Refunds for delayed "expedited" passports

The U.S. State Department now says it will refund any $60 fees it collected from U.S. citizens who paid for "expedited" passports but didn't get them in the time promised. (Expedited passports were supposed to take a couple of weeks, but were dragging out to a month in many cases.)

No word as to how travelers who missed vacations, weddings, and business trips due to the government backlog in issuing new and renewed passports should recoup those losses, but at least $60 is a nice symbolic gesture.

Stay tuned for more misadventures of our very own State Department Keystone Cops.

And if you're planning a cruise that involves international travel any time in the near future and don't have a passport, I'd suggest applying for one ASAP, even though you may seem to have a little breathing room at the moment. (See my Smarter Cruising blog posts of June 8, March 7, and January 22, 2007 for more detail on that.)