Hey, all, Marty here. I wanted to invite you to our live call every Tuesday, 01:00 p.m.. East 10:00 a.m. West in the ACB community. If you want to listen live, you can tune in on ACB Media five or bring your questions live. Check us out in clubhouse or visit ACB community to get more information about how you can join the Zoom calls. The replays are also shared on your favorite podcast platform, search for unmute present.
Welcome to Katie talks Travel, a podcast where we talk travel and accessibility with a little fun along the way. Let's pack our bags and head out on an adventure.
Hi there, everybody. This is Katie. I am a travel agent who specializes in accessible travel, and my co host, Lynn, is back with me again today. How are you, Lynn?
Good. I'm doing really well. Glad to be back. I'm so excited. This is awesome. We have lots of energy tonight, and we're really going to be giving you guys some awesome information that you'll need for traveling, whether you're traveling now or in the summer.
That's right. So I have had a lot of questions lately from clients about passports and how to go about applying for one, how to go about renewing a passport. So I thought that we could spend a little bit of time today just chatting passports. But of course, we have to do something fun first. I did come up with a couple of trivia questions for you, Lynn. It's been a couple months, but we're going to bring it back.
All right?
Okay. What percentage of the american population, the US population, do you think has a passport?
Maybe 40%.
Yes, actually. Oh, my God. Yeah, that's almost exactly the number. So in 2020, there were more than 143,000,000 passports that were in circulation, at least according to the US Department of State. And some of those were second passports, but most of them were original passports or renewals, and that accounts for more than 40% of the US population. So a lot of people out there have passports. They are really amazing. They're wonderful to have. And we'll talk about why here in just a minute. I also came up with one more question for you, Lynn.
Okay.
The United States passports are blue on the COVID Do you have any idea of what colors other passports are from different countries? There are four main colors that passports can be.
I don't know. Well, we'll take a guess. How about green?
That's one of them. Yeah.
Not red, right? You wouldn't have a red passport?
Red actually is one. Okay, good. One more. You're missing.
We're getting all the colors of the playdoh here.
Hmm.
Not purple, I guess.
Not purple, although it is no purple. Trying to think of the last color is black.
Black.
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Blue is by far the most popular. There are a lot of different countries that use blue, but red is the second most popular. Surprisingly. I would have thought green, because it's more understated. But the second most popular passport color is red.
Okay.
Yeah. That's all the questions I had about passports. There's not too many trivia questions you could really ask about them. Okay. So, Lynn, are you one of the 40% of the population that has passport?
I do not, but the next time that I go to motor vehicle to get my mug shot redone for my state id, I am going to get the passport. I think it's like you were saying. I think it's a good thing to have.
Yes, it's very helpful. A passport essentially confirms your citizenship, and it kind of lets you move between different countries, which I think we all know. But the wonderful thing about it is that it's really not too terribly expensive for the amount of time that you have it. Now, I'm not saying that a passport is, like, ridiculously cheap or anything, but for the amount of time that they are good for, they are totally worth the money. And a passport in the United States currently is $130 for a passport book, or it's $30 for a card. So the passport card looks like an id. It does not have the pages that you can stamp, and it is limited on what you can do with a passport card. So make sure when you are thinking of getting your passport that you're thinking of where you want to travel. So a passport card is for us citizens, and you can travel by land or sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and then the Caribbean. So you cannot travel internationally by air with a passport card. So that's very important to note. A lot of people get a passport card thinking like, oh, my gosh, this is a way cheaper, way easier option. I'm going to use this, and it's going to be great. Not the same at all. A passport book is what you need to be able to internationally travel by air, sea, or land. So the passport book is what people think of. I mean, it is like that little book with the pages on it, and you get stamps for the different places that you go, and they are good for ten years. So that's really important to note that you can keep them for a really long time. Kids, they are good for a lesser amount of time because kids change so much. But once you're over the age of 18, having a passport is absolutely worth it because you never know what could happen. You don't need it for every travel that you're going on, but it's good to have it just in case, because in the world we have today, you never know what could happen. What if you went on a cruise? We talk about cruising a lot because it's my favorite. You go on a closed loop cruise. So that means that it leaves and returns to the same us port. So it's essentially like a round trip cruise. You do not need to have a passport for those cruises. You just need a valid photo id so your state id would be fine and then a certified birth certificate. That's all you need to get on the ship. But that's not going to help you if you get off the ship in, let's say, the Bahamas. And while you're on your excursion, you fall and break your ankle and you have to go to the hospital. Well, now what are you going to do? Because you don't have a passport and you have to deal with the US embassy and all of the red tape that goes into that and it's just a whole headache that you do not need to deal with. Having a passport, even when you don't necessarily need it for travel, gives huge peace of mind. So now that I've talked your ear off about you to get a passport, we'll talk about how to go about actually applying for a passport. So if you are a first time applying for a passport and you're over the age of 18, then you will need to apply in person. There are a bunch of different locations that you can do this at. Most of them are post office and a lot of them do require appointments. So the best way to find where is going to be your local area to get your passports, your local passport station is going to the travel government site. It's travel state gov, that's the US department of state Travel site. And they have a whole list of everything that you need to get your passport. But they also have a whole list of the different certified locations where you can go to get a passport. Not all of them require an appointment, but the vast majority of them do. So I want to make sure that I note that a lot of places, you can't just show up and be like, I'm here for a passport. And it happened. There is a form that you have to fill out. It's called a DS eleven. It's a little bit of a headache. I'm not going to lie to you. It's a long form to fill out. When you are filling it out for your passport for the first time, it's very important that you are not leaving anything blank. You have to fill in all of the information. A lot of people don't like to fill in their Social Security number because it is such a sensitive number. People really protect that number, understandably. I do as well. It is very important, but you do really have to put it on this application. That is one of the main reasons that applications can get turned away is you don't fill in all of the information that is required. So it is important that you make sure that you're doing that. When you fill out that form, you also have to provide evidence of your citizenship. So that can be an undamaged passport if you have had that before. It can also be your birth certificate. So that's a big one for the proof of evidence for your citizenship. So a birth certificate is the most common thing that people turn in because it's the easiest to kind of get your hands on. But it has to be an original birth certificate. So it needs to be issued by the city or state of birth. It's got to have all your details, like your full name, where you were born, your parents names, like all of that stuff. And then it also needs to have a registrar signature and a seal or a stamp from the city or state which it was issued.
I remember going to motor vehicle and trying to get my state id because I can't get a license. They won't give me a license. They know better, but they will give me a state id. And I remember going in there thinking, okay, I have a copy of my birth certificate. Guess what? That does not work. No, I have to have the real McCoy.
Yeah. And what's absolutely wild, not only do you have to have the real one, but you have to have a copy too. They have to have the physical. And then you also send a photocopy that they keep and they'll send your physical original back to you. It takes about eight weeks or so after you get your new passport on average is what they say. I will say that the current processing time is way better, thank goodness. But you have to send in your originals with a photocopy that they keep the photocopy version and you get the original back. But it's a lot of back and forth in the mail and it makes some people really uncomfortable, which I totally can understand, but I've never known anybody that had an issue with their documents getting lost when they were applying for a passport, which is really good. I can't say that for everything, but for passport, I've not had anybody have any issues. The Department of State seems to have it down pretty pat to make sure they're not losing people's important.
That's good.
Yeah.
Isn't it amazing that we're still in this day and age? We're still relying on paper, aren't we?
Yes, we sure are.
Paperless office.
No, you cannot submit any digital evidence of citizenship at all. So it has to all be like a physical copy. You can't submit any digital evidence of an id or anything like that. There's a lot of different forms of id that they accept. The whole list is available on the Department of State website, but some typical ones that people bring in is either a valid or expired passport book. So one you've had before, your old passport card, something like that, a driver's license or state id with a photo, and then a government employee id, a lot of people will use that as well, and it is accepted. So if you're a government employee, you are able to use that id to apply for your passport as well. And like I said, there's a bunch of different things that you can use for that, but those are the most common that people use. And then, of course, not only do you have to bring your original id, but can you guess what else you have to bring?
Oh, boy.
A photocopy.
Oh, my God.
You need your original and a photocopy of that, too.
Wow.
Do you have to actually have to part with that id card?
So, yes and no. It kind of depends on whether or not you're renewing or whether or not you're getting a new passport. So it just really depends on which one you're going in there for or if there's any special circumstances as well. That makes a difference, too. So, like, kids under the age of 16 are considered a special circumstance. A previous passport that was lost or stolen, that can be a special circumstance, those sorts of things. And then the other thing that we have to do with a passport, the last thing that we need to make sure that we're providing when we are applying for a passport, is a photo and a passport photo. If you've never gotten a passport photo, you don't know the frustration that goes into a passport photo. But imagine, I'm sure, Lynn, that you've gotten your photo taken for your id, right?
Sure.
Yeah. And have you ever had the experience where they have to have you. Don't smile. Turn to your left a little bit.
Sure.
Make sure you're holding completely still. That one didn't turn out well. Let's take another one. Right. It's that same sort of thing with a passport photo, because it can't be just any picture. It has to meet a certain list of photo requirements that they have. So it has to be like a color photo, it has to be recent. It has to be a clear image of your face. It can't have things like filters or phone apps or anything. Like if you take it on Snapchat or something, that's not going to work. Someone else has to take your picture. It cannot be a selfie. And then another weird thing about passport photos, something I've always thought is a little strange anyways, is that you have to take your glasses off. And to me that doesn't make a lot of sense because I assume it has to do with the flash. But a lot of people who wear glasses, that's part of your identity. You wear glasses all the time. So taking a passport photo without them, they don't always look the same in my opinion. But I'm not the Department of State. Wow.
So if you're thinking about leaving the country, it's not going to happen tomorrow, is it? If you don't have a passport, no.
It's going to take some time. And their current routine processing times, they say, are six to eight weeks. So that's the amount of time from the time that you apply and send in all of your stuff that it takes for them to review everything to get a passport issued to you and then send your passport and your documents back out to you. You do have an option to expedite it. So that turnaround time is. Pardon me, that turnaround time is approximately two to three weeks, and that is an extra $60. So it is pretty hefty to expedite your passport. If you think that you're going to be traveling anytime soon, just go ahead and get one. Like I said, it's worth having. You never know what could happen. You can use it for all kinds of things, not just travel. You can use it to verify your identity at all sorts of different places. So it can be a very helpful tool to have. And you don't want to have to spend that extra $60 to get it expedited. You can also get one in an urgent emergency. Those locations where you can get like a same day passport are very few and far in between. They tend to be in major cities. Like, for example, I live in a fairly large city. I live in Indianapolis. But you cannot get a same day passport in Indianapolis. I would have to drive up to Chicago to get a same day passport if I needed that. Wow. Hopefully, that's not something anyone ever has to do, but it is an option if you would need it.
I know that in government offices now, you have to have a certain type of id. I don't know if you go into any kind of federal offices. I don't know what it is.
Yeah, it's like the certified with, like, at least in my state, it's a star. I'm not sure if that's what it.
Is in your state, but it's like.
A certified id, essentially, and it doesn't act as a passport, but it does show, and it provides proof that you have thoroughly shown that you are a us citizen. And that's kind of like what the point of the stars are. I think most states are starting to move to that because I know that at least in my state, they have the cut off date. And if you don't have an id with a star by this date, you won't be able to fly and those sorts of things. Although that date has moved about 15 times. Yeah.
Because everybody was so backed up from the pandemic, and then it was like the barn door opened and the horses went running. Everybody wanted to travel and the short staff and all that. Yeah.
I had a client who, they came to me, I want to say, like two or three months ago, and she was telling me about her passport adventures because I asked, do you have a passport? One of the questions that I asked people, and she had applied for her passport, she said, in late 2019, like December, and then the world started to shut down. And she never got her passport until the beginning of 2021, was when she got her passport.
Wow.
And then I know when they opened back up from all of the things with the pandemic, the turnaround time for passports was nuts. It was like three to four months.
Yeah, it was. I remember that it was pretty. Wow.
It was wild. And they are saying six to eight weeks now. But in my experience with clients and other agents and family and friends that have gotten passports recently, the turnaround time seems to be about two weeks. Not expedited, just the regular time. They're very caught up right now.
And like you were saying, too, you can really help yourself by following the directions that you're given. Right. Do it right the first time so you don't have to. Have to do it. Take time and get it.
Yes, yes, exactly. And make sure that you are checking. Check the Department of State website, go to your local post office and ask them what you need to be able to apply. Because what I went over today could totally change by the time you're listening. So make sure that you are always checking for the most up to date information. Things can change at any time, so it's important that you're always checking for that. Right.
So what are some of the passport snafus that people encounter when they travel?
Yeah, there's a couple, actually, I have fallen victim to one of them. I'm just going to be totally honest with you. Your passport should be valid for six months after the last day of travel. So whatever day you're returning, your passport should be valid a minimum of six months after that day. I was going on our last cruise. My passport was valid, but my son was going to expire in August, and we were cruising in April, so that was five months. It was not six month pass. And then my husband's passport had expired, and I did not even know that his was expired. So luckily it was a closed loop cruise. Everything was fine. We just brought our birth certificates along for them. But that is like, the biggest one is people don't realize. They think my passport is valid. I'm good to go. Your passport should be valid for a minimum of six months after you return from travel.
So it's a living document.
Right.
It's something that you can't just get it and then assume that you're done forever.
Right.
You just have to make sure that your dates and all that are correct.
Right.
For your travel experience.
Yeah. In a lot of different countries as well, they may not accept passports that expire sooner than six months after travel. So it's really important to, first of all, make sure that yours is up to date and ready to go, but also that you're monitoring any passport requirements for where you are traveling to. And if you're working with an agent, they can help you with those requirements and things like that. But the good general rule of thumb is valid for six months. That's the biggest passport snafu that I think people have, is that it expires and they think they can still travel with it. And that's not quite the case. I would say the second most common thing that I have experienced with my clients with passports is just the not planning ahead. People really do think that it's an easy thing to do to get a passport, and it's not. It's very difficult, and it probably could be a little bit easier. But I also totally understand why it's as difficult as it is to get one. You want to be able to prove your citizenship, and a passport is a physical way of showing, like, I am a citizen in this country. And to be able to prove that takes some work. So it makes sense that it takes a while.
Yeah. Kind of like if you don't plan ahead, then you're sort of tempting faith. Sort of like if you get to the airport too late, okay, everything might work out and you might be okay, but then it might not. And by sort of tempting fate like that, you don't want to start your vacation off on a bad foot.
Right? Right, exactly. So thinking ahead makes a really big difference. It does. And making sure that you are looking at whatever the current requirements are to get your passport and that you're gathering all of those documents ahead of time, because it's like a lot of things. Making sure you have copies of everything so that you're clear on that. And not only the originals, but the copies, too. It can be a little overwhelming, but the employees at the post office are also extremely helpful. I've never gone and done anything with passports, which I've done several times now. I got a passport when I was 16, and then I had to get a new passport when I changed my last name and got married. I've renewed my husband's passport, and both of my kids have had passports. So I've done a lot of passport stuff at the post office, and never once have I gone in and when I had questions, was anyone rude to me about it. I think they understand as well how confusing getting a passport can be.
Yeah. I mean, they do it for a living, and they know that the people doing it are probably not going to know what they're doing.
Right.
Especially if they're first timers. So, yeah, hopefully they'll have the compassion to sort of help you through the process. But again, that's where your agent is going to be, your best buddy.
Right?
Yeah, your travel agent. Because they're going to know what all the little ins and outs. I mean, I've learned a ton tonight already, just in the short time we've been on.
Gosh. Good. I'm glad. Yeah.
What is a passport? Why is it so important? It proves that you're a citizen, but.
Also.
Would give you some rights as a citizen or in the event that you need help from the embassy or something like that.
Yeah. And it helps different countries and departments of state and all those different governing bodies of different countries, to know how many people from any different country are filtering in and out, that helps them immensely to know that sort of demographic information. And it's just a way. What is the word I'm looking for? Not certified valid. Right.
So that in case you end up on a list of people that terrorism or whatever like that. I guess that's another thing too, right? Not that any of our audience would be on one of those lists, but.
You never know.
I wanted to ask you, too, because this document is so important. Right? I know people always lose their passports. Do you have any advice for not losing them when you travel?
Yes. I know that it can seem a little silly, but. Absolutely. Wearing them around your neck, underneath your shirt, wearing one of those travel pouches. I know that at least when I was growing up, I always thought, well, that's just a silly thing only grandmas do. But now that I'm an adult, I understand it's safe there. It's not going to go anywhere. Another thing that you can do with it is you can utilize the safes. There are safes in a lot of different hotel rooms that you go to or on cruise ships. They have safes as well. Just make sure that you're changing the code for that to whatever you would use. But you could also store it there as well. And then at home. Making sure that it is in a fireproof box is really important. It is paper. So if your house catches on fire, it's going to go up in flame. Yes. It is really important that it's in a fireproof box. Tuck it out of the way where you're not going to know where it is. If you have a safe at your house. Absolutely. A passport is something that should be kept in the safe. It's not something you want someone else to get their hands on because it is so hard to get. You want to make sure that you are protecting it and protecting your identity. If it does get lost or stolen, though, it's very important that you report your passport lost or stolen to the Department of State as soon as you can. They actually have an online form that you can do for that. But that helps it to kind of flag if someone else were to try to use your passport as their own or if they alter it and then try to use it, it will help to flag that in the system so that someone is not able to steal your identity or use your identity for nefarious purposes with that passport.
Because I wonder, do the international, different international bodies, like European Union, for example, or even different countries. Do they communicate with each other about people and passports and things like that?
Isn't there a governing body that does that? What are they called?
I know there's Interpol, which is the police.
That's it. It.
Is it Interpol?
Yeah. Interpol was the one I was looking for. I wanted to say indigo. That's the name of the public.
I like that name better. Personally, I think they should change it to that.
I believe that Interpol. I'm not actually 100% sure on that question, but I think that Interpol helps to monitor the passports and any ones that are flagged, because they do, like, international crime and international.
So what happens if that thing gets stolen or lost while you're on vacation?
Well, it's definitely not something you want to happen.
No, absolutely.
But if it gets stolen or lost, the first thing that we would want to do is make sure that we're reporting it as stolen or lost. And then if you are in a different country, so if you're not on something like a cruise, if you are actually traveling abroad, then you would want to go to your local US embassy, wherever that is located. Again, the US Department of State website has all of that sort of information on it. And you would want to go to the local Us embassy. And a lot of times they are able to get you a document that can at least get you back home. Not that they'll necessarily be able to get you another passport in an urgent situation, but they should be able to get you back home at the very least. And then you would just follow what you would typically do if you lost your passport. Like if you had lost it at the mcdonald's down the street versus in Italy, you would just still follow that reporting protocol. And then the Department of state tends to follow up on, you know, making sure that you are coordinating with them, answering their questions and those sorts of things. If you have a copy of your passport, that can be helpful if it gets lost. So again, a copy isn't actually going to get you anywhere or do anything for you, but having that copy can be really helpful if it does get lost. So making a copy is never a bad thing, even if it's one. You just make a copy and leave it in your fireproof box at home. Just having that extra backup in case something were to happen is always a good idea.
Yeah. And, I mean, we don't want to really scare our audience here because we're thinking of all the different possibilities of things going wrong. And the idea here is when you know what can go wrong, you can prevent it, right? I mean, you might not be 100% able to prevent it, but at least thinking ahead and thinking, okay, this is what typically can happen in a travel situation. So let's prevent what we can prevent. Right?
Exactly. So I had a couple of listeners actually email in. Yeah.
Because we love your feedback. We love to know what you think, what you'd like us to cover, and if you have any questions. We just love audience participation because that helps us to know what you need and how you're doing and what's going on in your travel world. And I know everybody is just itching to get out of this cold up here in the northeast. It is cold right now, and.
Oh.
Boy, I think a lot of us are thinking about warmer places that we'd rather be right now.
I definitely am. Yeah. Okay. So listener Janae wrote in, hi, Janae. Thank you for listening. And she was just asking what my favorite place to go was for a vacation. And that's kind of a complicated answer because it depends on what I want to get out on my vacation. But I think if I had to really pick one place that I could just go and do over and over and over and over again, I think it would honestly have to be perfect day at Cococay, which is Royal Caribbean's private island. That is my absolute hands down favorite. I could visit that island every single day and there would be something new for me to do and to discover. So I think that one is my favorite place I've ever been to. What about you, Lynn?
I haven't traveled far, but I have to say I really like Lewis, Delaware. It's just a beautiful little place and it's close to me, and it's a very quaint little town, although it is getting built up like a lot of the beach towns are.
Yeah, maybe we talked about that a couple of months ago.
Yeah, Avalon is another place, but Avalon.
That'S what it was.
More of a family place and.
Just.
Average people and very beautiful and very nice.
Nice. That is wonderful. Well, that was the only listener write in question that I had. I did have a couple of other listeners email me this month and just had some questions for me, and I appreciate that. One of them, I was not able to help. She had been asking about flights and if I had any experience with a particular airline, and I was like, well, I really have not had any personal experience with this one. I can't really help you too much as far as that goes, so I apologize about that. But I do like to be a straight shooter. If I don't know the answer to your question, I'll figure it out. If I'm not able to help you, then hopefully I can direct you somewhere that can. But like Lynn said, we love to hear your feedback and I hope that you all have a wonderful month. I hope to hear from you soon, and I will see you back here in March.
Sounds good. Get those passports ready, everybody.
Thanks for listening. If you're planning a trip or are interested in my complimentary planning services, if you have any questions or suggestions for the show, please give me a call at 317-694-4023 or shoot me an email at Katie K-A-T-I-E white, spelled just like the color@mmvagent.com. See you next time.
This has been a new production. For more, check out.