Thursday, March 06, 2008
Passport Rules Change Again
Passport Rules are changing again. Thanks to some heavy lobbying by the cruise industry, and also a history of long delays for passport processing, the State Department has quietly announced on its website, that passports will not be required for land and sea crossings until at least June 1, 2009. Passports are currently required for all international flights, however.
When the new passport rules were set into action a few years ago, we were all supposed to travel internationally with passports by 2007. Thanks initially to chronic government understaffing and Hurricane Katrina (the national Passport Processing center is in New Orleans), huge delays in passport processing forced the delay of implementing these rules. Finally last year, the first steps were implemented, requiring passports for all international travel by plane. Originally, all land crossings were to require passports by January 31 of this year and cruises would be exempt until the summer. But with some confusing language on the State Department website, both land crossings and cruises were kept exempt from the new passport rules until "a later date."
Most people in the travel industry were still expecting that date to be sometime this summer. Turns out the industry was right about summer, just wrong about the year. Travelers can still use a birth certificate and photo ID for another year. With the Passport Agency having added hundreds of new workers and able to handle an influx of applications better, the people responsible for pushing these rules back further lie completely in the hands of the cruise industry, in my opinion. Which doesn't make much sense to me. If the reason for this is security, why put off extra security for a form of travel where a security lapse could cause hundreds or thousands of deaths, like on a cruise ship? Maybe it's because the possession of a passport doesn't really make anyone more safe. It's just another rule and another layer of red tape to get the right to travel.
When the new passport rules were set into action a few years ago, we were all supposed to travel internationally with passports by 2007. Thanks initially to chronic government understaffing and Hurricane Katrina (the national Passport Processing center is in New Orleans), huge delays in passport processing forced the delay of implementing these rules. Finally last year, the first steps were implemented, requiring passports for all international travel by plane. Originally, all land crossings were to require passports by January 31 of this year and cruises would be exempt until the summer. But with some confusing language on the State Department website, both land crossings and cruises were kept exempt from the new passport rules until "a later date."
Most people in the travel industry were still expecting that date to be sometime this summer. Turns out the industry was right about summer, just wrong about the year. Travelers can still use a birth certificate and photo ID for another year. With the Passport Agency having added hundreds of new workers and able to handle an influx of applications better, the people responsible for pushing these rules back further lie completely in the hands of the cruise industry, in my opinion. Which doesn't make much sense to me. If the reason for this is security, why put off extra security for a form of travel where a security lapse could cause hundreds or thousands of deaths, like on a cruise ship? Maybe it's because the possession of a passport doesn't really make anyone more safe. It's just another rule and another layer of red tape to get the right to travel.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Sunday Internet Roundup
So here's what I've noticed online lately.
You will need a passport to leave the US soon. And its sooner than you may have thought. The USA Today reported that you'll need a passport to leave the country by any method other than a cruise ship starting as early as January 31. Cruise ships to the Bahamas, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean are exempt until sometime this summer - they haven't announced that date yet.
Whether its in Germany or on Amtrak, train rides can be a lot more challenging than you've ever thought. Brave New Traveler has some good tips on surviving a long trip on a slow train.
JetBlue is going wireless on its flights. Yahoo IM and Yahoo mail as well as your Blackberry mail will all work aboard one specific JetBlue plane starting on Monday, this news coming courtesy of The Cranky Flier.
