Flying from USA to Canada, Have passports as of Jan 2007

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/11...2197378-cp.html

OTTAWA (CP) - The Bush administration is telling vacationers to bring their passports with them or they might get stuck at the border after the holidays.

Anyone travelling by air between Canada and the United States as of Jan. 8 will need a passport, said U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins.

The U.S. Congress agreed to delay a passport requirement for land travellers across the border until June 2009 at the latest.

Wilkins said the different requirements for those travelling by air and land is leading to confusion.

"I'm really concerned about some of the mixed messages out there," Wilkins said during a speech at the National Press Club.

"I urge all Canadians and all Americans to get a passport."

American officials are particularly worried about some air travellers getting stranded after the busy Christmas holiday period if they return after Jan. 8.

U.S. travellers do appear to be getting the message. Since the Sept. 11 airliner attacks, the number of Americans holding passports has jumped to 70 million from 30 million.

The Canadian government has lobbied ferociously against the more rigid U.S. security requirements. Tourism officials are predicting losses of millions of dollars in travel business if another hurdle is placed in front of Americans considering travelling to Canada.

[David and Karen 0]

I've been following this for months while it has been in the works. My thought is this....just apply for the passport already! It makes things more efficient at the border. I dunno if it makes the border patrol officials job easier but it sure limits all the stuff the individual has to pull out.

And living in Canada we know if you want something like this....apply early! The wait is sure to be long to process. I imagine longer as people prepare for this change.

[payxibka 10,045]

Does anyone know what the current statistic is for Americans and Canadians who do not yet possess a current passport?

[Caladan 19]

I thought more Americans than that already had passports! That's only 10%.

I worry about the effect on tourism, too. To take one little example, my high school band occasionally included Toronto as one of the options for the yearly 'band trip.' Now, if they wanted to drive to Toronto in 2008, the 250 kids travelling would all have to get passports at $100 a pop, and the band organizers would have to keep the teenagers from losing their passports.

Pretty sure that means the band'll just go somewhere else, you know? Same thing with a lot of other stuff. Most Americans haven't needed a passport to decide to travel to Banff or Jasper or Niagara Falls or Vancouver, to say nothing of all the commerce along the border, and now, if the option is to go to Canada on your family vacation and get the family all passports or just drive somewhere in the U.S., people aren't going to spend the extra cash.

[payxibka 10,045]

I thought more Americans than that already had passports! That's only 10%.

I worry about the effect on tourism, too. To take one little example, my high school band occasionally included Toronto as one of the options for the yearly 'band trip.' Now, if they wanted to drive to Toronto in 2008, the 250 kids travelling would all have to get passports at $100 a pop, and the band organizers would have to keep the teenagers from losing their passports.

Pretty sure that means the band'll just go somewhere else, you know? Same thing with a lot of other stuff. Most Americans haven't needed a passport to decide to travel to Banff or Jasper or Niagara Falls or Vancouver, to say nothing of all the commerce along the border, and now, if the option is to go to Canada on your family vacation and get the family all passports or just drive somewhere in the U.S., people aren't going to spend the extra cash.

The cost of the passport is not an annual cost but a 5 or 10 year investment plus once you have sunk the $$$ in getting it then you may be inclined to do something else in the future. I did not get a passport until 3 years ago and I travelled exclusively in the US. Now that I have it, I have made 9 international trips in the last three years (and rarely think about a domestic trip anymore). Something I would never have considered unless I had made that original investment.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I'm suprised more people do not have them. Can be a pain in the butt to fill out the forms, but not all that bad. Process of getting a Canadian passport is normally pretty quick. LAst One I got was in 2004, and I had it delivered to me in less than 2 weeks.

[hockeygal 0]

I can see that a high school band would probably skip a trip to Canada, but overall I don't think tourism will suffer that much. People who can afford to travel can afford a passport. If they can't, they probably aren't spending huge sums on the economy anyhow.

[girl 37 7]

I thought more Americans than that already had passports! That's only 10%.

I worry about the effect on tourism, too. To take one little example, my high school band occasionally included Toronto as one of the options for the yearly 'band trip.' Now, if they wanted to drive to Toronto in 2008, the 250 kids travelling would all have to get passports at $100 a pop, and the band organizers would have to keep the teenagers from losing their passports.

Pretty sure that means the band'll just go somewhere else, you know? Same thing with a lot of other stuff. Most Americans haven't needed a passport to decide to travel to Banff or Jasper or Niagara Falls or Vancouver, to say nothing of all the commerce along the border, and now, if the option is to go to Canada on your family vacation and get the family all passports or just drive somewhere in the U.S., people aren't going to spend the extra cash.

The Victoria Day Parade in Victoria will suck. I was surprised at how many marching / cheerleader-type bands come up from WA (maybe because there aren't many in BC?). If they don't participate there won't be much left. I can't imagine all those parents wanting to or having the means to fork out cash for passports.

[Caladan 19]

I can see that a high school band would probably skip a trip to Canada, but overall I don't think tourism will suffer that much. People who can afford to travel can afford a passport. If they can't, they probably aren't spending huge sums on the economy anyhow.

I disagree. 'People who can afford to travel' doesn't include a lot of the driving traffic. Lots of Americans take vacations by driving, and that's relatively inexpensive, and that's quite a lot of the middle class with kids. I can see people deciding not to drive to Niagara Falls in favor of somewhere else due to the passport cost.

It's not an annual cost, but if it's an extra cost on a leisure activity, that's a cost many people who *do* travel I think will not want to incur. I don't know how close to the edge most tourist industries live, but it might not take much (a 5% reduction?) to cause problems in the short term.

[Reba 2]

well at least we could try to convince our own families to get passports, so that everyone can freely go back and forth to visit.

If they'd have gone to get it when this was first announced way back 5 years ago, they'd be having to apply for a new one already

[DeadPoolX 9]

I disagree. 'People who can afford to travel' doesn't include a lot of the driving traffic. Lots of Americans take vacations by driving, and that's relatively inexpensive, and that's quite a lot of the middle class with kids. I can see people deciding not to drive to Niagara Falls in favor of somewhere else due to the passport cost.

It's not an annual cost, but if it's an extra cost on a leisure activity, that's a cost many people who *do* travel I think will not want to incur. I don't know how close to the edge most tourist industries live, but it might not take much (a 5% reduction?) to cause problems in the short term.

For people who wish to travel by land or sea, there's the newly proposed Passport Travel Card in the works. It doesn't do a lick of good for those of us who want (or need) to travel by air, but those people or families who are traveling by car or taking a cruise, it's a much cheaper alternative to getting a full-fledged passport.

I've already got a passport and mine won't be up until 2015, so I'm pretty much set. My fiancee, on the other hand, has been having a hell of a time getting her passport in Canada. I think the Canadian government makes it far too difficult and expensive to get a passport that's only good for five years. In the U.S., passports are much easier to acquire (no guarantor or references needed, for instance) and it's good for a time period of ten years. The only downside is that the U.S. Passport Office takes about six weeks to mail your passport back to you, and they suggest you apply at least three months before your trip, as opposed to the supposed 10 day turn-around on Canadian passports.

[belenday 0]

I just got back from an October trip to see my sweetie in Toronto and just so happens I forgot my passport. I was out of luck without: expired passport or certified birth certificate and a valid government id (drivers license). Luckily my brother was able to get my passport to me.

I would say get your passport asap.