Price of US Passport May Be Going Up

[TaoJones]

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the cost to obtain or renew a US passport may be going up . . . a lot. From the story in the Times:

* * *

Your passport may soon cost $35 more



"If you’re planning a foreign trip this year, here’s my advice: Get or renew your passport now. That’s because if the U.S. State Department has its way, passport application fees will soon take a big jump."

* * *

To read the entire story, go to:

Your passport may soon cost $35 more - Travel - LATimes.com

TaoJones

[bobfnbw]

Its crazy. As a taxpayer and citizen, I should not have to pay zip for this.
My first passport was over 25 years ago, and never used it. waste of my money.

[Stillraining]

I fish in Canada every year so I got an Enhanced Drivers licence...its good for both Canada and Mexico land or sea but not by air.

The 85.00 increase to add Visa pages seems ridiculously high when they have been free all this time.

The loans are being called due folks...were going to see more then this come to pass...stay tuned.

[cdennyb]

if things continue to go the way they are, you may wish you had a passport to be able to leave before you can't.

[Unicorn Dreams]

WOW,
$3.50 PER YEAR

[Stillraining]

Ya I know....It gonna bankrupt me...

[TaoJones]

It isn't $3.50, it's $35.00 - an increase of 35% over the current $100.

TaoJones

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

It isn't $3.50, it's $35.00 - an increase of 35% over the current $100.

TaoJones

$35 for a 10 year passport = $3.50/year.
When compared with the price of travel these days, this is trivial - kind of like checking another bag on the flight. Aren't there other more important things about which you could complain?

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

$35 for a 10 year passport = $3.50/year.
When compared with the price of travel these days, this is trivial - kind of like checking another bag on the flight. Aren't there other more important things about which you could complain?

Cruisers Forum exists to serve as a conduit for the sharing of information and experiences revolving around the cruising lifestyle. While wasting money may be something you're comfortable doing, I know there are CF members who would prefer to buy something for $100 instead of paying $135 for the same thing, and who were unaware of the price increase until reading about it in this thread.

The fact that the cost of a passport was increased from $60 to $85 in 2002, then was further increased to $100, and now will be going to $135 should suggest to anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of trend analysis that this will undoubtedly not be the last such increase. And where a family of four would have spent $240 for their passports prior to the price increase in 2002, those same four passports would cost them $540 after this increase, or $400 beforehand. Easy decision, seems to me.

So while it may be trivial to some, to others it might well be very important. I don't apologize for providing information that may help a thrifty cruiser save something for the cruising kitty, rather than giving it to the government.

TaoJones

[scook1]

This is a pretty unfortunate change. I just renewed a few months ago, and was surprised by the cost. The extra $35 will not be the end of the world, but it sure is annoying. I wish that we could encourage travel by making it easier.
Spencer

[Ziggy]

The current application fee for passport renewal by mail is $75.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

Cruisers Forum exists to serve as a conduit for the sharing of information and experiences revolving around the cruising lifestyle. While wasting money may be something you're comfortable doing, I know there are CF members who would prefer to buy something for $100 instead of paying $135 for the same thing, and who were unaware of the price increase until reading about it in this thread.

The fact that the cost of a passport was increased from $60 to $85 in 2002, then was further increased to $100, and now will be going to $135 should suggest to anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of trend analysis that this will undoubtedly not be the last such increase. And where a family of four would have spent $240 for their passports prior to the price increase in 2002, those same four passports would cost them $540 after this increase, or $400 beforehand. Easy decision, seems to me.

So while it may be trivial to some, to others it might well be very important. I don't apologize for providing information that may help a thrifty cruiser save something for the cruising kitty, rather than giving it to the government.

TaoJones

I'm merely pointing out that over the ten year period of a passport life, you would incur a cost of a little over $3 per year. Retrospective price increases seem to me to be something over which anyone without a time machine has little control.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Ziggy

The current application fee for passport renewal by mail is $75.

And if the proposed increase goes into effect, the renewal fee will increase to $110, while the $85 fee for a minor's passport will increase to $105.

TaoJones

[maxingout]

I lived overseas for 28 years. I never received any services from the US Embassy in any country that I did not pay a fee for the service.

Raising the charge to pay for services is bogus.

When we were evacuated out of Riyadh during Gulf War I during the bombardment of Riyadh with scud missiles, the Embassy charged us $650 per person to get on an empty Air Force transport plane that was flying to Europe empty so that it could pick up another load of war material to transport to Riyadh. For our family of four, the evacuation cost $2600. To top it off, they stamped my wife's passport invalid for further travel until they received full payment of the $2600.

Services from the US Embassy? In my experience, they are totally fee based overseas, and usually it is like a trip to the dentist to get them to do anything at all.

[savoir]

Sheeeeesh ! What a bunch of whiners. You guys need to find a cheap country and move there - either that or quit travelling.

http://www.ips.gov.uk/cps/files/ips/...web)v3_(2).pdf