humor.

[jaynewcastle]

I think somebodys a little sensitive, I certainly didn't regard the thread as Yank-bashing at all, just stupid-traveller done-no-research bashing if anything

 

I am very surprised that even now, only 1/3 of Americans have passports. I never realised it was that low

[Daddee]

Don't get all worked up ! A lot of bms forget. That septics lack a sense of humor.

And brits and aussies think putting other people down is humor.

 

Twats.