Passport Cards vs Passport Books
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008Somewhere out in cyberspace (or it could have been a print magazine, we do still read those) we recently read an article about traveling to the Caribbean, an article that noted how convenient the new passport card will be to those flying to and from the several countries in that part of the world.
First of all, for those of you who don’t even know what a passport card is, the card, similar in style and size to a drivers license, will be available any day now (so says the government). Applications are being accepted online; the cards were created in response to “border communities” that complained of the expense for passports for what is, for them, sometimes daily travel. These new cards, with their ability to be shoved into a wallet, are also a lot more portable.
BUT – and this is a huge one – those passport cards may ONLY BE USED FOR LAND AND SEA ENTRY. Got that? Land and sea, people – no planes, no flying.
We felt compelled to post about this because the article, from big-name media, no less, talked this card up for fliers – and they got it wrong. Can you say FACT-CHECK? It says right on the State Department’s website, in bold, that it can’t be used for air travel. Now, chances are if you read this website regularly, you already have a passport, in which case you don’t really need a card. The passport card is a nice gimmick, we guess – but of no real use to us, and we doubt to you either.
Don’t take our word for it, though – get more information on the passport card directly from the US government, and decide for yourself.
Happy travels!