Renew passport now to avoid Aug. 19 fee hike

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 08/1102

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If you're even thinking about planning a trip abroad, now may be the time to get a passport or renew your existing one before prices go up.

Starting next week, most passport fees are scheduled to jump by a third or more. Anyone who files all their paperwork before Aug. 19 should qualify for the existing lower fees.

Kelly Shannon, a spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, said federal law requires the agency to periodically review its charges to make sure they reflect actual costs. The last time passport fees increased was in 1998, she said.

The cost of a new passport, including the so-called execution fee, is rising from $60 to $85. For those under age 16, the price is jumping from $40 to $70.

Passport renewals, which are typically required every 10 years for adults, are going from $40 to $55. The price of special services is also increasing. The expedited processing of a passport application, for example, is nearly doubling from $35 to $60.

Passport applications can be submitted at more than 4,500 locations around the country, including passport agencies, court houses, post offices, and libraries. Along with the application, the fee, two passport photos, proof of citizenship, and valid identification are typically required.

To learn more about obtaining a passport, go online rather than picking up the phone. The State Department contracts out its phone information services to a private company that charges 35 cents per minute to listen to recorded information on a 900 number, and $1.05 a minute, or a flat $4.95 for an entire call, to speak to an operator. These calling fees are not increasing Aug. 19.

At www.travel.state.gov, you will find information on how to apply for a passport, details on documentation requirements, how to speed up the process, and copies of most application forms.

The requirements for passport photos are rigid. As a result, most people buy them rather than try to take and submit their own. A wide variety of retailers offer passport photo services. Check the Yellow Pages for stores in your area.

I called a handful and found prices in the $8 to $12 range for the two passport photos. A camera store in Dorchester was selling them for just over $10, while CVS, at its stores with one-hour photo labs, sells them for just over $8.

hdbriefJet air hazards

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A new study debunks a long-held travel truism — that the recycled air found on most modern jetliners is hazardous to your health.

The study, reported in the July 23-31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicated that air travelers inhaling recycled air were no more likely to catch colds than travelers breathing fresh air.

"This finding assuages concerns regarding the risk of infectious diseases in recirculated cabin air and suggests that, if there is a substantial increased risk of upper respiratory infections among fliers, the main route for transmission is not air recirculation," the report said.

The study's authors suggested that fliers are more likely to catch colds because air travelers are often crowded together swapping germs in terminals, buses, and planes. Other factors include the stress associated with travel and poor eating habits.

To save energy, most passenger aircraft today have ventilation systems that use up to 50 percent recirculated air. Recycling air saves energy because fresh air has to be compressed, humidified, and then cooled by the jet's engines. By contrast, recirculated air is only run through filters before being combined with fresh air.

The study attempted to compare the incidence of colds and runny noses among passengers on board jets using 100 percent fresh air with passengers on board jets using partially recycled air. Research was conducted during the first four months of 1999. A total of 1,100 passengers departing San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., airports for Denver were interviewed before takeoff and again by phone five to seven days later to see if they had any cold symptoms.

Of the 1,100 passengers, 47 percent breathed only fresh air primarily aboard Boeing 737s, while 53 percent inhaled recycled air on Boeing 727s. Among the fresh air passengers, 21 percent reported colds, 11 percent reported colds and runny noses, and 3 percent indicated they had a series of symptoms associated with upper respiratory illnesses. Of those breathing recycled air, 19 percent reported colds, 10 percent reported colds and runny noses, and 3 percent had the multiple symptoms.

The report comes with all the usual qualifiers about the need for more research, but the study is unlikely to be repeated. The authors, most of them associated with the University at California at San Francisco, said airplanes with fresh-air ventilation systems have been retired from most fleets, particularly on longer flights. They also said Sept. 11 had made passenger interviews and gate access far more difficult today.

Bruce Mohl can be reached by e-mail at mohl@globe.com.