Why is a passport needed?

[K32682]

You'd have a hard time selling that to the folks in my community that live 8 miles from the border with your country. For many community members traveling up to Canada is the only foreign travel that they will ever do and for them it makes more sense to use a passport card or Enhanced Drivers License than to use a passport book.

That will work as long as they don't want to fly here. For that you need a passport.

[sparks1093]

That will work as long as they don't want to fly here. For that you need a passport.

 

True but why would anyone fly when it's only 8 miles?:') (And actually that does bring up a point- my dental hygienist told me she and her family were flying to Disney and the airfare out of Montreal was so much less than from any of the airports in the northeast US that they saved money even with having to buy passports for the trip. Of course I wouldn't advocate that everyone get a passport just because that worked for her but it's certainly worth checking into if one lives close to a Canadian airport. We actually flew out of Montreal to Florida last November because airfare was less, but we already had our passports so it was an easy decision.)

[navybankerteacher]

 

...

 

We actually flew out of Montreal to Florida last November because airfare was less, but we already had our passports so it was an easy decision.)

 

This is an example of an opportunity which needs a passport to grasp. The old saying: "Failing to plan is planning to fail" applies.

 

An unexpected travel opportunity is wasted without means to take advantage of it.

[sparks1093]

This is an example of an opportunity which needs a passport to grasp. The old saying: "Failing to plan is planning to fail" applies.

 

An unexpected travel opportunity is wasted without means to take advantage of it.

 

As I also said when the kids were growing up air travel anywhere for any reason was out of reach. Just the way that it was. Now that we have our passports yes, it can pay to look at alternatives but before we had them it didn't matter how good of a deal it was, we wouldn't be going. (And for what it's worth we would have flown to Florida out of one of the northeast airports if Montreal wasn't available, so it would hardly have counted as a wasted travel opportunity and it also wasn't unexpected in any way, it was planned out a year and a half in advance.)

[sail7seas]

Easy to confirm at http://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world/:

 

There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.

 

 

If you say it is true, I am more than willing to t ake your word for it although it does surprise me. :)

[broberts]

Lets see...hmmm. there are about 195 countries in the world. How many can you visit without a Passport?

 

Hank

 

At least 1, Canada. :D

[boobasimcha]

Easy to confirm at http://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world/:

 

There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.

 

 

No such place as the state of Palestine

[broberts]

No such place as the state of Palestine

 

A good portion of the world disagrees, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_the_State_of_Palestine

[navybankerteacher]

No such place as the state of Palestine

 

i won't further break CC regs by commenting - other than to point out that this is the sort of political message to be avoided.

[iancal]

We live in a large country. For us travel is not necessarily about how far we travel or how large our country is. It is about different cultures, customs, food, and above all different experiences.

 

We like to travel in our own country and in North America but we could not imagine limiting our travel to this. It would quickly become boring for us. Besides, the world is becoming a smaller place as each year goes by.

 

I suspect that family background/heritage plays a part in this. I was brought up in a family where it was normal to have a passport. Probably because my parents were immigrants. This was the complete opposite to my spouse's family who were all second, third, etc generation born. The other factor was that my primary and secondary school education systems placed an emphasis on world geographies, governments, etc. My spouse, who went to school in a different part of the country did not have this emphasis for whatever reason.

[sail7seas]

I gre w up having a grand mother who sailed as a widow alone on hAL ships to Europe a number of times. I remember my parents running her Bon Vloyage parties when i was a 'l ittle girl'. not too many of my friends' garmmmy's did that sort of tra vel all on their own 'back then'. It put the yen to travel into my l late sister and me. My sister died very young and was so grateful she did as much travel as she did. She, too, sailed a number of times to Europe. She sailed HAL, Rotterdam V,, Leonardo DI vINCI and ss France. family of travelers. ;) one GOT and when able used passport.

Edited May 5, 2018 by sail7seas

[sloopsailor]

I suspect that family background/heritage plays a part in this. I was brought up in a family where it was normal to have a passport. Probably because my parents were immigrants. This was the complete opposite to my spouse's family who were all second, third, etc generation born. The other factor was that my primary and secondary school education systems placed an emphasis on world geographies, governments, etc. My spouse, who went to school in a different part of the country did not have this emphasis for whatever reason.

 

Even within families there are very different perspectives on travel.

 

My parent's were both born in the 1920s. My father never had a passport, and my mother didn't have one until her late 60s because she had never left the country until we took her on a vacation around Europe a few months before she passed away. My bother, now 65, has never had a passport. I, on the other hand, got my first passport soon after I left home on my own in my early 20s. Forty-four countries and six continents so far, and still planning more travel. At only 68, I am young enough to have many more years of international travel ahead of me.

 

Not having a passport is an alien concept to me.

[Tatka]

Yes, I did know that with 5 kids to raise that DW and I could not afford to travel via international air anywhere in the world. Didn't matter how good the deal was, it wasn't going to happen. Now that the kids are on their own it's a different matter and we're currently planning our 3rd trip to Germany. Before that passports would have been a waste of money. Everyone isn't the same and people have different travel needs. That's what it boils down to.

I suppose cruising with 5 kids also isn't easy task. But again passport is 1 per 5 years for kids... comparing to all other expenses doesn't seem like a lot.

[Tatka]

I gre w up having a grand mother who sailed as a widow alone on hAL ships to Europe a number of times. I remember my parents running her Bon Vloyage parties when i was a 'l ittle girl'. not too many of my friends' garmmmy's did that sort of tra vel all on their own 'back then'. It put the yen to travel into my l late sister and me. My sister died very young and was so grateful she did as much travel as she did. She, too, sailed a number of times to Europe. She sailed HAL, Rotterdam V,, Leonardo DI vINCI and ss France. family of travelers. ;) one GOT and when able used passport.

I also got my love for cruising from my grandparents, who cruised Mediterranean and Europe since 60-ies.

Not many people could even get out outside of our country back then much less to cruise. :)

[Tatka]

Even within families there are very different perspectives on travel.

 

My parent's were both born in the 1920s. My father never had a passport, and my mother didn't have one until her late 60s because she had never left the country until we took her on a vacation around Europe a few months before she passed away. My bother, now 65, has never had a passport. I, on the other hand, got my first passport soon after I left home on my own in my early 20s. Forty-four countries and six continents so far, and still planning more travel. At only 68, I am young enough to have many more years of international travel ahead of me.

 

Not having a passport is an alien concept to me.

Good for you!

 

And passport is not only for pure travel.

My mom is 66 and she is currently on her business trip to Brazil, later this year it will be China and UK.

Many companies now go global.

 

My project manager had to acquire passport in a week as she learned she'll have a business trip, but didn't have one.

[Extra Kim]

To me, a passport is a must have. Our daughter was born on the 28th December 2017, she got her first passport the 25th January 2018. The day after she turned 4 months she visited her 7th (8th including Sweden) country.

[Z'Loth]

Some more food for thought.... your passport is a "Super Identification".

 

Anyone hear of something called "RealID"? Starting in October, 2020, you will need to have a RealID compliant identification in order to be able to board a plane, enter a military base, or a federal facility. I don't know about your state, but for the state of California, driver's licenses and IDs issued before January, 2018 are not RealID compliant. Guess what IS RealID compliant? Your United States passport.

 

In addition, on your first day of a new job, you have to provide Human Resources two forms of ID to prove that you are legal to work in the United States. Guess which document fills the bill perfectly? Your United States passport.

 

And, in my current job, we got a contract where the major restriction was that support could only be provided by United States citizens. We had to have someone from HQ travel to our office and verify United States citizenship of all personnel. My co-workers who only had a birth certificate took about several minutes each to verify. I was one of only three people who brought in their passport that day. My verification took less than two minutes.

[Tatka]

To me, a passport is a must have. Our daughter was born on the 28th December 2017, she got her first passport the 25th January 2018. The day after she turned 4 months she visited her 7th (8th including Sweden) country.

I'm all for passports and we always had them , but Europe is a bit(actually a lot) different in this regard. Countries are so close, sometimes you cannot get from one part of the country to another without crossing other country.

[Extra Kim]

Countries are so close, sometimes you cannot get from one part of the country to another without crossing other country.

Say what? 🤔

[sloopsailor]

I'm all for passports and we always had them , but Europe is a bit(actually a lot) different in this regard. Countries are so close, sometimes you cannot get from one part of the country to another without crossing other country.

 

So true. It takes days to drive across the USA, but only a few hours in some European countries. A person could travel through a dozen European countries in the time it takes to cross the US.

[Tatka]

Say what? [emoji848]

Not in Scandinavia, but if you live in certain parts of Germany, Netherlands, Belgium etc, sometimes it's more convenient to drive through a territory of another country to get from point A to Point B of the same country.

For example if you drive from Monschau, Germany to Achen, Germany you cross Belgium, unless you want to drive much longer route.

 

I forgot, you don't need passport to travel from one to another country in EU and even some outside country.

[Extra Kim]

Not in Scandinavia, but if you live in certain parts of Germany, Netherlands, Belgium etc, sometimes it's more convenient to drive through a territory of another country to get from point A to Point B of the same country.

For example if you drive from Monschau, Germany to Achen, Germany you cross Belgium, unless you want to drive much longer route.

Yeah, but you don't have too. But I get your point.

I forgot, you don't need passport to travel from one to another country in EU and even some outside country.

 

Yes and no. You can travel without a passport within the EU or Schengen, but you have to have an ID that states your nationality. A normal ID or drivers licence doesn't work.

Just got of a cruise going to Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Germany. During that cruise we only had to show our passport before entering the UK (and on the train coming back to Sweden from Denmark).

[sparks1093]

I suppose cruising with 5 kids also isn't easy task. But again passport is 1 per 5 years for kids... comparing to all other expenses doesn't seem like a lot.

 

They were teens by the time we started branching out to cruising. For the 7 of us it would have cost about $850 for passports and the 4 day cruise that we took was around $1200. There might be some that would see that as a good "investment", but I'm not one of them. We knew that one day we wanted to travel internationally by air, but we had no real idea when that would be so we decided to wait until that day came which was in 2015, after the kids were fully grown.

[sparks1093]

Some more food for thought.... your passport is a "Super Identification".

 

Anyone hear of something called "RealID"? Starting in October' date=' 2020, you will need to have a RealID compliant identification in order to be able to board a plane, enter a military base, or a federal facility. I don't know about your state, but for the state of California, driver's licenses and IDs issued before January, 2018 are not RealID compliant. Guess what IS RealID compliant? Your United States passport.

 

In addition, on your first day of a new job, you have to provide Human Resources two forms of ID to prove that you are legal to work in the United States. Guess which document fills the bill perfectly? Your United States passport.

 

And, in my current job, we got a contract where the major restriction was that support could only be provided by United States citizens. We had to have someone from HQ travel to our office and verify United States citizenship of all personnel. My co-workers who only had a birth certificate took about several minutes each to verify. I was one of only three people who brought in their passport that day. My verification took less than two minutes.[/quote']

 

Yes, the passport can come in handy for other things but that shouldn't be a main consideration when deciding whether or not to get one, it's more of an icing on top of the cake thing. For the situations that you mention there are alternatives available to the passport that either don't cost extra or are a smaller investment (such as a passport card for someone who might need a REAL ID compliant ID).

[Velvetwater]

A major reason many US residents do not see the need to obtain a passport while people in the UK do, is that the US is so large with so much to see without even leaving the borders. In many ways, each state is like a different country, similar to what is found in Europe. Each state has its own culture, and many even have their own dialect. Laws are slightly different state by state, and the scenery is certainly different from one state to the other, with their own unique places of interest. A US citizen can spend their entire life touring the country and not see everything. Many of our states are larger than some European countries. So there is not as much motivation to obtain passports as in countries that are relatively small and compact.

 

If anyone believes that America is just like travelling through Europe they haven't read or travelled enough. I feel many do not leave the US (Or just travel to US stylised resorts in the Caribbean) due to a comfort level. Don't get me wrong I know a few Brits with a comfort zone in the UK but not too many.

 

The US certainly has different cultures and places of interest but it is not the same as country to country on another continent.It has everything to do with culture and nothing to do with size. I can easily travel to Spain by high speed train in 9 hours. But if I do that in another direction I wind up in Austria which is very very different. Many countries here have their own dialects and slang it is not the same as a different languages.

 

If it was even a huge size issue then why do many people from the South of the US not fly to Guatemala and Nicaragua?