Traveler’s Tip: Domestic Border Crossings

It’s rare, but it does happen once a century – the government does something smart.

In a move to make the jobs of border agents in the United States and Canada easier and make the borders more secure government officials created the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Before U.S. and Canadian citizens were allowed to offer oral declaration alone or present any of 8,000 documents proving identity and citizenship. This was a laborious task for Customs Agents on both sides of the Border with gaping holes in security. Seeing this huge hole in border security the 9/11 Commission recommended and Congresses agreed that there needed to be a standard set of documents. This acknowledgement would become one of the many mandates of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

To successfully accomplish this task the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security joined to create The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). The Program has over hauled border security by changing procedures and establishing a limited number of secure documents that can be presented for entry into the U.S by land, air and sea for U.S. citizens and foreign visitors.

As of June 1st 2009 these are the documents put down by WHTI for entry into the U.S. by land and sea ports between Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. U.S. Citizens entering the United States by land or sea are required to have one of the following:

U.S. or Canadian Passport

U.S. Passport Card.                                                    

A limited use international travel document valid for Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.



Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL)

A driver’s license that can be used as a cross-border travel document that denotes both identity and citizenship. Issuing states are Washington, New York, Michigan, and Vermont. For more information visit your local driver’s license issuing office.



NEXUS card

Part of the Trusted Traveler Program between U.S. and Canada, this can also be used all U.S. land and sea port of entries.



SENTRI card

Part of the Trusted Traveler Program between U.S. and Mexico, like the Nexus card it to can be used at all U.S. land and sea port of entries.

For travelers moving within the U.S. and its territories directly - Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands – travel documents are not necessary because it is not considered leaving the country.

There is a lot to know before you go so check outgetyouhome.gov/h the links below.

http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/eng_map.html

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/ready_set_go/

Safe travels!

Traveler Tip: Flights

Here are some website I have come across that offer travelers a helping hand with a budget savvy slant.

1. Farecast.com

http://www.bing.com/travel/

Brought to you by bing.com

The reason to use this program is the “Find the dates with lowest fare.” The graph projects what flights will cost with-in a 30 day window. Eye catching arrows let you know when to buy and when to sell, the probability that the price will lower, and an estimation of by how much the price will lower.

Additional features include Map where to travel, displays the flight path of the selected flight; Graph when to travel; and Grid length of travel, lets you choose a flight according to date and amount of time of flight.

Also allows you to compare searches in Expedia, Hotwire, PriceLine, Travelocity, and BookingBuddy for flights. Beware each comes up in its own pop-up window, so you will need to temporarily allow pop-ups.



2. www.Miletracker.com

Brought to you by USAToday.com

Consolidate all your frequent flier programs flights, train, bus, and rental cars all in one secure place.

Links to Deals for cruises, beach getaways, romance getaways, and shop flights.

Cool additional feature Airport guides. If you have never been to the Denver International get basic information about weather, flight delays, and links to concourse maps and Denver Int’l official website. Other sites offer information about parking and fees, sites aren’t uniform in layout but do give access to the same information.