Jaunted - Tag: Passports

Los Angeles: 'Twilight's' Kristen Stewart Demonstrates How Not To Handle A Passport

JetSetCD — 2009-10-20T11:13:40-05:00

With current hot starlets like Twilight's Kristen Stewart constantly flying out of LAX all the time, it's no wonder the paparazzi stake the place out. However, when Stewart flew back to Vancouver on Alaska Airlines to continue filming Eclipse after the weekend, she wasn't looking much like a starlet at all. In fact, she kinda resembled how we might look if we traveled after having been bailed out of jail after a fight with a bartender over the ratio of margarita mix and tequila. In other words: she don't look good.

On top of it, she is barely hanging onto that passport. Note to impressionable young international travelers: this is how not to handle your personal documents in public places. We're not asking you to wear a fanny pack or even get one of those hidden stash pocket things, but just don't be so careless with it. And with Kristen surrounded by grabby paparazzi, you'd think she'd be extra careful with her personal information. One slip while shuffling that heinous bag, and she's got no passport to return to filming in Canada and some guy has a new lot to add to the eBay.

Related Stories:
· Kristen Stewart Drowns Out The Paparazzi With Her iPod At LAX [EntertainmentWise]
· Twilight Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: WENN/EntertainmentWise]

Sydney: Facial Recognition Technology Will Check You Out At Sydney Airport

amandak — 2009-10-01T17:24:31-05:00

Sydney Airport has just gotten smarter: passengers with modern e-Passports arriving in Sydney now have the option of going through SmartGate, which means they can go through passport control without speaking to a real person.

At the 12 SmartGate kiosks now operating at the airport, travelers can insert their e-Passport to be scanned, then answer the standard declaration questions on a touchscreen. After that they are issued with a ticket, take it to the exit, insert it there and then the camera scans them to check they are the person shown in the passport.

Jaunted's Top Five Passport Safety Tips

JetSetCD — 2009-06-22T10:32:15-05:00

Last week, a friend of ours was pickpocketed in Israel, losing a passport as well as cards and cash. And before that, in April, another one of our friends was pickpocketed outside a bar in Rome. The thief made off with his wallet but fortunately, his passport was back at the hotel.

Aside from an incident of a missing 50 Euro after a visit to the Vatican, we've luckily managed to avoid the serious pickers, but that doesn't mean we're immune. And because nothing is so stressful as having to prove your identity, navigate a foreign city with limited funds, and possibly rebook your flights, we're going to try to save a few souls by presenting our Top 5 Passport Safety Tips.

5. Have paper copies of your passport and travel documents.
Time to prepare: 20 minutes
This is the most basic form of passport backup, something which has doubtless gone on since the invention of copying machines. Before departing, take paper copies of your passport, credit cards (front and back for customer service numbers), and itinerary information with confirmation numbers.

We recommend three copies of your passport and two of the others; leave one of each copy in a same and easily-found spot at home, leave another with your family back at home or at your office, and take the third copy of your passport along with you, but stored in another non-checked bag.

This way, should your passport or credit cards get stolen, you already have a backup passport copy for heading to the consulate and can make a single call home to get all of your credit card information.

Inside Our Pretty New Passport

juliana — 2009-06-16T16:32:12-05:00

Earlier this morning, we posed the question: Would you pay for your passport stamps? And coincidentally, our brand-new U.S. passport has just arrived. We were a little saddened with this new passport because, of course, it was missing all of our stamps and our old passport wasn't sent back with it. So it felt as if someone just erased our travel history. Zap! Thus we found ourselves answering "yes" to that question above. (On the bright side, our new picture looks amazing.)

Our last passport was issued to us 10 years ago so we were due for a new one. But aw shucks, our stamps are gone! The only thing making the passport slightly interesting are the jazzy new picture page (in which our photos is color-scanned into the page as opposed to attached) and the new pictures splashed across the previously blank pages.

Would You Pay For Your Passport Stamps?

JetSetCD — 2009-06-16T09:42:12-05:00

Is it illegal or is it good, clean fun? The stamping of passports for souvenir value seems as old a tradition as buying those horrific gift spoons, and this rampant passport defamation continues today, except now they're charging for it.

In our travels, we've run across the three biggest profiters from this racket: Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Berlin, although the latter is by far the worst of them.

In the picture above, the passport pages bear four fake stamps from the old Allied and Soviet sides of Berlin, stamps which could possibly invalidate the passport. There's even a discussion thread over at Lonely Planet regarding the legality of this tourist stamping, with particular attention to the prevalance of it around Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie. For 2€ each, you have your pick of the stamps, ranging from 4 different US sector versions to 2 Soviet designs, and even a few French thrown in for good measure.

This Time We're Serious: It Really Is Time to Get that Passport

BS — 2009-05-27T10:32:01-05:00

If you're one of those slackers waiting 'til the last minute to get your U.S. passport, now's the time to get cracking – the State Department's new rules go into effect June 1, requiring all travelers to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean to carry a passport.

Of course, most of you probably already have a passport if you're frequent travelers, but until now a birth certificate along with a driver's license was actually enough to travel throughout North America. Starting next week you'll need the real deal.

If you're traveling by land or sea, you can just get one of those wallet-sized passport cards, which only cost $45, compared to $100 for a regular pass. Just remember, if you're flying to any of these countries (or anywhere else), you need the real passbook.

Related Stories:
· Apply for a Passport [State Department]
· Passport Cards Just Aren't as Cool as Passport Books [Jaunted]
· Who Wants a Passport? Nobody? [Jaunted]

[Photo: clappstar]

Passport Cards Just Aren't as Cool as Passport Books

juliana — 2009-03-30T17:20:52-05:00

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Earthquake in Bay Area: A 4.3 earthquake occurred today but there's no major damage. [SF Chronicle]

· Passport Cards for Limited Travel: We aren't totally in love with the idea of passport cards because we prize our passport books so much, but if you only travel by land or sea, these could work for you. Also of note: Happy Traveler (pictured above) DOES not look like he was born in 1981. Just sayin'. [AJC]

· LA's Cupcake Challenge is Ferociously Delicious: LAT has some tasty photos of the cupcake challenge that went down at the Hollywood Renaissance hotel over the weekend. [LAT]

· Mount Redoubt Re-Erupts, Re-Cancels Alaska Airlines FLights: Mount Redoubt's Volcano is still spewing ash, forcing the Anchorage airport to cancel flights. [AP Video Essay]