Should we renew our Passports??

[dwjoe]

I have a friend who recently was going to fly outside the country. Her passport was valid 6 months - LESS 2 days after her return flight. They would not let her on the plane, and she was out the money for her airline ticket.

 

Where to? Not to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Bermuda, or the European Union, I gather.

[dwjoe]

We use ours any time we fly, even from one state to another and have used it to travel to Canada on a train. We renewed ours when it came up because the way our government works, they could change the rules overnight that you HAD to have one to travel on a cruise. Then everybody would be scrambling to get one.

No, they won't. It took years to draft and implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative which increased ID requirements in response to 9/11 and plenty of notice was given. It's not going to change any time soon.

Edited July 14, 2014 by dwjoe

[dwjoe]

I was at the USPS a few days ago to get my 18 yo son a first-time passport and the agent said that US passports actually expire 6 months PRIOR to their actual expiration date. WHAT????

 

I asked her how anyone would possibly know this as I'm sure everyone goes by the expiration date listed on their passport. She told me this when I told her mine expires next year and she said, although each country is different, some countires will not accept a US passport if it is within 6 months of expiring.

 

To clarify, passports are valid til the day they expire, it's just that some countries require extra validity time beyond the completion of travel for US citizens in order to enter the country. Some examples:

 

US & Canada: Zero months

European Union: Three months

Edited July 14, 2014 by dwjoe

[cv322]

I, like others here, suggest that the OP should just renew it ;). It's easy-peasy and gives you peace of mind. Mine was set to expire 3/27/2015...and as you can see from my signature, I have a bunch of cruises upcoming & would be right in the middle of one when it expires!...so when I got off the Breakaway in May I processed the renewal paperwork. I figured this summer is my best window of opportunity, otherwiise I'd get caught up in the 6-month thingy! :p:D! I sent it off with a check for $110 ...and got the new one back 4 weeks later :). I've renewed passports 4, maybe 5 times...and it's so easy to do, really. ;)

Edited July 14, 2014 by cv322

[erby2283]

I am cruising in Aug and my passport expires in Oct. I emailed a friend, who is the best travel agent ever and books all my cruises for me, and he told me it was not necessary for me to get a new one before my cruise in Aug since it was leaving/returning to a US Port. I liked that answer b/c now I can use that money, that I would have used for renewing it, on a nice excursion! There is no penalty for not renewing it prior to its expiration date. But I would still call and ask Carnival directly.....and maybe 2-3X! :p

[RWolver672]

No, they won't. It took years to draft and implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative which increased ID requirements in response to 9/11 and plenty of notice was given. It's not going to change any time soon.

 

I guess you don't remember that at the time it was implemented, nobody knew for sure when it first started if you needed one on a cruise or not. The pages on here were full of speculation for weeks not knowing for sure if you had to have one or not.

[sparks1093]

I guess you don't remember that at the time it was implemented, nobody knew for sure when it first started if you needed one on a cruise or not. The pages on here were full of speculation for weeks not knowing for sure if you had to have one or not.

Not sure what this has to do with jow wuickly regulations change. Any time there is a change there will be confusion but that wasn't the question.

 

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