Passport Fees May Be Going Up
It’s a good thing that plenty of travel deals are available these days, because you may need to spend some of the money you save on a new passport. The U.S. State Department has proposed fee hikes that would, for example, raise the fee for an adult applying for a first passport from $100 to $135. The fee for renewal of an existing passport would go from $75 to $110 dollars. The good news is that passports will still be valid for 10 years (five years for children under age 16).
The State Department says that the increased security and anti-fraud measures added to passports in recent years come at a cost, which must be reflected in passport fees. Passport fees also cover the costs of providing emergency services for American citizens overseas who are in crisis situations.
The State Department has also expanded its staff and infrastructure to respond to increased demand for passports. Demand has increased because passports are now required for most travel outside the country, even to Canada or Mexico. There are some exceptions, including travel to U.S. territories, which technically is considered as traveling within the United States.
If you plan to travel outside the U.S., apply for your passport or passport renewal as far in advance as possible. It usually takes four to six weeks for an application to be processed, but a sudden increase in applicants can cause a backlog.
If you already have a passport, check the expiration date – some governments require that visitors have at least six months left on their passports. You may also want to check to see how many visa pages you have left. Since many countries require you to have at least three visa pages upon entry, you may need to apply with the State Department for supplemental pages to be added. While there is currently no cost for the added pages, if the proposed fee increases go into effect, there will be a charge of $82, so it’s best to send your passport and additional visa page application in now to avoid the new fee.
If you need to obtain or renew a passport quickly, there are services that provide expedited processing for a fee. Your travel professional can give you more details.
Traveling the Triple Crown
Any horse who wins all three races of the Triple Crown automatically joins the ranks of the world’s finest racehorses. Any traveler who experiences all three has accomplished something special, as well. Your schedule may not allow you to attend all three races in one year, but perhaps you can take in one at a time. Even if you aren’t an avid fan of horse racing, the experience of seeing one of these time-honored races, live and in person, is thrilling. Plus, it’s a great reason to enjoy the social events, parades and other festivities that surround each race.
The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown and will be run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on May 1. The crowds begin arriving before the gates open at 8:00 a.m. The spire-topped grandstand is the centerpiece of the complex, and if you sit there, fashion is important: most of the ladies and gentlemen wear suits and hats in colorful, summer-weight fabrics. If you sit in the infield, go for casual comfort: jeans, shorts and t-shirts are fine. Wherever you are within the park, be sure to sample one of the famous mint juleps, made with Kentucky whiskey and a touch of mint.
The second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, will take place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., on May 15. Like the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness is an all-day event with a noticeable difference in the infield and grandstand crowds: the grandstand calls for fashionable attire, while the infield has a casual vibe. The drink here is the Black-Eyed Susan, a mix of vodka, rum, Cointreau and fruit juices. Many visitors to the Preakness stay six miles away in Baltimore’s downtown Inner Harbor area, known for its charm and nightlife.
The final leg of the Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes, run at Belmont Park on Long Island, N.Y., on June 5. This spacious park holds 80,000 race fans. Many consider this race to be the most exciting of the three, especially when there is a potential Triple Crown winner. This is the most casual of the three races, but be sure to dress up if you have a box seat. Not to be left behind in the refreshments race, Belmont Park has established the whiskey-based Belmont Breeze as the traditional drink of the Belmont Stakes. Belmont Park is just 15 miles from the hotels, restaurants and night spots of Manhattan, and most visitors head there after the race.
To find out more about how you can cheer on your favorite horse at one or more of the Triple Crown races, talk with your travel professional.
Play Your Dream Golf Course
To some people, spring means one thing – the coming of golf season. If you’re one of them, there are lots of ways to combine your love of travel with your love of golf. Why not plan a vacation around one of your dream golf destinations?
Many golf lovers dream of making a pilgrimage to the prestigious Links at St. Andrews, on the east coast of Scotland, where the game was invented around 1400 AD. We might have had a world without golf – the game was banned in 1457 by King James II, who thought that archery practice was more important. Fortunately, in 1502, King James IV threw in the (golf) towel and took up the game himself. St. Andrews is now the largest golf club in Europe, with seven public courses. If you have a non-golfing companion, he or she will enjoy exploring the stunning scenery and historic buildings in the town of St. Andrews.
If you dream of championship-quality golf in a more tropical location, look to Hawaii. The islands are dotted with spectacular, fun and challenging courses, including Poipu Bay and Princeville on Kauai, designed by renowned course designer Robert Trent Jones. On the Big Island, try the Mauna Kea and Hapuna courses; Maui’s finest courses include Kapalua and Wailea. Wherever you golf in Hawaii, just try to keep your head down through your swing when you’re surrounded by beautiful scenery.
There are plenty of options for a dream game of golf when vacationing on the U.S. mainland, too. Dream destinations include Torrey Pines outside San Diego, with fantastic views of deep ravines along the Pacific coastline. Pebble Beach on California’s Monterey Peninsula may be the most beloved course in the U.S. There’s also the TPC Scottsdale course in Scottsdale, Ariz., which has stadium seating around its famously raucous 16th hole. This is where fans often break golf’s code of polite applause to loudly cheer – or loudly harass – some of the most famous names in golf.
To make a dream golf course the focus of your next vacation, or an enjoyable side attraction, talk with your travel professional.
Celebrating Chopin
The world is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer Frederic (Fryderyk) Chopin, with special piano recitals, master classes and symphony concerts planned from Norway to Egypt to Florida.
The celebrations carry a special feeling of national identity and pride in Poland, where the composer was born and lived the first half of his life. He was born at Zelazowa Wola, a country estate near Warsaw, on either February 22 or March 1, 1810 (historical records mention both dates). A museum devoted to Chopin in now housed in an annex attached to his first home.
Nearly 1,000 Chopin-related events will take place in Poland during the bicentennial, including films, performances, exhibitions and the 16th Chopin International Piano Competition, which is held every five years in Warsaw.
Poland is also celebrating its most famous artist with the newly renovated Chopin Museum in Warsaw, just opened on March 1. Housed in the 17th century Ostrogski Castle, The museum provides a multimedia experience. Visitors delight in the sounds of Chopin’s works, interactive touch screen programs, audio and visual information about objects on display, and virtual musical games for children.
Chopin spent the second half of his life in France, his father’s homeland. Upon his death there (probably from tuberculosis) at age 39, his heart was returned to Poland at his request. It is now kept in an urn at the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw.
While celebrating Chopin in Warsaw, you can also visit sights like the Warsaw Uprising Museum, a tribute to the 1944 Polish uprising against Nazi occupation; the Centre of Contemporary Art in the Ujazdow Castle; and the lovely Royal Baths Park.
Wherever you travel in this Chopin bicentennial year, you may be able to catch a concert honoring his works. Talk with your travel professional.
Full-Body Imaging Now at More Airports
In March, the Transportation Safety Administration began to deploy dozens of new full-body scanners at select airports, with plans to install a total of 450 of these units during 2010. Frequent business travelers are likely to encounter this high-tech, hands-free version of a pat down soon. The new scanners can detect items, such as nonmetallic weapons and explosives, which can be missed by metal detectors. Here’s what you need to know:
There are two kinds of full-body scanners: some use millimeter wave technology and some use backscatter technology.
Millimeter wave machines direct radio waves around your body and measure the energy reflected back to create a three-dimensional image. They reveal explosives if they are denser than other materials. They emit radiation, but in amounts less than that of a typical cell phone, according to the TSA. This type of scanner produces an image that looks something like a fuzzy photo negative – the body’s contours are visible, but specific features are not clear.
Backscatter machines are low-level X-ray machines that produce two-dimensional images. They emit about as much radiation as you are exposed to in just two minutes of flying in an airplane. This type of scanner produces an image that looks something like a chalk etching.
The images produced by the scanners are not viewed by personnel at the security checkpoint. Instead, the images are transmitted to a security officer in a remote, secure location. This officer inspects the images and communicates via wireless headset with the personnel at the security checkpoint. After you are cleared, your images are automatically deleted from the viewing system, which has no storage capability.
Passengers with heart pacemakers and surgically replaced body parts, such as metallic hips and knees, can safely pass through the new machines.
Being screened in a full-body scanner is optional – you can choose to have a physical pat down instead. However, initial reaction to the new scanners is positive – the TSA says 98 percent of passengers who encountered the technology during TSA pilots prefer it over other screening options. Airports that now have full-body scanners include Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington D.C.