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.