While attempting to board a flight for Bride Le Bains in France at Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport, the process came to an abrupt halt as they were scanning my passport. The security officer brought in a supervisor who told me that my passport was invalid. I protested, saying that the passport did not expire until February 9, 2015 and we were returning on February 4. The security officer than told me that most countries now have a three to six month invalidation period prior to the expiration date on the passport.
Here are some interesting things that I learned from this experience:
* You can renew and update your passport in a 24-hour period, but it will cost you $299 plus the inconvenience.
* You can book another flight once you get a new passport, but the airline is going to charge you at least $200 for changing the flight.
* The agent at Delta told me on the telephone that, if they had permitted me to board the plane, the airline could have been fined as much as $32,000 by the FAA.
* And, if I had been allowed to fly to Europe with the “expired” passport and something happened to me, the U.S. Embassy would have no record of my being in France as my passport would have been considered invalid.
* As of this writing, my claim to Travel Guard Insurance Company has also been denied as they do not consider passport issues. Only serious illness and death are considered as valid excuses for a claim. I learned a lot from this episode and, hopefully, my experience can help educate other people. The lesson here is to check your passport expiration dates before you sign up for that next trip to another country — plus know and understand the rules.
