cheap flights

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cheap flights

Postby wendy » Aug 16, 2006 8:15 pm

Expedia.com is having a sale but it ends on August 18th, but there are some super good deals. I just need to figure out where I want to go :-)
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Postby Nico » Aug 17, 2006 7:59 pm

how bout Mexico? capital of the world
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Postby wendy » Aug 17, 2006 8:08 pm

But i don't have a passport, i guess i need to get one
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Postby Nico » Aug 17, 2006 11:44 pm

not if you fly to texas and cross the border walking or in a car, you just need something like a birth cert. voters reg card or something like that, next year you'll need one tho, here's a link from the texas speleo assn. where they tell you what you need. http://cavetexas.org/mexico/getinmx.html
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Postby wendy » Aug 20, 2006 5:15 pm

Nico wrote:not if you fly to texas and cross the border walking or in a car, you just need something like a birth cert. voters reg card or something like that, next year you'll need one tho, here's a link from the texas speleo assn. where they tell you what you need. http://cavetexas.org/mexico/getinmx.html


i thought that they changed the rules last year and now you need a passport
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Postby Evan G » Aug 20, 2006 5:27 pm

Hey Wendy,

I just looked up your question, main because I want to head down over Christmas. Here is what I found:


U.S. Dept. of State

link: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: The Government of Mexico requires that all U.S. citizens present proof of citizenship and photo identification for entry into Mexico. However, some U.S. citizens have encountered difficulty in boarding flights in Mexico without a passport. The U.S. Embassy recommends traveling with a valid U.S. passport to avoid delays or misunderstandings. A lost or stolen passport is easier to replace when outside of the United States than other evidence of citizenship. However, U.S. citizenship documents such as a certified copy (not a simple photocopy or facsimile) of a U.S. birth certificate, a Naturalization Certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or a Certificate of Citizenship are acceptable. U.S. citizens boarding flights to Mexico should be prepared to present one of these documents as proof of U.S. citizenship, along with photo identification, such as a state or military issued ID. Driver's licenses and permits, voter registration cards, affidavits and similar documents are not sufficient to prove citizenship for readmission into the United States.

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requires that by January 1, 2008, travelers to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada have a passport or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter the United States.

As of January 8, 2007, this requirement will apply to all air and sea travel to or from Mexico. As of December 31, 2007, this requirement will be extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.



There is more on the website
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Postby tropicalbats » Aug 22, 2006 1:54 am

wendy wrote:But i don't have a passport, i guess i need to get one


Yes, anyone who is thinking that they might travel anywhere out of the US in the next ten years should get a passport. There are some countries that do not require it, but the idea is probably to return to the US at the end of your trip. If you lose everything you go with, the one thing you can fairly easily get is a new passport, and you can't get back into the US with just a drivers license or a note from your mom.

Travel can and probably should be occasionally a spur of the moment idea. It's worth it. So get a passport now and head out without worry.

Of note, if you do lose your passport abroad, the embassy ain't gonna send a car to pick you up and fix your problem. You have to go to them and it will take some time for them to make a new one. Just a hint to guard your passport above all else. But if you are travelling in Mexico with a birth certificate, and lose it, you will have LOTS of time to enjoy the local scenery before you can get a new one sent to you. I have been to Mexico both ways, and felt much better with the passport.

FYI, go to Mexico, it's a really great place to tool around and has fabulous caves.

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Postby wendy » Aug 22, 2006 9:22 am

oh while I am thinking about it and we are talking abuot passports, I was on a cruise to Mexico once, and I was cave diving, while in the cave, our vehicle was broken into and my backpack with id was taken (at that time a driver's license was good enough for cruises to mexico). SO Now I had nothing to say who i was or anything. But luckily I had my expired passport and a cert copy of my birth certificate in my cabin on the ship. The cruise line said they would rather see expired passports than a current Driver's license anyway. I thought that was interesting.
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Postby Scott McCrea » Aug 22, 2006 9:28 am

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001308.php

This link suggests that you make color copy of your passport and hide/secure/tuck away your real one, as recommended by the US Passport Agency.
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Postby tropicalbats » Aug 23, 2006 12:47 am

Scott, to be clear, the US official line is to make copies of your documents. That site suggests forging your own documents and passing them off as the real thing. Not a minor difference.

I'm not sure I'd try to go passing off a passport copy as a form of ID (spending a few hours trying to explain why you forged your own documents would suck), but it is an interesting idea. Something a bit easier is to make high-quality scans of your documents and then email them to yourself in a web-based email like hotmail. You then can lose everything overseas but still have access to information that will quickly let a US Consulate make you a new passport.

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Postby Teresa » Aug 23, 2006 1:39 am

tropicalbats wrote:
I'm not sure I'd try to go passing off a passport copy as a form of ID (spending a few hours trying to explain why you forged your own documents would suck), but it is an interesting idea. Something a bit easier is to make high-quality scans of your documents and then email them to yourself in a web-based email like hotmail. You then can lose everything overseas but still have access to information that will quickly let a US Consulate make you a new passport. Keith


When my aunt did the world tour of Europe, she color photocopied EVERYTHING (all her travel documents) and left the copies with me in the States. We didn't need them, but this accomplished two things:
1) She had copies of all her documents, though she had the originals (both certified birth certificate and passport and visa) with her.
2) If there were a problem, and I had to go to the US Consulate to straighten it out, having the papers left in the States, in the hands of a US Citizen with the same last name would make straightening out the mess somewhat simpler to the burrocrats than someone without papers approaching a consulate in a strange country.

If, god forbid, one has to do a body recovery, or deal with someone who is ill and not capable, having papers on both ends helps to alleviate burrocratic tape.
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Postby Wayne Harrison » Aug 23, 2006 6:07 am

My in-laws are frequent world travelers. They had us color copy our passports and leave a copy with a friend in the U.S. and carry an extra copy with us on the trip, in case our passports were stolen.
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