US Passport Card

Does anyone have a US passport card? It sounds like it's pretty useless and can only be used to enter the US, but I was wondering if there is any advantage to having one.

I'm looking renewing my passport early due to a surname change. I haven't dealt with US passport renewal since 2004, so I've never heard of a passport card before.

I have one, I got it a few years ago when they changed the law and required passport or passport card(and now they offer enhanced license) to cross the border into Canada. That was before I decided I wanted traveled out of the US, and then I had to get an actual passport too, and then I kicked myself for wasting money on a passport card.

It's only allowed for land and sea travel to Canada, Bermuda, Mexico, and the Caribbean, so I don't think it's much use unless you go on a lot of cruises or drive to Canada or Mexico a lot. That being said, I do find it handy because I go to Canada to visit friends from time to time, and its easier to carry around a plastic card rather than carry around my passport over there.

It sounds like you are asking about getting a passport card instead of a passport? You cannot fly using a passport card.

No, I wasn't asking about a PP card instead of a PP book. I had just never heard of a PP card and didn't know if it was of any use. It sounds like it's useless to me, so I won't get one.

Thanks!

I had just never heard of a PP card and didn't know if it was of any use. It sounds like it's useless to me, so I won't get one.

I always thought that the passport card sounded useless too. Then I read (I believe on the State Department website) that a passport card is another way to prove your US citizenship. So, for example, if you were travelling somewhere and you lost your passport book, the US passport card could get you into the US Diplomatic Post in that country to apply for a new one.

Since it is only $30, I'm planning on getting one next time I renew my passport book. It may come in handy someday.

That's a good idea, nharpold. I never thought of that. I go on a lot of backpacking holidays and taking a US passport card, putting it in a safe spot separate from my passports, could be a good idea, in case I lost them. For $30, I might as well do it.

If I was travelling on my UK passport and took only my US passport card, would that be a way to prove US citizenship in the case of an emergency (such as emergency evacuation from a country, like when foreigners were being evacuated from Libya and Syria)? I sometimes go to places that aren't the most politically stable and always have embassy information in case there's an emergency and I'd need assistance leaving that country.

I'm planning on getting one before I fly back to the States next, because it's legal ID. I lost my PA driver's license due to no longer being a resident (super stressful!) and I really don't want to carry my passport around to bars and grocery stores everywhere and risk losing it - a passport card can fit in my wallet so it's always there when I get IDed.

And for that, it's worth $30 to me!