My passport is due to arrive in 4-6 weeks. I'm planning to leave for Europe the second week of Oct. I booked a flight from Scotland to Paris and they require a passport number. Is there a way to get this information before my passport arrives. Is it wise to make other reservations before I get passport in hand? I included my old passport (from 1987) along with my birth certificate with the passport application. The postal worker said I should get my new passport sooner, rather than later with the documentation I provided. I am excited about my trip, but hesitant to book reservations w/o passport. Any suggestions.?.?.?
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
You can usually book now and provide the passport number later. There is no way to get the number before you have the passport in hand. I'm curious why you included a birth certificate, since that isn't necessary if you are sending in an expired passport. The birth certificate was provided the first time you got a passport as proof of your citizenship. After that, your old passport is the proof. It won't make any difference in how quickly it comes. I recently renewed mine, and it took four weeks and two days from the day I mailed it.
Posted by
Phoenix, AZ
199 posts
I booked a flight Phx to London to Munich on British Airways. I still have not obtained my sons passport yet. According to BA, they will need information such as Passport number before flight. You don't need passport to book tickets (at least with BA). Just make sure that if you book tickets, the passport is with same exact name.
Posted by
OP
Gladstone, oregon, usa
5 posts
My expired passport was issued more than 15 years ago so I had to re-apply for a new one. One of the documents required with the application was a birth certificate.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Thanks for the info! Since I renewed mine a couple of months before it expired (and have done the same with those of my kids) I didn't know they had that rule.
Posted by
Tampa, Florida, USA
4 posts
Contact your congress person. I did this 2 years ago when it had been 6 weeks and our passports were still not present even though we were told it was 3 weeks or less. (My husband, sister and I were going to Paris for 8 days.) I emailed my congress person, his office contacted me. In 2 days our passports arrived, his office was able to have them rushed to us. Otherwise inform the airlines and hotels via email or phone why your passport number is missing. Good luck.
Posted by
sacramento
63 posts
we (family of 4) got our passports back in 12 days.... Count them 12 days.. David.... call the status hotline or check online (at state dept web site) to see if there is a problem....
Posted by
OP
Gladstone, oregon, usa
5 posts
Thanks everyone for responding. My passport arrived on Friday, three weeks to the day, after I sent in the paperwork! I checked the status on the state dept. website a few days before it arrived, and all it said was it was being processed. I still have over a month before I depart and one less thing to worry about.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
Also true of SAS (and I would guess Lufthansa, since they own SAS), I booked my flight while my renewal was still with the State Department, then went online and filled it in when my passport arrived. As far as I know the State Department has been turning them around fairly quickly (especially now that the main travel season is over). I sent mine in March and it came back well before I expected it to. I do think you should book all of your flights at the same time. If you leave a leg open because you can't book without your passport, you may have to change your itinerary later which can be costly.