brasov02

Getting ready to renew my passport and was just wondering what, if any, advantage there would be in using one of the many private passport renewal sites as opposed to just going through the official U.S. Dept. of State site? It looks to me like all those private sites end up charging more so why would anyone use their services? The end result either way is a renewed passport so why wouldn't everyone just use the cheaper official site?

Emeraldcity

I just got my passport back on Friday. It was a renewal and I just mailed it in through the official US site. Took two weeks from the day I mailed it to the day I got it back. Don't know why anyone would use any other service.

brasov02

Yeah, I'm definitely going through the government site. The only reason I can see why people would use one of those other more expensive private services is that they aren't aware that they can do it cheaper going straight to the source.

Ancien Maestro

Good that the US has options.. I'm not aware you can do this in Canada.

techgirl

Because you need it extremely fast (either quicker than the State turn around, even with expedite fees) or because you need to process visas that require turnarounds in a very timely manner.

I recently renewed a passport with less than two weeks to go before travel. I'm lucky enough to live within an hour of a passport office. Even with that, I had to take about three hours away from work to go apply in person followed by another two hours to drive to pick it up the following business day. At my billable rate, a service (A Briggs is the one I normally use) would have been faster.

cordelli

Lets say I live in the middle of nowhere, and I have a flight on Thursday. I realize my passport is not still valid, and I don't have time to take off and fly someplace to and stand at a passport office (if I could even get an appointment) to get it renewed. Ain't gonna happen.

So I fedex it to a service, pay them to stand in line, and get it back in a couple days.

There's probably lots of other reasons, but time is probably at the top of the list.

Sohan

We've recieved passports in the UK same day, 3hrs before travel! Costs under $200.

brasov02

I checked into the government's options for expedited services and it does look they are pretty limited in that respect while those private services can offer some very fast turn-around times if you're in an emergency-type situation time-wise and money is no object.
So we've come up with one reason why it could be advantageous to use a private service: if you're one of those not-so-organized travelers who suddenly realizes 24 hours before your flight for Dubai leaves that your passport needs renewed.
"Lots of other" reasons?...

daregale

A lot of people have to travel unexpectedly for business or personal reasons and may not have a valid passport. Those services can be wonderful in such cases.

I used one after my son was born. We'd been planning on spending the second half of my maternity leave in Berlin where his father was on sabbatical. My boy didn't cooperate and was two weeks late, and there was a huge backlog at the passport offices during this time. Using the service made a lot of sense.

cordelli

You don't trust the post office or whoever to get it there and back for you so you hire somebody who never lets go of it

Your company has a contract with one of the services and it costs you very little additional

You don't trust the State Department when they say six to ten weeks

You are traveling someplace that needs a visa and don't have a clue how to get one, so you hire a service to do it all for you

You need a visa from a country that does not do them by mail and paying somebody to go for you is a better choice then you taking a day off and going there

You need additional pages and don't want to give up your passport for however long it takes to send it in and get it back because you may grab a sale fare in a week or two.

Non-NonRev

Concurrent with this high level of control over the physical materials, when the passport services receive your materials, they vet them very carefully to be absolutely certain that all the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted. They will not waste your or their time by showing up at the passport office with documents or forms that will be rejected.

nba1017

About a year or so ago I got a phone call on a Wednesday morning informing me that I needed to be in Paris the next day. My passport expired in two months and I didn't want to take a chance with having an issue upon arriving in the EU. I went to a private passport company (I live in NYC) and they were able to take care of all the arrangements (I still had to go down to the main post office and fill out the appropriate form) and delivered my new passport to me at T1 of JFK airport at 2000h the same night. I don't want to admit how much this service costs, although it is wonderful if you really need it.

brasov02

So in other words, if you're an average Joe in no hurry to get your basic run-of-the-mill passport renewal and possess at least average intelligence with no U.S. postal trust issues, then there is no reason to waste the extra $50 or more by using a private service.
Whew, I'm glad we cleared that up.

Non-NonRev

Yes, in the same manner that, although many people know how to change the oil in their car every 3000 miles, they prefer to let someone else do it

Flyingede

I am in the unfortunate situation that I need a passport quicker than State can deliver. Does any one of you have a recommendation for me? Thanks!