Need a New Passport? Bill the Caribbean.

Travel Blog  •  Terry Ward  •  01.16.07 | 2:59 PM ET

imagePhoto by Michael Yessis.

When my passport expired late last year, I shelled out nearly $150 in expedited fees and overnight shipping envelopes to have a new one rushed my way. If Morocco hadn’t been calling, however, perhaps I would have waited for the Bahamas to pick up the tab. Nassau Paradise Island is spending big bucks on newspaper ads—I saw one in the Orlando Sentinel—touting a new gimmick to keep passport-shy Americans coming: 19 member hotels are offering to reimburse the cost of passports in exchange for a minimum two-night stay.

An article on MSNBC.com reports that SuperClubs resorts in Brazil and the Caribbean are following suit with a similar reimbursement offer for travelers who book by Jan. 23 (when new passport requirements take effect) for travel this year.

And at one St. Lucia resort (and just in time for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, it’s worth noting), the deal is even sweeter. According to the article:

The Ladera Resort in St. Lucia is offering a Passport to Paradise promotion for travel in 2007. First-time passport holders simply need to show their passport and original receipt at check-in, and they’ll be reimbursed the $97 application fee. The resort is also throwing in extras like a leather passport case, a 30-minute massage and a custom cocktail. The deal is good for travel from January 1 - December 21, 2007.

Meanwhile, in this week’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Thomas Swick has some amusing tips for “passport rookies”:

Even inveterate travelers tend to take a look at the picture, affirm it’s of them, and leave it at that. Not enough. In this age of declining work standards and increasingly poor spelling, a little proofreading is in order. Do not, however, send your passport back because the dates are written backward (day first, month second). This is just your government being a little Continental.

You will also notice that nowhere is it written where your passport was issued, a detail that every foreign visa application will ask you for. When that time comes, just write “Pittsburgh.”

Good call, Tom. Recently, while filling out customs forms, I was stumped by the fact that there’s no “Place of Issue” section on the new passports. Somehow “United States Department of State” just doesn’t have the same ring as the ‘Burgh.