Wavehelp's online insurance site serves two important purposes. WaveHelp Insurance provides affordable health insurance, short term health insurance, travel health insurance and trip delay / cancellation insurance in an easy web-based way. At the same time, WaveHelp Insurance provides a way to generate on-going funds for humanitarian relief to the victims of hurricanes, floods, and tsunamis without asking anyone for donations.
Many of our clients are travelers accustomed to quick, convenient service for travel insurance. We go out of our way to accommodate last-minute decisions. Passports are another thing altogether and many more people are going to require them this year.
As if we needed it, things are even more complex. Beginning January 23, 2007 it is not only where you are traveling FROM, it is HOW you are traveling that counts.
After that date, if you are FLYING from anywhere in the western hemisphere except Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, you will need a passport to enter the United States. This includes citizens of all countries.
But, if you are traveling by ground or by ship, you will not need a passport for now. Photo IDs and birth certificates will suffice for US citizens. (THIS CAN CHANGE AT ANY TIME after January 1, 2008 at the discretion of US Homeland Security. Best advice, GET A PASSPORT NOW.)
Furthermore, it is your most recent departure airport that governs the need for a passport. For example, if you fly directly from Puerto Rico to (let's say) Miami, you don't need a passport. But, if you take a side trip to (let's say) the Dominican Republic, even if you do not deplane in Dominican Republic you will need to have a passport when you arrive in the US.
To get details or to confirm this information, go to the Travel Industry Association website at
www.getapassportnow.com or the US State Department website at
http://travel.state.gov/passportU.S. passports cost $97 for adults and $82 for children under 16. All children (even newborns and infants) must have their own passport AND MUST APPEAR IN PERSON to apply. Unlike passports for adults, passports for children cannot be renewed. They must apply anew for a passport upon expiration. New passports for children do not NEED to be obtained before expiration (5 years) but travel industry insiders recommend getting a new passport if the child's appearance has changed materially. For example, if you took a newborn to Brazil on their own passport in February of 2004 and were planning a trip with the child to Mexico in February of 2007, you'd probably want a new passport to enable positive identification.
Plan ahead. Passports take six weeks or so to obtain with normal handling. You can get expedited service at higher cost to get your passport in about two weeks. Your most convenient source is probably your local Post Office if you live in the USA.
