I remember a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine had this credit card size passport in her wallet. I had never seen one before, but after she told me it was a passport card, a cheaper alternative to buying a passport book for land and sea travel, I was quite intrigued. The following week I did a little research on it and asked a few knowledgeable friends. Essentially the passport card is a wallet size document that can be used for re-entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry. Unfortunately it can’t be used for air travel of any kind, but it’s still really convenient if you frequently travel across the border or just love taking cruises to the Caribbean. It’s a great alternative to the passport book because it’s lighter, high-tech, and most importantly, cheaper.
The passport card is a mere $30 for adults who already own the passport book and only $55 for first time applicants (as opposed to paying $135 for the passport book). The card even contains an electronic chip called vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) which allows it to be readable at greater distances, but also contains no identification information inside of it. So don’t worry about any privacy violations. All in all, it’s a great deal if you plan on driving down to Mexico or Canada anytime soon, or enjoy cruising to the Bermuda and catching some rays. You can apply for the passport book and passport card at the same time using the same application, so it’s all at your convenience. I’ll probably pick one up the next time I have to renew my passport and you should too. For more information on pricing and how to apply, check it out at:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html