Shouts of "DO WE GET A REFUND???" provided a welcome interruption to the tedium of malingering at the end of the long, slow line to check in for our flight to Jamaica. A quick glance around the terminal revealed the source: a knot of women chattering excitedly as they frantically waved their passport-card-bearing hands around.
It did not take long to learn that these women would not be taking their long-anticipated, eagerly-awaited vacation in Jamaica, because when they applied for their passports they opted to save $35 by going with the $65 passport card rather than the $100 passport book.
All but one of the women walked away, to the general murmur of sympathy among the rest of the passengers. Consensus: It wasn't their fault. WAAAAH! It should have been explained to them that the card is good only for cruises and for driving acroxx into Canada or Mexico.
My mind floated back to the day I saw the question on my passport application: Card? Or Book? I DON"T KNOW!!!! And nobody explained it to me, either. The difference between me and them was...I asked. And I guess their friend asked, too, because she was the lone one in the group with a book passport and no compunction about going on to Jamaica without them.
My best advice is: Read the fine print. And if you can't make it out, ask. Because the vacation you save may be your own.
The Time Of His Life
12 years ago
3 comments:
Neat posts. How awful for those ladies. We run into stuff like this all the time. Thing is, you don't know enough to know what to ask sometimes. Somebody should have told those ladies.
I always ask when I don't understand something. I'm afraid not to...
My problem is that I think I do understand things, only to find out later I don't. My bad. I've learned to ask all sorts of stuff a million times of several different people. Sigh. The worst place is the Bible college my son attends.
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