Is your passport valid? 

For a passport to be valid, there is more involved than just the actual expiration date.  Let’s take a look at a couple of additional requirements that can determine the validity if a passport.

Many countries require your passport to be good for at least 6 months past the date of travel.  While some countries may be less than that, the general stated recommendations are 6 months past the date of travel.  This is noted on every one of my invoices that go to clients been booking a trip.  Yes, it is important to read the fine print!   When considering international travel, please check your passports to make sure they are not expired and meet the 6 month requirement.  If your passport is not expired, but you will not meet the 6 months, you can renew your passport early.  The general recommendation from the Department of State is to renew your passport 9 months early.  While many people do not do this, you can renew as early as 9 months prior.

Passports must also be free of significant damage to be considered valid for travel.  If the book cover or picture page is significantly damaged, you will need to apply for a new passport.  As stated on the Department of State’s website about passport information “Conditions that may constitute damage requiring you to replace your passport include water damage, a significant tear, unofficial markings on the data page, missing visa pages (torn out), a hole punch, or other injuries.”    If your cover is separating from the book, this is also considered significant damage.   Normal wear and tear is expected for passports.  If the book bends because it was in your back pocket, or the pages start to fan because the book is open and closed so much, these are signs of normal wear and tear.

Passports must also have a certain number of blank visa pages to be considered valid for travel.   Visa pages are the pages in your passport book that get stamped during the immigration process.   The requirements can vary by country, two to four pages is the general recommendation.  This is important to note in the event you are doing a long multiple country trip and will get multiple stamps on your journey.  During the planning process, or once your travel is booked, you need to look closely and make sure you have enough blank pages.  If you do not, you can order additional pages.   You will have to submit your passport book for them to add the additional pages. Also, you can now request larger passport books that have 52 pages instead of the standard 28 pages.  This is generally recommended only for the very frequent traveler or business travelers that have a high percentage of international travel.

I hope this has even informative and has inspired you to go check your passports!  Trust me, you don’t want that surprise at the airport when you are informed you cannot travel because your passport is not valid.

Another question I often receive is about name changes on passports.  All travel must be booked in the name as it appears on your passport.  If you need to change the name on your passport, there are 2 options.  If you are changing it due to marriage or divorce, you can make the change within 1 year with no fee.  There is a specific form (DS-5504) for this submission.  For any other reason, or outside of one year, you will need to submit the standard application form (DS-82 – Application for Passport by Mail) and pay all associated fees.

If you have any questions about passports, an excellent resource for you is www.travel.state.gov.

Happy Travels,

Travel is always easier if you know before you go! The challenge of course is that we don’t know what we don’t know! I always try to provide a great deal of info to my clients when they travel, but sometimes there are things I consider so “routine”, that I may not mention if not asked. Let’s look at the basics of leaving the US and re-entering the US on flights.

Something to know before you go is that you will have to meet the entry/exit requirements of the destination. Some destinations have very stringent requirements when it comes to criminal history. Regardless of whether you have a passport or not, there are certain criminal histories such as felony (or even some misdemeanor) convictions that will deem you ineligible to enter their country. Being behind on child support is another issue in many destinations. Please, do yourself a favor and discuss this with your travel professional prior to booking or traveling. Trust me when I tell you it is an awful phone call when someone has been denied entry to another country.

Speaking of passports, your passport must be in relatively good shape. It cannot be damaged, separating, missing pages, or anything. These types of things can deem your passport invalid for travel.

 
Something else to know before you go is that on the flight to your destination, the flight attendants will pass out immigration and custom declaration forms for you to fill out. These forms must be filled out prior to passing though immigration and customs in your destination. The forms will require your passport information, address (or name of resort) in destination, and your departing flight information. It will serve you well to keep your itinerary and passport within reach during your flight, that way you aren’t scrambling to get the info or trying to fill out your forms while walking to the immigration line.

Upon arrival in your destination, have your passport and forms handy. You will need to provide them to the immigration offer. They will sometimes ask you a couple of questions, most often they ask what is your purpose for the visit and how long are you staying. They do this while they are checking for any “flags” on your passport. (This is where my advice above about past history can come up) Some destinations will provide you with a tourist “card”, often just a piece of paper, upon entering the country. Do NOT lose this….

Once you have passed through immigration, you will proceed to the baggage claim area. You will need to pick up your luggage at the conveyor belt and then head to the customs lines. Your baggage is often screened by an x-ray scanner and / or hand inspection by officials. Once you have cleared customs, you are on your way to the vacation you have been waiting for! Just a note – in many countries, time share sales are very aggressive in the airport. In Cancun for example, I tell people once you have your bags, head for the double doors as quickly as possible. Do not make eye contact or engage in conversation! The time share people will have very enticing offers to get you to listen. Do yourself a favor and don’t. Head to your pre-arranged transportation and start your vacation!
Sadly, all vacations come to an end.

If you are in a country that gave you a tourist “card” upon entry, you will need to present that when exiting the country. Do not lose this; you would not believe the headaches involved for losing a 2 x 2 inch piece of paper in some countries! Some countries also require an exit “tax” to be paid. It often has to be paid in local currency and cash only.

On your flight back to the US, you will be given customs forms to fill out to re-enter the US. Again, you will need your passport and flight information, so keep your passports handy on the flight. Once you land, you will proceed to immigration. Many airports in the US now have kiosks which have really helped to speed up the process. Of course I always recommend Global Entry! Global Entry takes all of the hassle away.

If your first airport arrival in the US is your home airport, after customs you retrieve your bags, proceed through customs, and head home. If your first airport is a connecting city for you, you will retrieve your bags, proceed through customs, re-check your bags, proceed back through airport security, and on to your gate. As a note, if you purchased any beverages or liquids in one of the duty-free shops over the carry-on allowance, you will not be able to take it through security. You will need to pack it in your checked bag before re-checking your bag.

I hope this has been helpful! Remember, we don’t know, what we don’t know, and it’s helpful to know before you go!

Happy Travels!

Kelley

Is it too good to be true?

Recently, there has been a trend of “it’s too good to be true” scams. You have probably received the emails from someone telling you their “uncle”, “father”, whomever, has left them a large sum or money and they need your help to access the funds. Or perhaps you’ve been called by someone saying you have “won” a “free” government grant and they’ll deposit the money in your account if you give them your routing and account numbers. The list of scams like this goes on… Sadly, there are several scams out there related to travel as well.

Just this week there was an article about several local college students that were victims of a travel scam. They contacted a “travel agency” they found online through a website much like Craig’s List regarding airline tickets back to India over the holiday break. This agency gave them a price that was several hundred dollars less than any other ticket prices they had seen online or by calling other agencies. These young students thought they really had found a great deal… until they found out the airline tickets were not real. The agency had purchased tickets with their money, and then cancelled the tickets.

There are also other types of travel related concerns. I hesitate to call them scams, because in many of these cases, you do actually get “something”, but it certainly isn’t what you think you’re getting. Many time share programs are now called “Vacation Clubs” and they entice you to their presentations under the premise of a free “trip” or “cruise”. Make no mistake, it isn’t free, the costs are not fully disclosed, and it is high pressure sales once you are there. Too many people find themselves owning a time share that they will never get their money’s worth out of. Then there are travel deals found on Craig’s List or Groupon. While Groupon and Craig’s List can be great for many things, travel isn’t usually one of them. Nearly every investigative news program out there has done an expose on “Groupon gone bad” vacations. I personally have had to try and help people that contacted me from another country when their Groupon “deal” turned out to be a very expensive vacation. Is every Groupon travel deal bad? Probably not, but how will you know?

There are definitely some red flags that you should be aware of when planning or booking your travel with online agencies, or someone who calls you with the deal of the day.

• A request for a wire transfer or “money gram” directly to the travel agent or agency – Reputable travel agencies will rarely (almost never!) do business this way. If a wire or electronic transfer of funds is required, it is usually by the actual travel supplier (cruise line, airline, etc.), not the agency.

• Cash Payments Required – This is an easy way to lose your money. Most reputable travel suppliers now work with credit cards or electronic transfers. While paying cash is admirable and keeps your finances in checks, it is very hard to recover in the event of theft or misappropriation of funds.

• Invoices that only reflect the travel agency information and make no mention of the actual travel supplier being used for your travel

• Pricing that is significantly out of line compared to other prices for the same airline ticket or vacation package. Many travel suppliers have “no-discounting” policies. This makes it a level playing field for all agencies. That is not to say everyone will have the exact same price on a package (because there can be variables with air, transfers, insurance, etc.), but if the difference is more than 25%, you should question it. For example, Disney and Sandals do not allow any discounting. Agencies that do this are in violation of the operating terms and conditions. While there can be differences in other components, the pricing for the actual resorts are the same. Do you really want to work with an agency that is willing to “break the rules”? If they are willing to break the rules with their travel supplier, what other boundaries are they willing to cross?

  If you are going to spend your hard earned money on a vacation experience, please, work with a travel professional so you know what you are getting and get what you are paying for!

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Kelley