Do you need a passport to fly to Hawaii?
Aug 1, 2012 | 11:53 am
#167
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started with an honest question..
Aug 1, 2012 | 12:47 pm
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Aug 1, 2012 | 4:22 pm
#170
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The staff at some U.S. universities seem to think so. A California-born friend of mine enrolled in a prestigious East Coast university a few years after getting a bachelors degree from the U of Hawaii (home of his parents and 3-4 generations before them). The graduate admissions person insisted that he needed to pass the TOEFL exam.....
Oh I am so enjoying this thread and I'm only on page 4....thanks for the gigles.
Aug 1, 2012 | 4:43 pm
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Why, lots of high schoolers think Cuba is in Miami !
Originally Posted by CPRich
I can also confirm that no passport is needed to travel to Alaska, even though you travel over Canada to get there.
OK so now you got me to Alaska...but since I can see Russia from Alaska, will I need a visa ?
Originally Posted by CPRich
I can also confirm that no passport is needed to travel to Alaska, even though you travel over Canada to get there.
Aug 1, 2012 | 4:49 pm
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Aug 1, 2012 | 5:09 pm
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I think I'd let a Hawaii applicant slide without the TOEFL, but I'd probably demand it from an Arkansas grad... 
Aug 1, 2012 | 7:22 pm
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Aug 2, 2012 | 7:01 am
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Yes, you DO need a passport to go to Hawaii. Just ask my friends from the UK and Germany. They'll tell you!
Aug 2, 2012 | 8:42 am
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Aug 24, 2012 | 11:19 pm
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An interesting e-mail for Online Checkin
I forget which airline it was but once when I was going to Hawaii from San Francisco the subject of the e-mail said"It is now time to checkin for your International Flight". Now mind you this was a domestic itinerary from San Francisco-Kahalui Maui.
When I went online it said your passport is required for checkin. So I tried it without and a red message said"It is impossible to checkin for your flight without the passport #". So I went ahead and entered my passport info and got my Airport Departure Control Document.
When I selected my bag it said you are allowed 2 free checked bags so I checked in my Bag online.
Then the website said"We remind you that you must present yourself at checkin to verify your documents and baggage no later than 2 hours before boarding".
So I showed up to the international terminal ticket counter of the airline and the agent was bemused and said no sir you need a passport in order to check in for the flight. It was the international ticket counter agent who had to check me in and check my documents and check my bags. I told this agent what the website wanted me to do and I played along for fear that Hawaii was no longer part of the USA ROTFL.
Anyways to make a long story short at the International Ticket counter the agent waived the bag fee. But the interesting thing on my boarding pass it said DOCS OK. When I arrived in Maui a CBP officer started questioning me . I kid you not. We could not figure why the website treated this as an International Flight . The ticket counter agent could not fix the error for some reason.
I showed the ticket counter agent the map of the USA and showed that Hawaii is a state. The agent was not from America so she said "no sir" Hawaii is a country and you need a Passport. It was so much fun seeing how ignorant this agent was. So I said what if I did not have a passport? The agent said "Well sir then you would not be allowed to board the flight". Hmmm I know that a Drivers License or State ID or other Government ID is the only document required for domestic travel lol. Kind of reminded me of the New Mexico incident where a citizen wanted to purchase tickets to the Atlanta Olympics but could not do so as the agent said New Mexico is not a state but a country. The person ordering the tickets gave the zip code so many times to no avail and had to give an address in Colorado just to get the tickets.
I can imagine the checkin counter agent having to take Geography once again to see that Hawaii has been part of the USA for many years.
It was so funny and a rare experience. I almost wonder if the data entry person entered Hawaii as an independent island in the Pacific and thus treated my itinerary as international. At least I did not have to pay the fee to check my bags in. Again I found it odd the agent could not change my itinerary to make it Domestic. The Customs Border Protection Officer had to walk me to the International Arrivals hall at OGG and on the return they had me bused to the International Arrivals at SFO due to the passport issue. Just for kicks I went out and filled a Customs Declaration Form(:. The CBP agent really stamped the form and my Passport both in Hawaii and at SFO. I then was able to get my bags at the domestic side baggage claim.
I guess there have been weirder things that happened to FTers but was wondering if this ever happened to you or anyone that you know?
When I went online it said your passport is required for checkin. So I tried it without and a red message said"It is impossible to checkin for your flight without the passport #". So I went ahead and entered my passport info and got my Airport Departure Control Document.
When I selected my bag it said you are allowed 2 free checked bags so I checked in my Bag online.
Then the website said"We remind you that you must present yourself at checkin to verify your documents and baggage no later than 2 hours before boarding".
So I showed up to the international terminal ticket counter of the airline and the agent was bemused and said no sir you need a passport in order to check in for the flight. It was the international ticket counter agent who had to check me in and check my documents and check my bags. I told this agent what the website wanted me to do and I played along for fear that Hawaii was no longer part of the USA ROTFL.
Anyways to make a long story short at the International Ticket counter the agent waived the bag fee. But the interesting thing on my boarding pass it said DOCS OK. When I arrived in Maui a CBP officer started questioning me . I kid you not. We could not figure why the website treated this as an International Flight . The ticket counter agent could not fix the error for some reason.
I showed the ticket counter agent the map of the USA and showed that Hawaii is a state. The agent was not from America so she said "no sir" Hawaii is a country and you need a Passport. It was so much fun seeing how ignorant this agent was. So I said what if I did not have a passport? The agent said "Well sir then you would not be allowed to board the flight". Hmmm I know that a Drivers License or State ID or other Government ID is the only document required for domestic travel lol. Kind of reminded me of the New Mexico incident where a citizen wanted to purchase tickets to the Atlanta Olympics but could not do so as the agent said New Mexico is not a state but a country. The person ordering the tickets gave the zip code so many times to no avail and had to give an address in Colorado just to get the tickets.
I can imagine the checkin counter agent having to take Geography once again to see that Hawaii has been part of the USA for many years.
It was so funny and a rare experience. I almost wonder if the data entry person entered Hawaii as an independent island in the Pacific and thus treated my itinerary as international. At least I did not have to pay the fee to check my bags in. Again I found it odd the agent could not change my itinerary to make it Domestic. The Customs Border Protection Officer had to walk me to the International Arrivals hall at OGG and on the return they had me bused to the International Arrivals at SFO due to the passport issue. Just for kicks I went out and filled a Customs Declaration Form(:. The CBP agent really stamped the form and my Passport both in Hawaii and at SFO. I then was able to get my bags at the domestic side baggage claim.
I guess there have been weirder things that happened to FTers but was wondering if this ever happened to you or anyone that you know?
Last edited by danielonn; Aug 24, 2012 at 11:31 pm
Aug 25, 2012 | 1:17 pm
#180
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The Customs Border Protection Officer had to walk me to the International Arrivals hall at OGG and on the return they had me bused to the International Arrivals at SFO due to the passport issue. Just for kicks I went out and filled a Customs Declaration Form(:. The CBP agent really stamped the form and my Passport both in Hawaii and at SFO. I then was able to get my bags at the domestic side baggage claim.