Labor Day is just around the corner, and if you renew your passport now, you can take advantage of some incredible travel deals for one last hurrah before the summer is over.
For example, Jaunted has posted a list of awesome, cheap excursions, such as 4 nights in the Bahamas for $299 per person, including airfare. There are also some wonderful deals on Labor Day cruises, with cruises to the Bahamas as low as $229 person, Mexico cruises as low as $299, and a cruise to Monaco and Italy for only $599.
Meanwhile, this post gives you the scoop on how to rush a passport and save big on a trip to Barbados.
If you decide to leave the country on a whim this Labor Day, make sure you check the expiration date on your passport. US passports are good for 10 years (as long as you were 16 or older when it was issued), so it’s easy to lose track of when it’s time to renew.
All the trips I just mentioned do require a passport, except perhaps cruising to the Bahamas and Mexico. Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, travelers on closed-loop cruises (cruises that begin and end at the same US port) to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean can bring government-issued photo ID and a copy of their birth certificates. However, traveling to or from these countries by plane requires a passport no matter what the circumstances, so it’s still best to have one with you in case you need to fly home for an emergency.
If you do need to renew your passport on short notice, don’t give up on your dream vacation just yet. It’s definitely possible to get a passport quickly. It just takes a little bit of extra time and effort.
Regular passport processing takes about 6 weeks, which is obviously too long of a wait if you want to go anywhere for Labor Day. Expedited passport processing through the Department of State takes about 3 weeks. However, there are other options. One option is simply to make an appointment to renew your passport at a Regional Passport Agency office, if there is one nearby. You must have a confirmed itinerary to show you will be leaving the country in the next 14 days, and you’ll have to make an appointment.
A quicker, easier option is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport. We personally deliver your passport application to the Department of State, for processing times as low as 24 hours.