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Tags: Airport Photo Shoots / Twilight Travel / Passports / LAX / Kristen Stewart / → All Tags
'Twilight's' Kristen Stewart Demonstrates How Not To Handle A Passport
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]
Tags: Airport News / Sydney Travel / Customs / Immigration / Technology / Passports / → All Tags
Facial Recognition Technology Will Check You Out At Sydney Airport
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.
Tags: Passports / Lists / Pickpockets / Crime / Travel Tips / Flickr / Twitter / → All Tags
Jaunted's Top Five Passport Safety Tips
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.
Tags: Passports / New Passports / Getting a Passport / → All Tags
Inside Our Pretty New Passport
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.
Tags: Passports / Travel News / Souvenirs / Soviet Travel / Liechtenstein / San Marino / Berlin / → All Tags
Would You Pay For Your Passport Stamps?
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.
Tags: Passports / State Department / → All Tags
This Time We're Serious: It Really Is Time to Get that Passport
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]
Tags: Travel News Briefs / Passports / Passport Cards / Volcanoes / → All Tags
Passport Cards Just Aren't as Cool as Passport Books
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]
Tags: Passports / Borders / Customs / Dangerous Travel / → All Tags
The Uncertainty of Handing Over Your Passport at Border Crossings
Every savvy traveler knows the universal rule of globetrotting: If we must hold onto one single thing when traveling, we hold onto our passport. Only Official Dudes get to touch the almighty passport, and then they give it back, scanned and stamped, right?
Well, what happens when we can't tell for sure the Official Dude is an Official Dude? What happens when we hand it over and we've got to cross the border to a developing nation and collect our passport on the other side? How do we explain this act of moronic behavior later in a worst case scenario, when we were just following directions and going with the flow?
And what will our parents say after years of preaching how sacred the U.S. Passport is, and how they'd prefer not to have to take out a loan to pay off a hostage situation?
Tags: Passports / State Department / Recessionomics / → All Tags
Who Wants a Passport? Nobody?
We already knew cash-strapped Americans are in no rush to vacation outside of the country, but now we've got official data to prove it. The State Department says it expects to issue just 12 million passports during the current fiscal year (Oct. '08 – Sep. '09). That may sound like a lot, but it’s a full 25 percent less than the number of passports issued the previous fiscal year.
The good news? That means your passport should be coming quicker than ever—current applicants are getting theirs back in three weeks or less. The bad news is that the State Department has started getting rid of many of the contract employees paid to process the applications. (Aside to President Obama: May we propose subsidized vacations as part of the economic stimulus plan? No passport applications = job losses!)
Despite the decline, you still shouldn't leave your passport app 'til the last minute. Officials expect demand to rise again, especially as new passport rules go into effect this spring. Starting June 1, Americans driving back from Mexico or Canada, or returning from a Caribbean cruise, will have to show a passport or other high-tech ID card to cross the border. (Previously a birth certificate along with a driver's license would do.)
· Passport applications plunge as recession chokes off foreign travel [LA Times]
· Passport Applications [State Department]
· Passports Coverage [Jaunted]
Photo: [clappstar]
Tags: Easy Travel / Southeast Asia Travel / Passports / Immigration / → All Tags
Southeast Asia Travel Could Get Way Easier
The strong pros for visiting Southeast Asia (awesome food, beautiful countries, kind people, cheap) balance out its hardy cons (killer language barrier, suffocating climate, pricey plane travel). Soon, a coalition of countries will tip the scales in the favor of travelers--and we'll be booking our flights right quick.
Last week, delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam came together in Hanoi to talk about creating a five-country, single-visa tourism scheme. The reduction in costs and headaches for travelers will be close to immeasurable--and it's a savvy move for leaders who want to boost their tourism revenues. This means one price, one stamp and we can pass through all five countries with ease, no shady border crossings, no bribes and no giving up valuable passport space for stamps from other cool places.
The Cambodian and Vietnamese reps agreed to allow 14-day, cross-border travel for any of their citizens holding a passport. This part of the pact goes into effect December 4. Summit attendees also suggested a "travel card" that Southeast Asian businesspeople could use to travel, without needing any visa, to all five countries. Those of us not lucky enough to come from SEA may have to wait a little longer to collect our pass, but the Cambodia-Vietnam agreement is a show of good faith and an indication this plan has serious potential.
Related Stories:
· Subregional Summit Pushes Single Visa Scheme [news.cn]
· Southeast Asia Field Trip [Jaunted]
[Photo: graeme_newcomb]
Tags: Passports / Relationships / → All Tags
Preventing Travel: Eating Your Wife's Passport
It sounds a bit like a "The dog ate my homework" excuse, but there's a woman in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia who can't travel at the moment because her ex-husband ate her passport.
After getting divorced but continuing to live in the same flat, Ivan Volokov decided to destroy his ex-wife's passport, the only thing left that proved she could live there. But he didn't burn it or flush it down the toilet--he tore it up and ate it.
We're wondering if we can try this excuse next time we forgetfully end up at the airport sans passport.
Related Stories:
· Man Ate Wife's Passport [Ananova]
· Russia Travel Guide [Jaunted]
[Photo: JeannieCool]
Tags: Passports / Visas / Immigration / UK Travel / → All Tags
UK Stepping Up Its Immigration Game
It may soon get harder to visit the UK--at least if your a national of one of 11 countries now off the so-called visa-waiver list. The idea, says the UK Border Agency, is to keep tabs on those people who might endanger the country. But among the 11 are Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago, places that you might not associate with scary stuff.
The Border Agency says it plans to work with the governments in question to see if they can't stay on the visa-waiver list; a final decision won't be made until early 2009. But should risk reduction not be seen, even more foreign visitors will have to submit fingerprints and get a visa before arriving in the UK. The new rules would mean that Britain requires visas of 80 percent of the world's population.
When the US clamped down of visiting foreigners after 9/11, many countries didn't appreciate it. In probably the most famous show of displeasure, Brazil decided to charge Americans $100 per visa starting in 2004 in retaliation for what its citizens had to pay to visit the states. A pro-tourism group in the UK is worried the same thing might happen to the British as a result of the ever-widening visa net.
Related Stories:
· Higher Walls to Fortress Britain [Economist]
· UK Border Agency Global Visa Review [Official Site]
· Europe Wants Your Fingerprints [Jaunted]
