Lost passport - fly out today
 

A friend of my daughter's lost her passport and they fly out today to Costa Rica. Can she still go if they do not find it?

I don't know for sure but I doubt it. A friend's daughter did the same the day she was supposed to leave for Europe. They had to delay a day and go to a passport office to get a replacement.

in a word NO. she will not be permitted to reenter the US. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PASSPORT.

Looks like an extended stay in Costa Rica. Does she have a copy of it?

Well, since Costa Rica requires a passport to get into their country, she will not be allowed to board the plane in the first place.

No

http://www.visalady.us/

Here's a link to a service that can expidate a passport. The website says "same day service" availalbe.

Tell her to "keep looking"
Someone call and see how fast a replacement passport can be obtained.
Then, call the airlines to see if you can find a flight tomorrow or the next day. If she's a no-show for the flight, she's out of luck.

Last May in NYC it appeared they would let you come in to the passport office without the appt and get passport same day if you showed a letter that travel was work related. It seemed to depend on the mercy of whoever was at the window that day.

I called paid expedited services and they couldn't do it same day, needed 24 hours. It sounds like she'll have to leave later most likely.

Definitely call the airline. I've heard of cases when they will reaccommodate passengers the next day with no cost.

I've also heard 1st hand experiences where the airline required someone to buy a new ticket, (pay the ticket change fee and fare difference) to rebook for the following day.

Seriously?

I helped a friend book a trip to Mexico in mid-May yesterday, and I assumed she had a passport when I set up the air reservations. Upon checking with her, I learned she hasn't had a passport for some years, and will need to get one.

Local TV filmed the Seattle passport office yesterday, showing dozens of people lined up for passports for spring vacations, being told that the expediting service was 2-3 weeks out and 10+ weeks for "normal" passport delivery.

I phoned the airline and they put a note on her record that she could cancel and get a full refund (less $50 fee) if she did it within 24 hrs (to allow her time to decide whether to go for the expedited passport or just bail on the trip). They will also allow the full fare (again, less $50 fee) to be applied to any future travel on the airline (up to a year) if she has to cancel before flight date. (She's decided to go for the expedited passport.)

The January 2007 changes have caught short many thousands of people. The TV report said the local passport office has hired 10 new people to work the crowds, but having a newbie issue a passport given the current passport paranoia doesn't inspire much confidence.

For international departures the airlines are required to check that the pax has valid id (passport, green card etc.) before they'll issue a boarding pass. No passport, no flight.

Gardyloo is totally correct:

1. She will not be allowed to board the airplane to depart the country without a passport.

2. There is a very long backup for anything associated with passports- replacements/renewals/new passports. I seriously doubt she will get a new one in under two weeks.

3. Call the airline immediately and explain the problem. Likely, they will allow her to cancel the ticket and re-book, for a fee.

4 This is why you check and re-check and triple and quadruple check your bag for your essentials before leaving. (Passport, tickets, money)

We keep our passports in the safety deposit box at the bank.

I can't imagine losing a passport.

I can imagine losing a passport (but just barely). What I can't imagine is apparently waiting till the day you're leaving to check on it. Or was Minnesota Mouse suggesting that she's known about this for awhile but the new one hasn't come through yet?

We live overseas and travel frequently. The passports stay in the top drawer of my dresser because we need them so frequently.

I am obsessive about getting together passports, tickets, money, insurance cards, FF cards, immunization cards, etc several days before flying.

Last October, I was going with my younger son on a quick trip to Tblisi, Georgia. We were being picked up at 4:30 am. While he was getting his shoes on, I did "another" check of our documents - ONLY to discover I had my OLDER son's passport with me! I had had both kids' passports out for some school-related stuff that week and just put the wrong one back!

SOOOOO glad I checked before leaving the house!

Reminds me of a dream I had the other night - we were running late for a flight to Europe. We couldn't get the dogs to their caretakers on time and I remembered at the last minute to have my husband retrieve the passports. He quickly put all four of them into a bag. I woke up in a sweat - can't imagine this happening in real life. Your poor friend!

To put it briefly, "You got problems".

I've had to go to the passport office the morning of a flight to europe because my passport had expired and I didn't notice (this is pre-9/11 and before I traveled as frequently as I do now) -- with plane tickets in hand, they re-issued me a passport on the spot. Granted, I got there as soon as they opened and I paid extra fees, but I received it nonetheless.

"The January 2007 changes have caught short many thousands of people."

Why do you think that is, Gardyloo? Have they not been watching the news for the last several years while this has been discussed? Now they've all waited till the last minute and we should feel sorry for them?

The new passport processing plant just opened this week in Hot Springs, Arkansas, so maybe this will speed up the process, but it's not going to help your daughter's friend.

I'm sure they will not let her board the plane without a passport.

<i>Why do you think that is, Gardyloo? Have they not been watching the news for the last several years while this has been discussed? Now they've all waited till the last minute and we should feel sorry for them?</i>

Nobody's asking you to feel sorry for anybody.

But speaking personally, I feel sorry for the kids who can't go on their spring break trips because their parents didn't think about passports while they were earning a living or saving money for the vacation, or who themselves never had passports for anything and didn't associate a trip to Canada or Mexico with needing one.

The US has a shockingly low percentage of people who've ever had a passport, and our traditional suspicion of big central government has never created any demand at all for a system of national identity documentation. 50 States and a variety of terrirories and possessions (including a national capital with no Congressional representation because we all know how they'd vote) all issue drivers licenses or other forms of ID, but nothing consistent enough for the likes of DHS. Newspaper reading and TV/radio news can't hold a candle to Idols and Dancing Stars; increasingly they don't teach government or civics in high school... so one does one expect?

For the government to impose this regulation, then not have the capacity to respond to the inevitable flood of applications <i>within 10 weeks</i> strikes me, though, as another boffo move from the same folks that sent Katrina trailers to Arkansas, where they sit.

Sorry. Vent ends.

We've not heard back from MinnesotaMouse?

Hmmmm...:-?

MM, what happened?

&quot;I feel sorry for the kids who can't go on their spring break trips because their parents didn't think about passports&quot; - When you say 'kid' I hope you are referring to minors, because I'd certainly think that any young adult who was mature enough to leave the country on spring break, is mature enough to learn the passport regulations as well.

It's not the government's fault that people waited until the last minute to get passports for trips they booked months ago. Whatever happened to being responsible for oneself? Misfortune is always someone else's fault.

Well, MM's daughter and her friend already know the answer/outcome since they were supposed to travel yesterday.

Swaymock - I think Gardyloo made it abundantly clear that he was referring to minors. Why the hostility?

The best advice given so far is starrsville's &quot;keep looking&quot;

The same thing happened to me the night before a trip. I looked and looked and looked. Then asked myself &quot;where did I last use it?&quot; - soon I found the (in this case) birth certificate in the beach bag I had used for a trip a year earlier. It was on my deck! Had been through the rain, and all the handwriting was washed away!!! With so little time, I used an old ink pen and filled in the blanks (no I did not change my birth year!). Sailed through immigration even though I was dying inside.

That was before 9/11/01.

But, these things do usually turn up. I'm betting (hoping!)MM's gal found it at the last minute!

I hope MinnesotaMouse checks back with the good news that the passport was found.

(I keep mine in plain sight on my dresser at all times, ready to go!)

The airline WILL NOT let you on a plane to a foreign country without a passport. Full stop. No exceptions.

She needs to first - redo her travel plans, and second - either find her current or get a new passport.

And perhaps this will provide a good life lesson about personal responsibility.

Great vent and total agreement, gardy, but methinks the 4-post wonder wasn't worth it ....

Hey everyone - forgot about this post - she found it at the last minute and they were able to go!

Yahoo! Glad it was found! Hope they are having (or had?) a great trip to Costa Rica. It's absolutely beautiful!

Starrsville: Have you just been absolutely everywhere???

Costa Rica was a work trip - and the local contact kind of &quot;adopted&quot; me and he, his wife and daughter were excellent guides to their country they were very proud of.

I've traveled for business for 20+ years, so between work trips, national conferences, award trips and trips on hotel/ airline points I've been to about 70% of the places I want to see.

I work to travel and plan to see the world before I die.

So, &quot;no&quot;, but working on it :-)

Minnesota,
I'd love to hear what happened to your daughter's friend.
I am waiting for my passport(renewal) and it's a nightmare. They tell you that if you travel within the next 14 days to call for an appointment at the regional center, San Francisco, in my case.
However, there are NO appointments available.
I don't know what to do except to go in person without an appointment and see if they'll see me.
Does someone here know what's going on in the San Francisco passport office on Hawthorne?
Stressed-out Karina

Hi Karina I am almost positive they will not allow you into the SF Passport Office without an appointment.
Call back again today and see if an appointment has become available. If not get hold of your US Congresspersons office for assistance. Per other Fodorites they will be able to get your passport issued by the time you need it. Best wishes.

&quot;Minnesota, I'd love to hear what happened to your daughter's friend.&quot;

Karina, if you look a couple of posts above yours you'll see that Minnesota Mouse posted to say the girl found it at the last minute before she went -- so no problem.

What I don't understand-mainly about the Mexico and Canada thing-is why people all along, even when we didn't need a passport to go there, didn't bring one anyway? What if something really bad happened and you got detained there? I don't know, it's just always bothered me that people thought they could leave the 50 United States and not have passport protection.

I went to CR 2 years ago and my friend lost her passport the day before and she asked me &quot;do I really need it?&quot; It's CENTRAL AMERICA dude! was my response. She had to pay a small fortune but she got a new one, and then got mad when I told other people on our trip how she waited till the very last minute to see if she even had a passport! UGH. This is why I like to travel solo sometimes. :)