April 9: The easiest day of the year to get a passport

By Kaeli Conforti
October 3, 2012

If you need a passport (or are due for a renewal of an existing passport), you'll want to take advantage of the U.S. State Department's "Passport Day in the USA" coming up this Saturday, April 9th.

In a press release, the U.S. State Department said, "For this day only, no appointment is necessary," making it easier for everyday folks with busy Monday to Friday schedules to get their passport paperwork taken care of. You can search for a passport acceptance facility or one of 24 regional passport agencies near you on the U.S. Department of State website.

Here are some things you'll need to keep in mind when applying for—or renewing—your passport this year:

Starting April 1st of this year, there is a new requirement for those applying for the first time: The full names of both parents of the applicant must be listed on the certified U.S. birth certificate. This USA Today article explains more about the new rule, including important information concerning single parents and adopted applicants.

First time applicants should also pay attention to passport photo requirements. Drug stores like CVS and Walgreens offer passport photo services, usually for less than $10.

The typical passport book costs $135 for anyone over the age of 16 and $105 for ages 15 and under. This document serves as your ticket to the world, while for $55 you can apply for a passport card ($40 for those 15 and under), which allows you to travel by land and sea to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. It should be noted that the passport card cannot be used for air travel to these countries.

As of right now, it takes 6-8 weeks to receive your passport from the day you apply. For an additional charge of $60, plus the $12.72 for overnight delivery that is "strongly recommended" by the State Department, you do have the option of expediting the delivery, but even this can take 2-3 weeks door-to-door.

If you were over the age of 16 when you first got your passport, there is no need for renewal for 10 years, however passports for those under age 15 are only valid for five years. Currently, it costs $110 to renew a passport book and $30 to renew a passport card. It is always important to plan ahead, especially since some countries might not let you into their borders if you're due for renewal within six months.

Last year, over 13.8 million passports were issued, including about 1.5 million passport cards. We want to know, do you have a U.S. passport? Which stamps do you have in yours?

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Three credit card sign-up offers can earn you hundreds of thousands of frequent flier miles. But you have to act fast. These are the three most generous rewards we've ever seen. These cards are the speediest ways to earn free overseas trips. Until now, the best offer we've ever seen was in November 2009, when the British Airways Visa Signature Card invited new card-members to sign up and earn up to 100,000 miles with just a small amount of spending. For comparison's sake, the best sign-up card bonus is typically 25,000 miles. Well, that amazing deal is back. Earn 50,000 bonus miles after your first purchase and another 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 to your card within the first three months. British Airways allows "households" to pool their miles for an award. So two people each sign up for the card, and the combined totals can earn a reward. Another perk: The miles can be redeemed on flights on BA's One World partner, American Airlines. Award availability on British Airways is "outstanding", especially for upgrading one class, reports Reuters. In another perk, the card has no foreign exchange fee for foreign purchases. But the card does charge a $75 annual fee. The offer is obviously subject to credit approval. New cardholders only are accepted. If a customer does not qualify for a British Airways Signature Visa, they may qualify for a British Airways Platinum Visa. Both cards have the same enhanced earn rate and the same premium bonus offer (100,000 miles). There is not any other alternative card—customers either qualify for the British Airways Signature or Platinum cards (both of which have the same bonus and new earn rate) or they are declined and do not receive any card. Sign up at the British Airways Visa Signature Card site. Another tempting offer is from Citibank's AAdvantage card. Score 75,000 American Airlines miles with a card that can be applied for only by telephone at 800-408-4954. Spend $4,000 in the first 6 months, and you'll receive 75,000 miles. The $85 annual fee is waived in the first year. If you don't think you can charge that much in six months, there are two alternate offers with lower bonus amounts that might be better for you (see here). You still have to pay foreign currency conversion charges of up to 3 percent when making purchases abroad. UPDATE: The following deal has since expired. You gotta act fast! Capital One has a 110,000-mile bonus credit card sign-up offer. It's worth $1,100 in travel after spending just $1,000 in three months, through a status match on miles earned in other air card programs. There's no annual fee the first year, $59 in the second. Earn double miles on on every purchase. Redeem miles on any airline via any travel site. Just add two zeros to the price of your travel to find out how many points you'll need to receive the equal credit reimbursement on your card. For instance, a $189 ticket on United would require 18,900 points. Like the BA card, there are no foreign currency transaction fees on purchases made overseas. Sign up at the Capital One Venture Rewards card site. There's a catch to all of these programs, of course. Fuel surcharges may be included in a free ticket, as Christopher Elliott has reported. So, for example, on a San Francisco to London roundtrip flight on British Airways, a "free" ticket might actually cost around $400 (or higher) in fuel surcharges on the mileage-award ticket. But, still, you would be saving more than $400 off the actual price of the ticket. And, as always, the best way to max out frequent flier miles is in purchasing upgrades to business class seats. Act now, because these programs will end soon. The British Airways program ends May 6, 2011, for example. But any of them may end sooner if they follow the unpredictable, standard life-cycle of such promotions. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Budget Travel's shortcuts to earning frequent flier miles Citibank and Chase drop foreign exchange fees on some cards Expedia reveals rewards program details Air miles hard to earn? Not with new card bonuses

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The U.S. State Department has softened the wording of its Egypt travel warning, and consequently more travel companies are returning to the destination following the 18-day revolution earlier this year that led to a mass exodus of tourists. The State Department now urges U.S. citizens to consider the risks rather than to avoid all non-essential travel to the North African country, which the previous warning recommended. The travel warning, which is still a "warning" and has not yet been downgraded to an "alert" (for more on the difference see What to do when the State Department issues a travel alert), reports that the security situation in popular tourism destinations such as Luxor, Aswan, and the Red Sea resorts, are calm. Also, all airports are open and operating, but travelers should be in touch with their airlines or tour operators regarding flight schedules, the State Department advises. The U.S. government also cautions travelers that "elements of the Egyptian government responsible for ensuring security and public safety are not fully reconstituted and are still in the process of being reorganized. Until the redeployment of Egyptian civilian police is fully restored, police response to emergency requests for assistance or reports of crime may be delayed." Trafalgar Tours announced that it would be recommencing its Egypt program on May 1 "as events in Egypt continue to stabilize," the company said. Trafalgar noted that it took into consideration the updated State Department travel warning to Egypt. Most major tour operators have now said they will start up their Egypt programs again, including Globus, Big Five Tours & Expeditions, Central Holidays, Great Safaris, Abercrombie & Kent, Insight Vacations, Grand Circle Travel, Overseas Adventure Travel, and Isramworld. Many have been able to renegotiate better rates in light of the dearth of tourists right now, and many are offering discounted pricing to the destination. Trafalgar is offering discounts of up to $165 per person off their current brochure prices for land-only vacations; and Central Holidays is offering a $100 per person discount for new bookings made on any Egypt cruise or land program for travel in 2011. More from Budget Travel: Less salt in the wound: Solo traveler savings 95% of Americans plan to travel more in 2011 Riots in Egypt: How much can travel insurance help?

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No more waiting in line at the concession stand

The ubiquity of apps happened rapidly and quietly, ending the days when telephones were used only to converse. Suddenly, seemingly overnight, there were apps for just about everything—apps to help you locate Girl Scout cookies and public restrooms, apps to convert currency, language, and clothing size, and apps to help you organize travel plans. And now there is an app that lets you...just sit there: Next time you travel to a sporting event, skip that whole waiting in line at the concession stand business and order food directly to your seat. Yorder (previously called iConcessionStand) is a free mobile-app for iPhones and Android phones. The idea behind the app is simple: sports fans can order food, beverages, and merchandise from their seat and about 15-20 minutes later receive their order without missing a minute of the game. So far the app is only available for San Jose's Earthquakes games at the Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara. The app relies on location-aware technology to locate fans in the 10,000+ seat stadium. Fans can order from the food and drink menus at the stadium's two concession stands, and make a payment through their PayPal account. (A $1 per-transaction fee applies to each order.) The food is provided by Bon Appetit and delivered approximately 15-20 minutes later. Later in the season, fans will be able to order food from the gourmet food trucks that the team brings in for home games. Although this technology is only available at one stadium so far, the app (and its inevitable evolutionary offspring) could very well revolutionize the way we visit sports events, concerts and even theme parks. And as much as I hate the idea of missing a single moment of the game, I wonder if this technology will actually change the way we experience such outings. For me, going to a sporting event is never about just the game; I have always found the atmosphere equally intriguing: The inevitable brawl in the stands between rowdy fans, the mass crowd 'waves', and yes, even the long queues for a $10 pint of beer. Are we creating a future where a $1 surcharge lets you sit back and let someone else do the dirty work? Will we eventually be able to schedule the exact time we ride a roller coaster or use a public restroom? Will queuing in line no longer be relevant? Maybe...but thankfully, not yet. What do you think? Are apps helping too much? — Madeline Grimes MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: The Ultimate App Tool Kit iPhone: Travel apps picked by an iPhone expert The World's Best Street Food

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