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No Passport Required ... Puerto Rico

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by ken2v, Jul 11, 2014.

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  1. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Recent PR ad campaigns are touting the no-passport ease of traveling there for U.S. citizens. OK.

    But is it REALLY that much of a hassle to get a passport?
     
  2. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    If you don’t already have one then getting one is infinitely more difficult and annoying than doing nothing. :evillaugh

    I haven’t seen any of the ads. Is it possible that they're going for a “we’re not like those other Caribbean islands…we’re one of you guys!” type thing?
     
  3. flyguyfl

    flyguyfl MIA

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    Should be no problem with an acceptable photo, proper paperwork and a few bucks. It's not an overnight process but not really too bad a wait.
    On a side note I had three at one time.... civil and two government (one just for Israel and another for Muslim countries)
     
  4. rvallez6

    rvallez6 MIA

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    If it is combined with the fact that you wouldn't need to go through customs to and from Puerto Rico, then i think that is worth choosing over other options. Its not hard to get a passport, but it can get expensive especially if you lag on it and need it expedited. I had to get a passport a couple months ago, it was close to $500 for myself and my daughter. My wife had to get one too, but her's was cheaper as she is a US resident, and a Mexican citizen.
     
  5. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Hey, I'm all for Puerto Rico tourism. Good good good. Hell, maybe we'll go there some day.

    But are there really people who'd go there as opposed to some other offshore locale SIMPLY because it doesn't require a passport? I mean, I know people who'll never get a passport because as they've told me "ain't nothin' worth seein' if I can't see it in America." But they also don't strike me as the type who'd do PR simply because it's an "unincorporated territory" and no passport is required.

    A passport is easy and rather inexpensive to get. Putting it another way, the car registration gets a lot more expensive when it's filed after the expiry date. Can't travel and won't travel are not the same thing. The first type don't need a passport.

    P.S. Speaking of customs. Damn, that was awesome two weeks back going through customs in Calgary. Might be American soil at that point, American agents, but it was much more like a refreshing Canadian experience than an exasperating American experience. It was like the last time I drove over the border: EZ and friendly going north, I got the third degree coming HOME.
     
  6. bta15

    bta15 Tourist

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    I'll play devils advocate. I have a wife and 3 kids without passports.it would cost me $600-800 to get them passports. I travel to Hawaii every year cuz I don't want to spend the time/money to get them passports. So I think it is nice to have another option.
     
  7. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Time and money are both concepts that only have value to each of us personally. For me, the passport is worth it. Just too easy and too many opportunities it seems to go some place it's needed; even Canada and Mexico now. I appreciate your devil's advocacy, however. Thanks.
     
  8. Kickin

    Kickin Flea

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    I think this is it.

    Puerto Rico is beautiful and I think its a good strategy to remind people its (kind of) part of the US. It makes it a much easier decision as a vacation destination for a lot of people. I don't know what the process is like to get a passport, I've had one since childhood, but whatever it is it is going to be another issue for some people to think about. Just like you might think twice about going to a country if it takes a long time (and money) to get a visa to go there. If you really wanted to go you'd do it, but Puerto Rico is probably not a place on most people's bucket list so I think its smart to remind them that it is a convenient Caribbean option for Americans.
     
  9. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    In my travels while in the Navy, my ship was homeported out of Guam. If I ever had the cash to go again (roundtrip flights are around $2500+) I would go back in a heartbeat. It is gorgeous there, and since it is a territory like PR, no passport is required.
     
  10. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    It costs like $100 doesn't it, and then you have to renew it every 5 or 10 years, hassle, no, but it's certainly a consideration.
     
  11. C0usineddie

    C0usineddie VIP Whale

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    I think it just makes it seem like its safer and less foreign and scary for people who might have not considered it before.
     
  12. melbedewy

    melbedewy MIA

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    Including pictures, new passports will set back a family of 4 around $700. For most of America that is very much a hassle.
     
  13. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    Do you need passports to enter these other countries or just to return? As I recall when I entered mexico a long time ago you just drive in with the guy waving you through.
     
  14. Alhanalasa

    Alhanalasa Low-Roller

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    It isn't always a matter of hassle. My husband hasn't renewed his passport in order to avoid getting sent to some very dodgy places for business. I keep putting off renewing mine until I can lose a few pounds. (Besides, am I really going out of the country without my husband? Not likely.) I absolutely have plans to go back to Europe, but it's nice to have options until that works out.
     
  15. rvallez6

    rvallez6 MIA

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    If I get to go to.PR and it's treated as a domestic trip compared to Mexico.. then yes
    .. I would take that trip... The extra hour or so each way due to customs... I'd take the trip to PR in a heaetbeat
     
  16. lotso-bear

    lotso-bear VIP Whale

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    Personally, I don't know why people don't want to get a passport. There are more interesting and unique places to visit than the Caribbeans. You're paying $140 ($5 for photo) for a passport that's valid for ten years, so $14 each year... for us degenerate gamblers that's nothing.
     
  17. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    You leave the states, you need a passport or passport card, the latter of which is good for sea or land travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas and the Carib.
     
  18. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Oh, but times that by two parents and the kids ...

    You've put it in a very good context, l-b.

    As I said above, lotsa folks see no reason to leave the cozy confines, and that's fine, their choice. But in the grand scheme of travel, the cost of a passport is nada. And even for first-timers it's a breeze since so many places have been designated as acceptance facilities. Hell, we have several in this little burg.
     
  19. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    I've had a passport app filled out for a couple years ago. The idea of dealing with the appropriate civil servants to get it done is just enough to make you want to stay domestic. If you didn't need one to go to Canada, I could safely say I would never ever get one.
     
  20. lotso-bear

    lotso-bear VIP Whale

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    Definitely understandable but when people mention going to Hawaii instead it doesn't make sense since airfares to Hawaii can be out of this world, especially from the East Coast (ex. New York). Most of the time It would be cheaper to just buy a ticket to Europe and pay for the passport fees.

    After living in different areas of the US, I've noticed not many people from the Midwest have passports versus those in the Northeast and Pac. NW.
     
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