A Briggs Passport & Visa Expeditors

Security is a hot topic today, even when it’s not making the 6 o’clock news. Many of us feel most vulnerable when we are traveling alone. An unfamiliar spot, unfamiliar faces, and unusual customs can make us feel out of place. A perfect way to fit in anywhere and to really enjoy a trip is to swap homes.

When travelers think safe travel, they may imagine extra security at hotels or extra locks on doors, but vacation home exchange, or home swapping as it is offer referred to, offers a much more personal and comfortable option that will have you feeling at home anywhere in the world.

When you exchange homes with someone, you enjoy the comfort of living in a residential area, not a tourist area where criminals may target newcomers. Plus, many hosts leave phone numbers of friends and neighbors who will very often go out of their way to welcome you to the neighborhood. Basically, you are an invited guest wherever you choose to travel.

All this means that you seem less like a tourist - and you always have a friendly face looking out for your interests. This will be a great comfort if your need directions or assistance while your visiting.

If you are worried about traveling alone, there are several ways to add some safety measures to your next home exchange:

• Get to know your hosts. Exchanging emails, phone calls, and photos with your hosts will make your new home seem more familiar long before you arrive. In fact, Lindsey Jennings, an enthusiastic fan of home swapping admits that although “We have never met the couple we exchanged with, we remain friendly with them and still email with them all the time with our latest family news.” It is a sentiment shared by many home exchange fans: once you start to swap homes, you will quickly get to know people who act as your hosts. Feeling this comfortable helps ensure that you feel safe when you arrive at your destination.
• Ask for contact numbers. Your hosts may provide local numbers you can call in case you need help. Many home exchange fans also find that neighbors and friends prove very helpful and friendly, helping to ensure complete safety. Lindsey certainly found that neighbors could add to safety as well as comfort: “The neighbors made a lovely brunch for us with traditional English food one afternoon. The stepfather of the homeowner came to meet us and brought us a huge box full of chocolates, cheeses, wines which were delicious and so thoughtful.”
• Use a reputable company. Using a company such as Digsville.com ensures that you make use of a friendly home exchange community. Through blogs, home listings, member reviews, and tips, Digsville.com strives to make every home exchange fan feel prepared and comfortable in planning their vacation exchanges.
• Keep the right attitude. When it comes to home exchange, openness and flexibility are key. By giving your guests a comfortable stay in your own home and allowing yourself to trust that the home you have researched carefully will be safe also, you are allowing yourself to enjoy a great travel experience.

Home exchange is really a very safe way to travel and to see the world - provided that you do a bit of research ahead of time.

With no impersonal rooms and no stringent security staff, you can enjoy your host home and truly relax on your trip, settling into a home that feels like your own for a few days or a few months.

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Planning a trip? Click here to arrange your passport or visa.
About the Author:

Helen Bergstein is the founder of the Digsville Home Exchange Club and an internationally recognized expert on home exchange. Helen has written countless articles, newsletters, and surveys about home swapping and has won awards for her online home exchange service. Even though she keeps busy acting as chief, editor, customer service leader, and domain expert for Digsville.com, Helen still finds time to exchange her own home and do what fueled her passion for home exchange travel.

Here is an interesting article about traveling with children. For complete information about traveling with your minor children, see
http://www.abriggs.com/high_level/travel_w_minors.php

A Briggs…and here is the article:

By Johnathan Bakers

Families nowadays prefer travelling by plane, as they find this a viable option after the fuel prices have skyrocketed. Air travel saves you from boredom and even reduces your tension while travelling with children.

You can travel without any hassles by preparing yourself and following some simple tips, to make your flight a dream trip instead of a nightmare.

Plan your trip well ahead, as you can sometimes catch up with some good deals. Six months should be good time, as it gives you maximum time to shop online or under the guidance of a travel agent.

It is very easy nowadays to book online and travel agents are the best people to guide you through kid friendly flights. Some airlines provide activity packs and special meals for children. Some flights do not offer a choice of food and this makes traveling with kids very uncomfortable.

Before you finalize your tickets, be sure to check your layovers to avoid jet lag. You must also consider the arrival and departure time, as it is always best to air travel at night if you are travelling from east to west. This proves less tiring as the kids go off to sleep almost immediately. A stopover in another city provides one with the chance to take in the wonders of a new place before reaching your final destination.

While booking your seats be cautious, as it can be very embarrassing to try and bargain with your fellow passengers to exchange seats with you. If the airline doesn’t assign you the requested seat numbers by the time you check in, then be sure to arrive early. You can also book a seat for child that is specially designed for children, as these seats are a combination of a booster and a car seat. This is more secure than lap belts. This way you and your child will have a comfortable journey.

Some airlines permit the passengers to get their boarding passes printed a day before the journey and you should take this opportunity, as it saves time and the airport delay.

Once the travel details are taken care of, you can think of packing for your journey. Nothing can be more disturbing than traveling with an overload of luggage. Travel light and make sure your baggage does not weigh more than what airlines allow. If possible, combine the kids’ luggage with yours, to reduce the risk of losing things.

Only carry essential items like medication and passports in your carry-on bags. Backpacks are ideal for children and adults alike, since they offer a lot of space and you can keep your hands free. The smaller kids can have small backpacks of their own.

Involve kids while packing and let them pack their own things. Allow them to pack their favorite clothes along with games, books and toys. Crayons, coloring pads or a portable DVD player is an ideal way to keep them entertained during the flight. Don’t forget to pack extra batteries for the electronic devices, as you may not be able to buy them at the airport.

While travelling with kids, be sure to take all the necessities like medication, clothes and you can carry books and crayons as surprise add-ons in your bag. Ensure that the children consume a lot of fluids, so that they do not get dehydrated and you should avoid giving them dry snacks. Always keep hand wipes ready to keep their faces and hands clean.

Travelling with kids, if planned well in advance can be very enjoyable and memorable.

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Planning a trip? Click here to arrange your passport or visa.

About The Author:

Johnathan Bakers repeatedly pens summaries on issues relating to Murcia and La Manga. His articles on Torrevieja can be found on http://www.alicante-spain.com/torrevieja.html and also on other online sites.

If you are planning on spending a vacation in London, make sure you take full advantage of this gorgeous city with all that it has to offer. The city of London is full of an exciting array of places to go and things to do and see, for people of all cultures and ages. Being one of the biggest cultural capitals in the world, this city offers sightseeing opportunities and tourist attractions like nowhere else. Travel to London involves experiencing the city in all its splendor and fantastic sightseeing. Here are ten of the best sightseeing places in the city of London:
1. The British Museum:

Founded in the year 1753, the British Museum had a collection of over 71,000 unique items that had all been contributed by Sir Hans Sloane. In the 1800’s, this museum gained in popularity and began to flourish, which in turn increased its inventory of items to more than seven million. The museum’s charter declares that it should be open free of charge to all those curious people who are interested in learning more. So, come spend a day wandering through the eternal, labyrinthine corridors, exploring and discovering some of the greatest works of mankind’s cultural accomplishments and some take in some of the greatest relics of the Egyptian and Greek empires.

2. The London Eye:

Drawing nearly four million visitors each year, the London Eye has become one of the most popular sightseeing attractions in the world today. This gigantic wheel stands almost 135 meters over the entire city of London and is presently considered to be one of the tallest observation wheels in the world. This wondrous creation of modern engineering permits tourists to view all of London with an entirely new perspective, allowing them to see parts of the city that are generally not visible from the ground. Visiting the London Eye has been described as an `enchanting and inspiring experience’ and no vacation to London is complete without visiting this monument.

3. Saint Paul’s Cathedral:

Saint Paul’s Cathedral offers a captivating picture of the British Empire of the yesteryears and is a historical accomplishment of the reconstruction that took place after the great London fire of 1666. Famous for hosting royal birthdays, weddings,
celebrations and even funerals of some of the greatest leaders in Britain, the Cathedral attracts millions and millions of tourists every year.

4. The National Gallery:

Situated in the very center of Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery is home to some of the finest works of art in the world. Some of these pieces date back to the 13th century. Construction of the gallery commenced in the year 1832 and ever since it has collected many great pieces of art, which include works by Monet, Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Renoir and many more. A visitor can probably spend days trying to view all of the contents inside the gallery.

5. The London Zoo:

The London Zoo, which is in Regents Park is one of the most popular zoo’s in the world and houses as many as 12,000 different species of animals. Considered to be a must see, visitors travel from all parts of the world to see the animal shows that are held daily.

6. Tate Modern:

One of London’s most contemporary galleries, the Tate Modern consists of great collections and diverse exhibitions of modern art. Appealing to both, children as well as adults, connoisseurs as well as novices, the Tate Modern houses grand collections of artists like
Matisse, Andy Warhol and Bacon.

7. The Tower of London:

Constructed with white stone that was imported from France, the Tower of London or the `Bloody Tower’ has been known to imprison, protect and even execute the wrongdoers in the past.

8. The Natural History Museum:

An enigmatic gothic building that is home to some of the largest collections of dinosaurs in the world, the Natural History Museum consists of exhibitions that dominate the huge halls and tower.

9. The Madame Tussaud’s Experience:

A museum that is filled with life-like waxworks and animated displays that demonstrate the dark side of British history.

10. Westminster Abbey:

It is a medieval work of monumental significance and the burial ground for some of the most famous kings, statesmen, musicians, scientists and poets since the 11th century. The Westminster Abbey offers some of the most intriguing literary works and artistic
talent in the way of paintings, murals and tombs.

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Planning a trip to London? Click here to arrange your UK visa. Is your passport up to date? Click here to order or renew your passport.
About The Author:

Concentrating on the area of Benidorm, Clinton Maxwell is publishing mostly for http://www.alicante-spain.com/benidorm.html . You might see his publications over at
http://www.alicante-spain.com/costa-blanca.html and various other sources for Costa Blanca news.

The U.S. Department of State is now requiring additional information from consumers when tracking online status of pending U.S. passport applications and/or obtaining proof that a U.S. passport application has been received by the State Department and is still being processed.

U.S. citizens are now required to include last name, including suffixes (that is, for example, “Junior”, etc.), date of birth and the last four digits of the applicant’s social security number. Use of the application locator number has been temporarily suspended for security reasons.

At present, it is taking seven to 20 days for passport applications to appear in the Passport Services’ online tracking system.

The State Department’s recent announcement on the Temporary Travel Flexibility for U.S. Citizens with Pending Passport Applications now requires U.S. citizens traveling by air to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, or the Caribbean to have a printout of a passport application status for departure from the U.S. and for re-entry into the U.S.

The State Department also notes that some Western Hemisphere countries have always required a passport or additional documentation and travelers are advised to check the Foreign Entry Requirements for more information.

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Planning a trip outside the U.S.? Click here to find out what the Foreign Entry Requirements are for travel outside the U.S.

We received a call from a client who was at a U.S. airport to fly to Mexico on United Airlines who was not allowed on the flight because he did not have his passport. The United agent at the counter said that their computer system was informing them that all passengers must have a passport.

We discussed this with the Passport Agency and were told they had heard of similar problems, especially with United. Our contact said that the management of all major U.S. airlines have been informed of the new rules. He said that some of the confusion at the airport may be a result of the State Department announcement that the new exception rule (that permits travel to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda with only a birth certificate and proof the traveler has applied for a passport) applies only to re-entry into the U.S. for specific countries from that region — see list below.

The new rule does not change the entry requirements FROM the U.S. TO these or any other Caribbean countries. You can obtain country-specific entry requirements information from here, or you can check with the airline on which you are traveling.

The list of countries from which you can return to the U.S. with a government-issued photo id and proof that you have applied for a passport includes:

Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Jamaica (except for business travel)
Montserrat
Netherlands Antilles
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Turks and Caicos

You can obtain proof that you have applied for a passport from here. You must have that specific proof. It is the only acceptable proof.

The Passport Agency admits there have been problems, and we know there have been hundreds of thousands of problems. So, don’t assume anything. Remember that even though you may have applied, your application may not show up in the government’s system for typicallyl up to 20 days — and in some cases it has been as long as 3 months.

If your application is not in the system, call Passport Customer Service at 877.487.2778 and ask them to retrieve the necessary information 6:00 a.m. to midnight EST, Monday to Friday and limited weekend hours.

The volume of calls into the Service are still too heavy for the number of people answering the calls. So you expect to have difficulty getting through. It can take as long as an hour to get someone on the phone.

So check the requirements for the country to which you are traveling to make sure you have the necessary travel documents to enter and leave that country.

Here is an article about the State Departments’s effort to solve the passport backlog. The State Department Passport Agency has received a lot of bad press, but A Briggs believes it is doing okay at meeting this unprecedented passport demand as this article shows. The article:

State Department ups ante to deal with passport crisis

Foreign service personnel with consular experience asked to volunteer•

Government to pay travel, lodging and per diem costs

Two groups of 50 diplomats each are needed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department is trying to lure diplomats back home during the next two months to help clear a massive backlog in passport applications. If successful, the operation could affect services at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.
Unable to cope with almost 3 million backed up applications and thousands more that are pouring in each day, the department has issued an urgent all-points global appeal seeking volunteers to return to the United States at government expense in July and August to deal with the problem.

The department faces withering criticism from citizens and lawmakers over its failure to cope with unprecedented passport demand that has led to major delays in processing and disrupted travel plans for thousands.

The problem reflects a massive rush for passports by Americans because of security upgrades requiring them for more travelers that have been passed since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Traditionally, few Americans have bothered with passports because most never ventured beyond Canada or Mexico. Even those cross-border outings are in line to require passports eventually.

“I am asking all foreign service personnel with consular experience to look at whether you can volunteer and serve our citizens here at home,” Undersecretary of State for Management Henrietta Fore said in a cable sent Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions abroad.
“All related travel, lodging, and per diem costs will be covered,” she said in the unclassified memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. The memo also offers training and refresher courses for those whose consular knowledge might be rusty.

“The needs are real, and we need your help now,” Fore said. “We recognize, and accept, that there will be an impact on other services and activities. All volunteers are welcome.”
Two groups of 50 diplomats each are needed. The offer expands on a similar but less costly appeal this month for diplomats planning to be on home leave this summer to work at the overwhelmed National Passport Center in New Hampshire and other processing facilities.
The department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, which oversees passport operations, could not say how much money may have been set aside to pay for airfare, hotels and meals for the volunteers.

Officials said the offer is an indication of the department’s determination to end the passport mess that has crippled the system despite the hiring of additional staff.

Fore said the goal is to clear the backlog by the end of September, when a temporary suspension of a major new border security initiative that had caused the surge in applications expires.

This article is a fairly accurate reporting of the actual situation of firms like A Briggs and their dealings with the Passport Agency.

Before the passport problems of this year, we would routinely tell persons calling us because they needed a passport that they didn’t need to use us if they were leaving in four weeks or more. Now, we are never sure exactly what to tell callers, because there have been so many problems reported to us.

Here is the article from the Houston Post:

Buggs:
Fast route to passport paved with cash
By SHANNON BUGGS

Throw money at the problem.

That seems to be the only workable solution to the passport mess the federal government made.

Rules that went into effect in January require all U.S. citizens to have passports to leave and re-enter the U.S. by airplane.

So travelers, used to flying to Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and Caribbean nations using only a driver’s license and birth certificate, flooded regional passport offices with applications.
The backlog is so deep, the application processing time has doubled from the usual six weeks to 12, although the State Department says it will whittle it down to eight weeks by fall.

Key receipt takes time

Earlier this month, the State Department relaxed the rules temporarily.
Until September, air travelers to these major tourist destinations can continue using their licenses and birth certificates as proof of identity as long as they present a receipt confirming that a passport application has been filed.

Although you can download that receipt from the State Department Web site, it could take as long as 10 business days from the time you submit the application to when you can print the receipt.

That catch — the receipt processing time — is a detail many travelers have overlooked.

But in the same amount of time, if you pay about double the usual passport fees, you could have your actual passport and not a piece of paper saying it’s on its way.

What expediters do

For fees of $100 to $200, expediters, also known as courier services or passport and visa firms, handle much of the legwork for passport applications.

That cost is tacked on to the $60 the government charges for expedited service and the passport application, as well as execution fees of: $67 for a renewal; $97 for a first-time passport for anyone age 16 or older; and $82 for those under age 16.

Adult passports are good for 10 years and children’s for five.

“One thing that I have seen a lot of lately is people contacting their local Congress people for support and assistance,” said Steve Diehl, vice president of business development for CIBT, the nation’s largest expediter. “And a lot of senators and Congress people have been calling us to help to get passports released. That never used to happen. That’s really unheard-of.”

‘By the rules’

The reason expediters can get done what you can’t is they don’t have to call the automated appointment number to schedule times with passport agents. The firms register with the State Department to act as authorized representatives for citizens, and their sensitive personal documents, and are allotted a set number of appointment times to handle their clients’ business.

“We go by the rules,” said Maria Lowe, owner of Wide World Visas, a passport agency and expediter in downtown Houston. “We represent people who are waiting in line like everyone else, but we do the footwork and spend the waiting time.”

And the rules as established by the State Department are that each of the 15 regional passport agencies determines the number of appointment times that will be reserved for expediters, said
Steve Royster, a consular affairs spokesman.

“They allow us to submit 25 cases a day,” Lowe said of the Houston passport agency. “Out of those cases, we can only have three rushes that can be obtained in 24 hours. I can get you a passport on a regular basis in about two weeks.”

Because Diehl’s international firm has outlets in seven of the U.S.
cities with passport offices, it keeps a database of all its appointment allotments and advises its mostly corporate customers to send passport paperwork to the office with the appropriate availability.

Of all the passport agencies, Diehl said Seattle and New York “continue to be relatively easy to work with. They pretty much have kept it together through all of this crisis.”

Businesses feel crunch

The bureaucratic breakdown is starting to affect more than vacationers, he said, generating many new corporate clients for CIBT, including an airline based in Atlanta.
“Pilots are not being able to fly scheduled flights because they can’t get their passports renewed on time,” Diehl said. “A lot of business is starting to be jeopardized by staffers not being able to get their passports turned around quickly. That’s an ongoing horror story that we are starting to see every day.”

Now, you know Fortune 500 companies are not about to lose out on millions of dollars of revenue to save a few pennies on getting passports processed. And neither should you.
Throw money at this problem to prevent canceling or delaying your vacation or business trip. You shouldn’t have to, but the federal government really hasn’t given you a choice in the matter.

Columnist Shannon Buggs has completed the personal finance planning certificate program at the University of Houston. Contact her at shannon.buggs@chron.com.

Brought to you by the HoustonChronicle.com

The Passport Agency is paying refunds to passport applicants who paid the government $60 expedite fee and didn’t receive their passports in a timely manner. If this happened to you, by all means apply for the refund, but expect to wait several months to receive a response.

Here is the article:

Govt. to refund travelers whose passports weren’t expedited
Updated

By Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — Frustrated travelers who paid an extra $60 to get their U.S. passports expedited — and still had to wait for them — can now get a refund from the government.
The decision to refund the money, disclosed in a State Department document sent Tuesday to members of Congress, represents the latest effort to come to grips with a massive backlog in passport applications that has ruined or delayed summer vacation plans for thousands in the United States.

The delays were largely due to a new rule that requires U.S. citizens to have passports when flying to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Last week, the government announced it was suspending that rule until September, as long as travelers to those countries carried a printout receipt showing they had applied for a passport.

The passport delays were so bad that many of those who paid for faster service, at a cost of $60 plus the regular processing fees of $97 for a new passport, did not receive their passports within the expected 14 days. Some who paid extra waited for a month or more.

“It’s an outrage to pay over $150 for a passport and still have your travel plans ruined,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who had previously called for the refunds.

Schumer also chided State officials for not doing more to publicize the refunds, saying they should be “shouting this refund policy from the rooftops, not whispering it in the wind.”
The State Department document, obtained by The Associated Press, says passport applicants who paid for, but did not get, expedited service should send a written refund application to the agency’s refund office in Washington. They should provide their passport number, if available, their name, date and place of birth, the approximate date they applied for the passport, as well as a mailing address and phone number.

Homeland Security officials have warned that the passport delays will not affect their schedule of requiring passports of everyone driving across the border into Canada or Mexico beginning in January 2008 — a rule that some experts believe will lead to a fourfold increase in new demand for passports.

This is our new section dedicated to travel articles. Enjoy!