I’m curious - is there any benefit to having a Passport over a certified copy of one’s birth certificate and valid photo state ID? I’m just wondering, because it’s about $90 altogether (plus an additional $60 if you need it expedited) to get a passport, and that just seems like a lot of money to spend if it’s not really necessary.
Virtually no country will let you enter without you holding a passport. There’s good reasons for this - neither a birth certificate nor photo ID necessarily demonstrate your citizenship, and certainly are not as reliable as proof of genuine ID.
Depends what you are using it for. For cashing a check or buying alcohol, and even travel between the US/Canada/Mexico your drivers license/birth certificate should be fine. For any other international travel you need a passport, and possibly a visa from the country you will be travelling to.
I have traveled between Mexico and the USA a lot and can say that with a Certified Birth Certificate and photo ID, you will be held up while the documents are verified. I have also traveled between Mexico and the USA with a Passport and can tell you that all they do is swipe it, and you are back home. All other foreign countries require Passports. A Passport is also good for cashing a check and verification of citizenship if you are looking for a job. A USA Passport is good for 10 years now and $90.00 doesn’t seem like too much to pay, if you plan to cross international borders.
That is not exactly true. I went to Costa Rica with no passport. The Bahamas also does not require a passport for U.S. citizens. Here is a full list:
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
The Bahamas
Bermuda
The British Virgin Islands (islands include Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda)
The British West Indies (islands include Anguilla, Montserrat, Cayman Islands, Turks, and Caicos)
Canada
Costa Rica
Dominica
The Dominican Republic
The Federated States of Micronesia (islands include Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnei, and Yap)
Grenada
Jamaica
Mexico
The Netherlands Antilles (islands include Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Statia, and Saint Maarten)
Panama
The Republic of Palau
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Pierre and Miquelon Island
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
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It’s a lot of fun to be able to whip out your passport and show it to people. Makes you feel like a spy or something.
The passport is handy for signing up for things that require several forms of ID (driver’s license, bank accounts, etc.) because passports have more stringent documentation requirements than most other forms of ID, so by having a passport you’ve already proven that you have those others.
That said, that’s the theory at any rate. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve been signing up for a DL or something and saw the list that said, “you need something from column A, B, C and two from D - or a passport and a copy of your mail to prove current address” and when I presented the passport, I had to fight over whether it was valid or not since people aren’t used to seeing them.
So, unless you’re going on vacation overseas, there’s no reason to have one.
The URL you cite is dated November 21, 2001 and offers a list dated from April 2001.
Quite a bit has changed since then. This web page from the State Department is dated June 2003 and contradicts your cite. Even Costa Rica requires a passport (and return trip ticket to enter).
Having crossed over into Canada a few times, I can tell you a certified birth certificate and driver’s license just don’t satisfy some immigration officials. There’s nothing like a passport to answer all the questions in one fell swoop.
On the other hand, people in the U.S. just aren’t conditioned to looking at passports. If I want to cash an out of state check, I can wave my passport around all I want, but they’re still going to ask for a driver’s license and credit card.
The nice thing about a passport is that it’s in its own little protective book, unlike an exposed birth/marriage certificate, subject to all sorts of ripping, fading, and tearing. But Chairman Pow is right, you don’t need one unless you plan on doing some travelling, or winning a trip on a game show.
A passport is good for 10 years, so even if you let all your other documents expire, it will probably still be good.
A passport is the best ID to show in order to board a plane.
I didn’t realise birth certificates expired 
Get a passport.
If you do end up doing any International travel (and I do hope you do- it’s great fun!) you’ll be glad that you have one already instead of having to rush around to get it taken care of (and possibly paying the really expensive expidite fees) before you go. I know plenty of people who wern’t able to go on some great once-in-a-lifetime dream vacations because they wouldn’t have time to get their passport.
CBCD, I was under the impression that you HAD to show a passport to get on international flights these days… it’s not just recommended, but mandatory.
That’s been my experience. They check the passport right at several points along the way. No passport = no boarding.
Yes, you have to have a passport for an international flight.
I am recommending a passport as ID to get on a US domestic flight. US Passports are uniform - they all look the same. The gate attendant does not have to decipher what the ID is. Is it a NY drivers license? It is a Colorado student ID? Passports are the easiest and fastest IDs for air travel.
Actually, you don’t necessarily: it depends on the arrangement of the countries you’re flying between. You don’t have to have one on flights between Ireland and the UK, for example, or between any of the countries that make up the Schengen region of Europe.
It certainly never hurts to carry one though.
IIRC, the only other ID accepted UK-Ireland is a driving licence. But I presume even that’s only possible because of a bilateral agreement between the two countries.
But agreed, it’s far less hassle just to have a passport.
No, there are a number of other acceptable IDs (at least they’re acceptable to the Irish authorities), according to this page. Note that this only applies to citizens of either country, though.
That’s only the immigration requirements - it’s the airline’s requirements that are important. For example, Ryanair require a passport or driving licence.