Passport woes

[seaphilia]

Just got back from a dive trip to Panama and our a member of our group experienced a new and different form of passport torture.

Continental in Houston refused to let one of our group board the plane to from Houston to Panama City because he has an old style passport and one corner was slightly frayed. Needless to say, arguing, pleading, and bribery did not change the gate agent's decision. This happened as we were boarding the plane and 6 of 8 people were already seated. Luckily one person was still with him when this happened or we may have never known what was happening. The decision was made for 7 of us to continue and he would spend the 6 hours before the next flight trying to renew his passport at the Houston passport office. If he couldn't get a passport, he would return to Seattle.

The monetary damages started piling up. Taxi rides to and from the passport office $45 each way. Time constraints prevented using bus and/or shuttle services. Bad passport photos $20. A new passport, $160.00. Arriving in Panama another $25.00 taxi ride to the Panama City bus terminal and a $7 bus ticket to rejoin the group in Santiago. After $302 plus a lot of mental aggravation, think bureaucrats and airline schedules, our friend caught up with us at 2 am that night.

And if you think some Continental gate agent was playing at puffed up border guard with sand in his shorts, not so. While at the passport office, our friend met another gentleman who had also been refused boarding for the same reason. The gentleman was a Continental manager. Another interesting fact, our friend had been to Panama through Houston in January with no problems.

[CaptnJack]

was this a passport with or without the electronics imbedded in the cover?

[seaphilia]

Without the electronics.

And it may have been a bad scanner, but they were not willing to type in the passport number.

[BillZ]

That's a load of crap. Tell your friend to keep the receipts and write a letter to Continental Airlines asking for reimbursement. They are not the government and don’t have the authority to determine that a passport is valid or invalid.

My passport has been through the wash twice (Cindy loves to wash it before we travel ) and looks like a worn baseball glove and I've never had a problem. Last year I went to the federal building in downtown Seattle to get a second passport (long story -I need to apply for a visa to go to India but was also traveling to Mexico so I needed a second passport) and they told me my beat-up passport was fine as long as it could be scanned and the picture was intact.

[CaptnJack]

That's a load of crap. Tell your friend to keep the receipts and write a letter to Continental Airlines asking for reimbursement. They are not the government and don’t have the authority to determine that a passport is valid or invalid.

My passport has been through the wash twice (Cindy loves to wash it before we travel ) and looks like a worn baseball glove and I've never had a problem. Last year I went to the federal building in downtown Seattle to get a second passport (long story -I need to apply for a visa to go to India but was also traveling to Mexico so I needed a second passport) and they told me my beat-up passport was fine as long as it could be scanned and the picture was intact.

To start I would write them a nice letter on legal stationary asking for reimbursement.

I agree with you but unfortunately its their plane and they do consider themselves the first line of defense against having to bring you home after being denied entry.

[Pinkpadigal]

Question...what did the passport office say about the "frayed" passport?

If this person has DAN insurance, he may be able to apply for re-embursement for some of the costs. It falls under "trip delays" in the travel insurance portion of the insurance. (that is if he has the preferred plan). He should call DAN and find out if it would be a covered expense. If he had regular travel insurance, all the expenses would be covered; he would just have to file a claim and provide receipts.

I doubt your friend will get anywhere with Continental. Worth a try though.

[seaphilia]

Not really. The passport office asked him why it looked the way it did and he told them it got wet. Then they made him sign a statement that it did not look like that way when they issued it.

When I renewed my last one, the guy at the passport office bent it this way and that and scrutinized it very carefully. Then he looked at me and asked what I had done to it. I carried it in my back pocket, but now I will be carrying in one of the protective wallets that prevents reading of the chip and fraying.