Poppa

The original Thread isn't working for a reply so I will Post this observation here.

As a veteran of some several Forums and as a sophisticated world traveler (Alert! This is irony.), I often wonder about the responses a naive person gets when they Post the sort of message KR did.

Most folks are truly helpful, but the message also seems to draw scorn from others.

I am certain these world-weary sopshisticates never got their lumps as they began traveling, right? Otherwise, they would reflect on their own mishaps rather than heap abuse on the unfortunate.

One has to wonder if part of the "joy" of travel for them is mindlessly collecting stamps on their passports.

I think it's something more than that for a true traveler -- good doses of pleasure and pain, often in equal amounts.

Of course, if one is an arriviste, a parvenu, a poseur, or in other words, a "tourist" ....

glover

Just adding further to the original thread. Sorry this happened, obviously very stressful for the traveler.

But I wanted to alert all to 2 more things: we're going to Panama in Feb and were told that for Panama our passports need to be valid for 6 MONTHS from our date of return! Glad they told me that since mine was expiring in July!

Applied for renewal by mail Dec. 9. Did online status check with state.gov, which (when the site works at all) said my request wasn't in system (some 3 weeks later). A call to them showed it was in system and being tracked. Based on what I'd been hearing about response times (Lonely Planet board) I upgraded to expedite service. Now I'm supposed to have within the next week or so. Let's hope so!

Percy

ZR

You have my sympathy.

I have taken some lumps in my travels...nothing like your being turned down at your destination, but enough aggravation was sustained anyway.

I went to Cuba a few years ago with an outdated passport....that was ENTIRELY my fault...I never check the dates of expiry..

I just barely got out of Cuba...

Had they picked up on my entry that my passport was outdated....I probaly would have been refused entry...

I guess once I was there and coming on my way back home...they decided to be nice and let me go....( but not until they scared me into thinking they were going to detain me in Cuba.

I told them ," You let me into your Country with an outdated passport...now let me go home with an outdated passport."

They did and I went home ( lucky)

See not even Cuba wanted me.!!

Ever since then I double check everything but us humans are still prone to mistakes.

ZR I am sure that many of us would be pleased to hear how you make out.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you.
Percy

nonstop

Poppa:
Please! I really enjoy "mindlessly" looking at my passport stamps when I am traveling. It really helps me escape the stress of the everyday world plus allows me to reflect on the joys of all those journeys. Okay, I admit it. I'm shallow.

I am in a panic because my passport expires in a year and I realize I am going to miss out on my "mindless" habit. I wonder if it is possible to somehow retain those pages for my new passport?

Yes, the airlines should know better on the info they gave out. But, you can't ultimately hold them responsible. No way. I see people all the time trying to "transit" into another country because they say they "don't know any better". "Passport control" has been one of the most widely discussed issues in travel in the last year. Come on-its post 9-11!

If a person has gone to the lengths to call Costa Rica Tourism to check vaccination policies why not cross check about the birth certificate? Hauling a family to CR for a big vacation deserves more than a cursory call to a phone room to check something as important as entry documents.

And "get a lawyer"? What's that all about? Someone wants to sue now because someone didn't do their due diligence on a passport issue? Puhleeeze!

I bet the airline employee that first uttered the word "compensation" many years ago regrets it now.

The airlines no longer have a "paternal" business model. It is strictly a commodity to get a boatload of people from point "A" to "B" because that is what the passengers want-low cost travel. The problem is that those same passengers want all the service that is contradictory to a low-price model.

I travel extensively and always amazed at the high percentage of passengers that want to "blame" the airline for everything. If you want some evidence of this spend an hour of your time some night watching "Airline" on television which is a prgram about a day in the life of SW Airlines which is known as the most hospitable airline around(and I seldom fly them). Watch how the passengers behave(and demand)-in front of a TV camera no less!

Ok, you can blast me now. But, please don't tell me you know darn well that plane can land in the heavy fog in New Hampshire while you are sitting on the ground at Midway.

I am going for stress relief. I think I will go flip through the pages of my passport and remember all my fun trips!!

BTW, one more tip. When you travel abroad always keep a Xerox copy of your passport in a separate place. If you lose your original it will be much easier to replace it if you already have a copy of it.

hopefulist

In addition to a photocopy, I scan the main page of my passport (with photo and numbers) and email it to myself so I could access it from any computer with internet if needed.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I flew to CR earlier this year on the evening American Airlines flight from Miami. I was sitting next to a couple who was traveling there to get married the next day. They had checked in for a flight earlier that same day and were refused boarding because their passports had less than the required 90 days' remaining validity. They were able to get some sort of super-expedited service to get new passports that afternoon, just in time to board the evening flight.

nonstop

Hopeful List:

Now that is a great tip! One of the best I have heard. thanks for sharing that one.

Jeff: traveling out of the country(stress point #1) to get married (stress point #2) with a passport getting ready to expire?(stress point #3). I am not EVEN touching that one!

But, the info about the expedite service is good info.

shillmac

I used to watch Soap Operas (years ago as a youngster)--now I read Fodor's!

Enjoyed your post, nonstop. Your point about the airline "business model" is something we all need to be aware of or reminded of. Strictly a mode of transportation. Even if we were willing to pay more for more service, it doesn't even make sense for them to take on responsibilities that should be ours.

It's much the same with health issues. I've talked to many people who have blamed doctors for their health problems, when it is ultimately each person's own responsibility to educate themselves, monitor their health, get second or third opinions, and, if need be, pester the heck out of the medical profession until they are satisfied.

There are a lot of travel issues that people should check with the consulate about. For example, one parent taking a child to another country without the other parent. Some countries (Costa Rica is one) requires a notarized letter of permission from the other parent. Heck, it doesn't hurt to have it even if no one tells you it is required.

Excellent advice, hopefulist, about scanning the passport. I'll bet there are some Fodorite's out there scanning as we speak! Thanks!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Jed

Checking the original thread, <b>http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=6&amp;tid=34727826</b> replies are still permitted.

I send scanned copies of my passport and other important travel papers to my hotmail account for easy access away from home.

nonstop

Shillmac:

Good point about an individual parent taking a child out of the country. I had forgotton about that one and I have heard a couple of horror stories about it.

I also should have clarifed the MIdway/New Hampshire/fog story a little more. 2 weeks ago on the show (BTW this is a real life/reality show on A&amp;E) a passenger was upset that air traffic control would not let a SW air flight depart Midway (I think) for a landing in New Hampshire because of heavy fog that would prohibit landing in Manchester. The passenger became irate yelling at the gate agent that he knew that plane could land in New Hampshire and that the fog there was not that bad and he was late to meet his girlfriend there. He insisted the flight take off and that the pilot could make the landing_HUH??

Reminds me of the last time I was at the gate waiting for my flight and the airline was calling a family by name for last call boarding. Pretty soon huffing and puffing down the corridor here comes running the parents with 3 kids in tow, coats in disarray, backpacks all askew but hands full of ice cream because they decided to stop for a snack while the plane was boarding. Just as they exit the slick floor corridor for the carpeted area at the gate, the kids spill their ice cream on the slick floor. The family looks at it on the floor and non chalantly boards the aircraft leaving the ice cream behind for other passengers to slip on.

Sorry, didn't mean to get the thread off track. Ok, back to passport control in CR.

.

Poppa

Back in 1974, my camerman flew into La Paz, Bolivia with our gear and I followed a week later. After we were done working, we prepared to go home and I, quite properly, began checking our &quot;status.&quot;

Turns out the original &quot;on site&quot; guy, an anthropologist, had managed to finagle the equipment's entry by pulling strings. In actual fact, as far as Bolivian Customs was concerned, our expensive equipment package wasn't &quot;in&quot; their country at all. So that meant we could not take it out!

There followed a week's worth of hectoring the government and Easrtern Airlines personnel until we thought we had the snafu figured out.

Our gear was taken in as baggage and we settled in to our seats, exhausted but pleased with ourselves -- only to glance out the window and see our cameras, recorders, and lights being TAKEN OFF the aircraft.

The engines started and we rolled away. I like to think we did something but I think we had a drink and said, &quot;The hell with it.&quot;

After many more weeks and many FAXs and trans-Atlantic phone calls, (and doubtless some exchange of $), the equipment turned up at Heathrow.

Since then, my maxim has always been, &quot;When traveling in Latin America, 'Cross thine Is and dot thy Ts'.&quot;

nonstop

Poppa:

By the time I got to the end of your second to the last sentence in your second paragraph I could already tell what was getting ready to happen.

I have heard of things like this before. I am surprised that you were able to get it back at all. I would have bet money that you would never see any of the equipment again after your plane took off. At least a somewhat happy ending.

Different countries have so many different ways of handling out of the ordinary situations that your advice on dotting the &quot;i;s&quot; and crossing the &quot;t&quot;'s is good for us all to remember at all times when traveling abroad.

Poppa

I have heard, and maybe someone else can confirm this, that nations operating under systems derived from the Code of Napoleon are distinguished by a notable reluctance of subordinates to make decisions and to act on their own.

Thus, if anything at all appears out of order, a lower official may simply balk where an individual in another nation might simply use common sense and deal with the situation on the spot.

Of course, the bribe can override all else in many situations.