Ultimate Excursions Recommends Travelers Renew their Passports Now

BEDFORD, Texas - Feb. 7, 2016 - PRLog -- Ultimate Excursions expects that millions of travelers will be renewing their passports this year.  The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was enacted post 9/11, in an effort to strengthen border security and make travel for legitimate travelers in U.S. more efficient. The act requires anyone leaving the country to use a passport if traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The result of this act prompted over 18 million people to apply for passports that year.  Those passports, which were scheduled to expire in 10 years, are about to expire. This in addition to millions of others set to expire in upcoming years, there are an estimated 49 million passports that will need to be renewed soon. In addition, some European countries won’t honor passports that are within six months of expiring. As a result of these international passport restrictions, people have found themselves stranded at a boarder or at an airport in foreign a county. For this reason, Ultimate Excursions encourages you to get your passport renewed right away.

In addition to the millions of renewals, the U.S. Department of State expects to issue as many as 17 million new passports to those who have never applied before. Starting early in 2018, Americans must comply with the Real ID policy and be prepared to show additional forms of ID beyond their drivers licenses including passports.  Ultimate Excursions and others in the industry realize that this will also increase the number of passport requests.  The U.S. Department of State is trying to get the word out now to avoid being overwhelmed by a sudden surge of applications coming in all at once.

Ultimate Excursions reminds travelers that an increase in requests will also increase the wait time for passports. What once took 4 weeks, could take much longer although expedited passport requests are available for an additional $60 and can cut the processing time.  Ultimate Excursions reminds you that the  standard passbook can be renewed by mail for $110 but new passport requests must be done in person at the post office.

To avoid putting travel plans outside the country at a standstill, or being stranded in a foreign country, Ultimate Excursions recommends travelers renew their passports now!

Ultimate Excursions is a leader in the resort marketing and development industry. With over 75 years of combined experience, Ultimate Excursions has proven to be effective. Some of the projects in its portfolio are the Acapulco Plaza in Acapulco, Pirámide Del Rey, Club Lagoon Cancun and the Xanadu Freeport Grand Bahama. Ultimate Excursions can help with your project from concept to implementation. Specializing in sales and marketing, Ultimate Excursions and its professional staff can help with design, demographics and more.