Just went to AAA to buy an International Drivers Permit for our upcoming trip to Italy. The current price of $10 is going up next week to $15 so if you need one soon you can save $5 by getting it before Feb 15th.

Every little bit helps. $5 will buy me a couple more gelati!

Is AAA the only place one can get an IDP?

No, there is another auto club in the USA that sells them, too. The American Automobile Touring Alliance sells them through the National Automobile Club.

This is the link I got with my car rental reservation if you want to do this via the mail:

http://www.thenac.com/nonmember_services.htm

I went to that site, and they want 2 passport photos -- not digital. Do people use non-digital cameras anymore?

How would they know any given photo was digital or .....?

It means they want prints, not digital images or slides.

I had the Passport Office return my wife's because there weren't enough pixels.

We took passport type head shot photos with our digital camera (white wall background). Adjusted them in photoshop to meet the size specification and printed them on our printer on photo paper. Then cut them out to the correct size. Worked fine.

You have to have two printed photos because they attach one to your permit and file one with your paperwork.

How long are the permits good for?

One year, starting on the date you are scheduled to land in Europe.

from

http://travel.state.gov/travel/

Before departure, you can obtain one at a local office of one of the two automobile associations authorized by the U.S. Department of State: the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance.

AAA (American Automobile Association) , 1000 AAA Drive, Heathrow, FL 32745-5063. The application is available on-line.

American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA), 1151 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404, tel: 800-622-7070; fax: 650-294-7105

Hi, here in Florida the AAA seems to be a little ahead,
no pictures necessary they take care of everything for
$10.