News articles in Travel Documents

UStiA Issues Statement about Travel Insurance Claims During Flu Season.

(Dive Travel Business News - Thursday January 17, 2013) -- The U.S. Travel Insurance Association (UStiA) has issued a statement to address the record flu season the U.S. is experiencing this travel season. The UStiA reminds travel professionals that their clients could lose non-refundable payments in case they have to cancel or postpone a trip because of illness, and agents should recommend clients purchase travel insurance.

Furthermore, some travel insurance policies will reimburse unused, non-reimbursable days remaining in the trip if a client becomes ill during a trip, and have to cut short a cruise or a tour. Some policies will reimburse additional expenses including extra hotel nights, meals and other costs up to a set amount. read more »

American Express Platinum Offers New Suite of Traveler's Benefits

(Dive Travel Business News - December 2, 2010) -- American Express is offering Platinum Card members a new suite of benefits that are worth hundreds of dollars, including an airline fee credit of up to $200, a 20 percent travel bonus and a travel app. read more »

Travel Pros Must Comply with Secure Flight Rules

Travel Pros must follow secure flight rules

(Dive Travel Business News - July 7, 2010) -- A couple of airlines are warning travel agents that passenger name records (PNR's) could be cancelled or agencies debited if they fail to properly submit the appropriate data for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's Secure Flight program, the American Society of Travel Agents alerted members in a dispatch this week.

US Airways warned agents this week that beginning Nov. 1, "ticketed PNRs that do not contain proper Secure Flight data within 72 hours of departure may be cancelled," following an earlier warning from Continental Airlines, which said it could debit agencies for failing to submit Secure Flight data.

The TSA has been collecting Secure Flight data elements, including gender and date of birth, since August of last year, it said beginning Nov. 1, 2010, "TSA has threatened to return all non-compliant records to the airlines for follow-up," regardless of where the booking originated. read more »

Expect Fee Hikes for U.S. Passports

(Dive Travel Business News - March 19, 2010) -- Give your travel clients needing a new passport a heads up - The U.S. State Department recently proposed an increase in the cost of new passports (up from $100 to $135) and passport renewals (up from $75 to $110). The U.S. Passport Book and U.S. Passport Card for adults are valid for 10 years.

The proposed schedule of fees for passport application services is as follows: read more »

First Day of Border Rules

(June 1, 2009 - DTN) - USA TODAY - New federal rules took effect Monday requiring anyone entering the country by land or sea — including U.S. citizens — to show a passport or other approved document.

Border officials reported no major delays, with agents using Day One as more of an exercise in education.

U.S. citizens returning home at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., were waved through even if they didn't have the proper ID and handed a flyer explaining the new requirements.

Edith Serrano, a public affairs supervisor for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said agents will try to help people through as long as they have some form of legitimate identification.

"It might delay them a little, but we are not going to deny a U.S. citizen from coming back from Mexico," Serrano said. read more »

WHTI: Real test is the July 1-4 holiday period

WHTI US border crossing travel documents

(June 1, 2009 - DTN) - Buffalo Business First - With the new era of border-crossing documentation now in effect, at least one member of Congress remains skeptical and wants further proof that the stricter identification mandates are not hurting the U.S. and Southern Ontario economies.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, said she will be asking both the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department for reports in six months, and again, next June, for the true impact that the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative is having on the local economies. The measure, which Slaughter hopes to introduce on Tuesday, will likely include 30 co-sponsors among her congressional colleagues — many from the 11 states that border Canada. read more »

Questioning Secure Flight Rules

(Dive Travel Business News - June 3, 2009 ) -- If you've purchased an airline ticket recently, your airline or travel agent likely asked for your full legal name or the name on your passport, as well as your birth date. After years of delays and rounds of controversy, the Department of Homeland Security's "Secure Flight" initiative is rolling out.

(Dive Travel Business News - May 22, 2009) --This month, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration officially rolled out the first public phase of its Secure Flight program, which requires domestic airlines to start collecting more precise passenger name identification information.

That, of course, means that travel agents, GDSs, online travel companies and myriad other links in the distribution chain must fall into compliance, though when and how are not really clear.

The TSA says it needs the precise names of passengers to expedite checking travel documents for security screening measures. At the moment, though, it’s all something of a fire drill. There’s no need to worry if names fail to match up exactly on various travel documents, because the TSA isn’t actually checking yet — and it won’t be checking for a while, though no one is really sure how long a while might be. read more »

U.S. border promises flexible implementation of June 1 deadline

(Dive Travel Business News - May 29, 2009) -- The travel industry faces still another federal mandate with the June 1 deadline for implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). But luckily, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency assures us they will be flexible and practical in implementation, allowing U.S. and Canadian citizens, if otherwise admissible, to be able to re-enter the United States when the new WHTI rules are implemented.

“CBP’s mission is to protect our borders,” said CBP Acting Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern. “WHTI implements a key 9/11 Commission recommendation by requiring secure travel documents while facilitating entry. We will be practical and flexible in implementing WHTI using the same informed compliance approach that proved successful during other major changes at our borders over the last two years.” read more »

Man with no fingerprints detained at US border.

Suspicious traveler detained at US border

(May 27, 2009 - DTN) - Immigration officials in the U.S. detained a man from Singapore after cancer medication caused his fingerprints to disappear, an oncologist says.

Cancer patients who are being treated with the commonly used drug, capecitabine, should carry a doctor's letter highlighting the side-effect when travelling to the U.S., oncologist Dr. Eng-Huat Tan of the National Cancer Centre said in a letter published Wednesday in the journal Annals of Oncology.

Foreign visitors to the U.S. are asked to provide fingerprints at the airport, and the images are matched with lists of valid visa holders and suspected criminals.

Capecitabine is used to treat cancers in the head and neck, breast, stomach and colorectum. One of its side-effects can be hand-foot syndrome: chronic inflammation of the palms or soles of the feet, ulcers or blisters that lead to temporary loss of fingerprints.

The patient, a 62-year-old man, had head and neck cancer that had spread but was responding to chemotherapy. He was prescribed capecitabine to prevent the cancer from recurring. read more »