Passport or Passport Card

[OmahaBlueDog]

I'm thinking about stickinga crowbar in my wallet and getting travel documenation. We are within driving distance of fabulous Manitoba, and we get offers from my BIL and his family to come on cruises (they have an in with an excess capacity seller).

On one hand, the Passport Card is about half the price of a passport, but it's only useful on cars and boats in the Western Hemisphere, north of the equator.



OTOH, a Passport will get you anywhere, but when will I have the money to go to Europe?



FYI, I will have to get these for 2 adults and 2 kids and I need CERTIFIED doce for me & Mrs. OBD, so add that on to the price, either way.

[UTUSN]

1. Get both. Seriesly. Well, depending.

You live fairly close to the border, but do you actually cross that often? And do you think you will be using a passport for the other kind of travel?

For Border people who DO cross frequently, the card is unforgettable in your wallet, as opposed to rushing out of the house and forgetting your passport.

For me, both of them are reminders of Shrub-ColonPowell-and-CondoRice, plus all of the border hysteria perpetrated by the Wingnut-MinuteMen-Teabaggers, and all of the waste with all kinds of high tech equipment for "border security" such as card readers that the boots-on-the-ground types don't even use. But I digress.

But guess what, even brand new cards (they are like credit cards with swipe strips) that have only been used a few times fail to be "read"-----because they get dirty!1 You will be told to use the hand cleansers stuff on them.

[grasswire]

2. I never heard of the passport card.

When did that start?

[OmahaBlueDog]

5. A couple of years back, and it's funky

You can use it to drive in and out of Canada and Mexico, and you can use it on cruise ships...BUT you can't fly with it. So you can use it to take a cruise into Nassau, but you can't use it to fly into Nassau. Ditto Toronto or Montreal.

[Kali]

3. get the card

and wait for the passport design to change (unless you might need it)

fugly overly patriotic grossness!

[blue_roses_lib]

4. I'd say get both

I'm up in AK, and want to visit Canada at some point too. Seems smart to have both. Costs an arm and a leg tho.