When you head out to catch a flight to Canada, what’s the one thing you shouldn’t leave home without? Hint: It’s not your American Express card! It’s your US passport, which you’ll need to get on the flight.

Evan Longoria, the third baseman for the Tampa Rays, found that out the hard way when he tried to catch a charter flight with his teammates to Toronto. As he explained to the St. Petersburg Times, “First road trip of the year into Toronto, I packed everything, I was up early, took my dog for a walk and just didn’t even think about bringing my passport.”

Fortunately for him, he was traveling with a sports team on their own chartered flight, so the team simply waited at the airport until someone showed up with his passport. His trip wasn’t ruined; he just has to deal with the VERY public razzing of his teammates, one of whom immediately took to Twitter to make fun of him. Meanwhile, team manager Joe Maddon told the St. Petersburg Times that Longoria “probably owes somebody or all of us some kind of a meal or something. We’ll figure out something. … There’s got to be some kind of due punishment.”

This story would have a had a much less happy ending if you or I had shown up at the airport without a passport. Most people don’t have access to a private chartered plane, after all, and commercial airlines won’t wait for your passport to be brought to you. Plus, if you miss your flight, you’re likely to be on the hook for all sorts of hefty change fees. The best thing to do is to check and make sure you know where your passport is at least a month before you plan to leave. Then, put it somewhere safe.

That way, if your passport isn’t where you thought it was you’ll have time to locate it or get it replaced. Regular processing takes at least six weeks, and expedited processing from the Department of State takes at least three. If you get caught without a passport at the last minute, you’ll have to either make an appointment at the nearest US passport agency office, or use a private company like RushMyPassport.

We’ll walk you through the application process and then personally hand your paperwork over to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours without the hassle of travel to a passport agency office.

For fast US passport processing, contact us today!