Poll: Do you have a passport?

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

I read an interesting article on passports - http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/0...way-to-travel/

One statement is that only 32.6% of Americans have one.

So, how about you, do you have a passport?

[Shea Zellweger]

Nope. Never been out of the country (except to Canada, when the border was still open).

[Ryan Scott]

Yep, got one to go to Northern Ireland in 2007. I'd like to keep it current when it comes up for renewal, but we'll have to see how cost vs actually need comes into play.

[Hans Deventer]

I've had one since I was 16. Till that time, my name was included in my father's passport. Nowadays, that is no longer possible and even babies need a passport.

[Jon Bemis]

Never been anywhere where I needed one. Maybe someday.

[Mike Schutz]

Mine expired a couple of years ago and have not had it renewed.
Keep hoping I'll be appointed an Ambassador and need to get one.

[Craig Laughlin]

Had one for a long time. Kids got them in their middle teens. I and the kids have traveled a little outside the US on mission trips. Also, we live about an hour and a half from the Canadian border and sadly one must (generally) use a passport to cross.

Have to say with all that is going on in some of the south border states and immigration the line

The agency is hoping to increase the number of Americans with valid passports, stressing that all citizens need one, not just those who have plans to travel outside of the country...

makes me a little nervous. Are we headed toward becoming a country in which we have to carry our "papers" with us and go through check points?

I sure hope not.

[John Kennedy]

Last used in '09 when we took a cruise to Quebec. Got it for a trip to England in '06. Don't know whether or not it's expired. Won't need it (I don't think) for our trip to Texas/Louisiana this fall.

[Roland Hearn]

I have had a passport for about 20 years, which we got when we made our first trip to General Assembly. Prior to that we never saw any need for it. In Australia, however, when you go to open a bank account, or just about any other legal transaction, you have to prove your identity by making up 100 points of ID. A passport is worth 50, a birth certificate I think is worth 50, driver's licence is worth 40, a credit card is worth, from memory, 20, a health care card is worth the same. So without a passport you are looking for that birth certificate just about everytime. With the passport it is just that plus what you have in your wallet so it makes it a lot easier.

[Ryan Scott]

Are we headed toward becoming a country in which we have to carry our "papers" with us and go through check points?

If we did, I'd turn mine in.

[Roland Hearn]

If we did, I'd turn mine in.

A licence and a social security # probably pretty much covers every bit of information any authority is going to need and you have those with you when ever you get stopped at a check point.

[Bill Morrison]

Last used in '09 when we took a cruise to Quebec. Got it for a trip to England in '06. Don't know whether or not it's expired. Won't need it (I don't think) for our trip to Texas/Louisiana this fall.

You haven't heard the motto??? Texas is "A Whole Other Country"
And Louisiana (where my Mom and sister live) might as well be!

BILL

[Gina Stevenson]

Are we headed toward becoming a country in which we have to carry our "papers" with us and go through check points?

I sure hope not.

Last time I was through any check point was years ago on the way to California ... checking whatever produce one might have. That seemed very strange, but guess they want to keep pests from "out there" from spoiling their own produce.

A licence and a social security # probably pretty much covers every bit of information any authority is going to need and you have those with you when ever you get stopped at a check point.

Actually, it is strongly suggested that the Social Security card not be carried, but be kept in some safe place. If that's stolen, someone can wreak havoc really quickly with your stolen ID, since that # is what is used so many places to verify who you are.

[Craig Laughlin]

Last time I was through any check point was years ago on the way to California ... checking whatever produce one might have. That seemed very strange, but guess they want to keep pests from "out there" from spoiling their own produce.

I remember doing this as a kid traveling with my family. We had to open up the car and they poke around as well as asking us a lot of questions. Felt like we were going into another country. Did it again last summer. We rolled the window down, the guy asked if we had any fruits with us and when we said no he waved us on, we barely slowed down. Times change I guess.

[Charlene Clevenger]

I have one, but I think it expired last year. I got it in 2000.

[David Pettigrew]

Got mine in 1999, and have used it three times now.

[Jim Chabot]

All of us have one since our second home is only ten miles from the border. I also have the fast pass card, or whatever it's called, because I go across quite often on snowsled in the winter months. The card can only be used for land crossings, but it saves a bunch of time because they have your information before you get to the door.

We used to have our own crossing approaches that allowed us to stay on the snow. Last year they installed some new surveillance gadget that everyone must pass through so now we have to cross with the cars in most places.

[Marsha Lynn]

The agency is hoping to increase the number of Americans with valid passports, stressing that all citizens need one, not just those who have plans to travel outside of the country...

That's interesting. When I got one a few years ago "just in case," I had to lie about impending plans to leave the country. The form wanted to know where I was going that required a passport. I'm still working on getting my trip to Canada together.

I really wanted the passport because I was seeing some sweet last-minute deals coming from airlines for overseas travel and wanted to get past the "but I don't have a passport" obstacle. (Everyone else in the family had them because of mission trips.) However, it seems that since I have had it there have been plenty of other obstacles to squelch any thought of making a big trip anywhere.

Marsha

[Larry Parsons]

I have one used it two or three time on w&w trips do I need on to get in Texas Just joking
Thanks
Larry.

[Wilson Deaton]

One statement is that only 32.6% of Americans have one.

I have a really hard time believing the percentage is that high!

As for me? No.

Wilson

[Tinker Boyd]

Before the wall fell I was in East Berlin with another American and a West German - all of us in our teens. An East German police officier stopped us and asked for our passports. After taking them, he had us line up against a wall and spent a considerable amount of time looking them (and us) over. He didn't seem convinced and began to ask each of us our personal information; birthday etc. Then he looked at us liked he'd really decided we were definitely spies and asked me what my passport number was. I had no idea. We were all about to cry. He then burst out laughing and told us to have a good day.

I can't imagine the story he had for the station when he got back at the end of his shift.

[David Warren]

My wife and I have had ours for over 12 years. Both my kids have theirs and all of us have used them. My daughter leads they way with most used.

[Marg Shurtliff]

I had a passport back in '78. Ours is good for only 5 years .I went to Belize ( not needed there ) and Guatemala and a few years later Great Britain . Have not renewed it . Ours not only lasts just 5 years but costs nearly double the US one .When it was required to cross to the States in 09 I just quit going on my day trips . This year I paid $ 40 more for driver's licence to get what they call an enhanced one . I can now cross by land with it . Haven't had a chance to use it yet but is good for 5 years .

[Roland Hearn]

Actually, it is strongly suggested that the Social Security card not be carried, but be kept in some safe place. If that's stolen, someone can wreak havoc really quickly with your stolen ID, since that # is what is used so many places to verify who you are.

Actually I said social security #, and you made my point for me. If you don't know what yours is if asked you would be one of the few. Americans use their social security # so much that it is almost a second name. We have a tax file # in Australia that is almost the same thing but we use it so sparingly it is hardly worth knowing. I knew my SS # within a few months of being in the US. If you were stopped by an official and asked for your licence and SS # you would give it and that would be as much information as they could get from a passport. I'm not sure what added information could be gained by mandatory passports.

[Dana Grant]

Yes, I have a passport -- it expires in 2013 -- I hope to get in one international trip before I have to renew it again!!! LOL

[Jim Franklin]

Doesn't the old Geographer wished he needed one but neither the document or a trip would be possible. When living in Washington state I did have the opportunity to drive up to BC a few times. I really like the Kelowna-Penticton area. The Canadian border guard asked my 5'3" brother about the thickness of his shoe heels since he most often wore lift shoes for more height.

[Larry Hochstetler]

I read an interesting article on passports - http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/0...way-to-travel/

One statement is that only 32.6% of Americans have one.

So, how about you, do you have a passport?

I have had a passport for many years. I have travelled extensively for business reasons and now semi retired its pages are full of stamps around the world.

[Judy Hamilton]

I have had a passport for at least 20 years,used it when my German friend Katrechen was dying of cancer. And as Kris traveled the globe on missions journeys, I kept the passport current ..just in case..one example was when he was in Lebanon during the Israeli and Lebanon war.. Lebanon was quiet before going, the war broke out while he was there...they escaped the anti American border patrol by driving at night through the mountains in Syria and finally landed in Jordan...I would have traveled to any of these countries to get my son were he injured or detained

then I have used the passport for mission journeys last year to Vietnam and 5 years ago to Cambodia and Thailand

Judy

[Billie Goodson]

Have a passport that I have used a good bit the last two years. Looking into the Global Entry program now to avoid another line. Encouraged my wife to get a passport even though she wondered if it would be better to wait until she needed it. Convinced her that waiting would just create an undue urgency. Because she had it, it made her accompanying me to London last month a very easy and sweet process. We had a great time. Of course, I still think that foreign language should be mandatory throughout formal education and every teen should travel abroad once.

[David Parker]

I've had one for many years. Have done a lot of travel in the past. Let mine expire in 2010. Not a priority right now as I don't see any international travel opportunities any time soon. Expect we'll get new ones at some point when the economy improves.

[Scott Moseley]

I have one but kinda bummed as I am the only one in the immediate family with only one passport. MY wife and kids, being dual citizens, get to have both US and Philippine Passports. Not FAir I say. I was born in Ethiopia so I will petition for Ethiopian Citizenship and get my 2nd passport! We are a weird American Family in that none of us were born in the US

[Vivian Cornwell]

I got a passport in 1990 and spent a month in South Africa with my sister. We also stopped in England. It expired in 2000 so now I don't have one. I have been to Canada many times Mexico a few times but won't be able to go there now.

[Steven Burton]

I did until it burned when my parents house burned downed.

[Susan Unger]

I did until it burned when my parents house burned downed.

Well, that's not good.

[Bob Carabbio]

I've had several over the years, always related to Business travel to Europe. When the last one expired about 5 years ago, there was no reason to renew it. If I NEVER see the inside of an airplane again - it'll be two weeks too soon.

[Jim Poteet]

I have had a passport since 1966. I have renewed several times. We will be traveling to Germany and Austria in May, 2012.

[Dave McClung]

If we did, I'd turn mine in.

I drive through several checkpoints every year in southern California and Arizona. Sometimes, the Border Patrol looks at my driver's license, but most of the time they just wave me on through. Sometimes they ask a question, just to see if I have an accent.