Passport or Not - Buffalo Flight?

[The House of Mouse]

We are flying out of Buffalo in May. We are leaving our car at a hotel there for 2 weeks. My DH has a passport and thinks the rest of us should get them too. Has anyone crossed over the border to do this? Since it's a domestic flight I don't think we will need them at the airport, only driving over, correct? What do you think?

 

[WCMouse]

For the flight you will probably only need picture ID, in whatever form that may be. We recently flew within the USA and that is all we needed. However we did have our passports in our bag "just in case".

I woud recommend them, passports that is, just because of the fact that the more ID, etc. I feel is better. If you lose one, you have another. If the "officals" at the airport or anywhere for that matter question one piece of ID you have another.

Yes, it can be a pain to get passprts for a family, but less of a pain of needing them and not having them...

 

[hockey mom]

We don't have any for our trip in April, nor do we plan on getting them. We were not even asked for any kind of I.D. when we crossed in October. Until there is an official statement that passports are required to cross the border we are not putting out the extra cash.

 

[siobhan1997]

Hi,
We are crossing over and flying from Syracuse. We talked to airline directly and they advised us we will require a government issued photo ID proving we are the ones who are booked on the flight. THe names have to match exactly as there are no name changes allowed. We will have our Driver's license, birth certificates , and me I have a Canadian Citizenship card but it is in my maiden name so I will bring along our marriage certificate just in case.

We have never been asked for passports going into the US or returning into Canada.

 

[WCMouse]

Maybe out here on the West Coast the US Immigration are tougher or maybe they have had more problems in the past, but the the US INS agents we have spoke to highly recommend it. They do not say we need passpots, but they have said that we may need to prove citizenship...

We always carry them... but that is just us I guess.. you will probably be okay with out them...

 

[beglluvr]

It is not necessary to have passports to cross the border to the US, but we have noticed that it seems to make it easier and faster at customs. When we flew to St. Lucia in Nov. 2002, one member of our party had a passport and he zipped through customs in Buffalo, Puerto Rico and St. Lucia. The 3 of us that had only a drivers licenses and birth certificates spent so much longer at customs (St. Lucia is also a British Commonwealth, so passports are not necessary). For travelling to the US, I won't bother getting passports, but if we ever travel anywhere else, I will definately look into getting them. It's also not a bad idea to have them for children (if you are travelling with any).

 

[jean m]

Originally posted by beglluvr
[B It's also not a bad idea to have them for children (if you are travelling with any). [/B]

Children can be included on your passport But if disaster happens and one parent has to stay with a child it has to be the parent that shares the passport. The same would apply if one parent had to come home early-call back to work etc.Far better for each child to have their own passport.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

The days of including children on an adult's passport are over. Passports are issued to the individual -- each child must have their own passport.

 

[dsneygirl]

You do NOT need a passport to cross into the US. You DO need proof of citizenship, (can be a birth certificate)
For the actual flight you need photo ID.

If you have passports go ahead and take them but don't panic if you don't have them.

 

[jean m]

Originally posted by RoyalCanadian
The days of including children on an adult's passport are over. Passports are issued to the individual -- each child must have their own passport.

GOOD

 

[abbyndrewmom]

Depending on what is stamped in your passport it can cause more harm then good. Because I lived in the US for a number of years and had a green card renewal stamp in my passport I always get questioned at the US border because of it. Though we always travel with them we never show them unless asked.


Allison

 

[poohbear7]

We just got back from Buffalo going into the US they looked at our passports. A sign as you pull up to the booth says have your photo ID ready for inspection. Some times they look at it sometimes not. I think you would need a birth certificate and goverment photo ID to be on the safe side. Coming back into Canada they didn't check for ID or citizenship just asked.

 

[dsneygirl]

Originally posted by abbyndrewmom
Depending on what is stamped in your passport it can cause more harm then good. Because I lived in the US for a number of years and had a green card renewal stamp in my passport I always get questioned at the US border because of it. Though we always travel with them we never show them unless asked.


Allison

Last summer we went over with a friend who has travelled extensively. Thailand, Hong Kong etc. She showed her passport and we got grilled. Where did she work? What was her relationship to us?