Originally Posted by
diburning
The agency only has an automated appointment phone number, and process people by appointment only. The appointments are only for those who need an expedited passport for travel purposes. I'll probably submit my application at a post office.
I'm more inclined to trust the State Dept's list than the third party intermediary, but I think it won't hurt to ask that third party intermediary to see why their list is so different from the State Dept's list.
I agree that you shouldn't trust the passport service agencies nor go through them for your passport, but I strongly urge you to use the Passport Agency since there's one in Boston. They're more specialists in this than post office employees and you will know immediately whether the application is accepted as being complete and satisfying all documentation/identification requirements.
You can easily book some fully refundable international plane tickets and book a refundable hotel at the destination to use the expedited service. If you have airline status, using FF miles is often an easy way to get a fully refundable ticket without a big hit to a credit card, but otherwise don't people in Boston often travel to Canada for a fun weekend?