Regardless, here’s the correct information.

The Passport (Passport Book) is good for all international travel, and may be used for domestic air travel too.

The Passport Card is good for land travel (car or train) to Canada and Mexico, and for sea travel (cruises, ferries, etc.) to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and some, but not all Caribbean islands.

The Passport Card is INVALID for ALL INTERNATIONAL AIR TRAVEL.

The Passport Card may be used instead of a US state driver’s license for US domestic air travel.

In your example, your flights are International flights, so the Passport Card is invalid. A US Citizen would have to use their Passport for the flights in your example.

Let’s say you are on a cruise visiting Mexico and have used your Passport Card for the cruise, and left your Passport at home in the US. An emergency occurs and you need to fly back to the US. The Passport Card is invalid for a flight from Mexico to the US and you will be refused permission to board the plane. You need a Passport to fly home for the emergency.

My advice is to always use your passport for ALL international travel unless maybe if you’re merely driving less than about 40-50 miles into Canada or Mexico from the US. That’s the only time I would consider traveling Internationally outside the US with a Passport Card.

That being said, I personally never leave the US without my Passport.

In my recent column, Passport Card: Does it make sense to purchase one? I did find some legitimate uses for a Passport Card. You might want to read it to find out more information about this subject.

You might try contacting my colleague, Chris Elliott. Among other things, Chris is the National Geographic Traveler magazine’s reader advocate, but in my opinion, while American should not have let you fly out of the country using a passport card, having a passport was your responsibility when all is said and done.

When it comes to travel documents and documentation, it is the responsibility of each traveler to have the correct ones. With the Internet today, it’s actually quite easy for anyone to determine what you need to travel to a specific country, as a US citizen. The US State Department has a whole section of their website devoted to Country Specific Travel Information.

Then there are the travel websites like this one. We’ve been discussing Passports vs. Passport cards here and in our Forums, Talking Travelers, for sometime. I’ve written a few articles on the subject, as have other columnists here, such as Anita Dunham-Potter.

Another great resource for travel is a travel agent. I’m a big believer in travel agents, and even though I’m an experienced traveler and travel columnist, I use a “brick and mortar” travel agent (not those travel sales companies online like Expedia, Travelocity or Priceline) most of the time for my travel, and for all trips out of the country. You can’t beat the advice, the attention to detail, and the help if you run into a problem. In addition, my agent normally saves me money, and I’ve never had my trips cost more because I used a travel agent. I think many people stay away from travel agents because they think it will cost more than booking the trip themselves. That’s just not true.

I really appreciate you taking the time to write your comment today. I’m sorry that you had such a hard time. Unfortunately I’ve heard similar stories from scads of people over the last couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, it’s only going to get worse.

To start, I don’t understand American Airlines accepting the passport card at check-in. They know better. For plane flights out of the country to anywhere, the only accepted form of identification is a passport (there are some special exceptions, but the passport card is never an accepted form of identification for air travel).

The passport card is for travel by land or sea only, and only to WHTI countries.

Everyone should understand that not all countries in the Western Hemisphere are WHTI countries.

WHTI countries are only the following nations: Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica (except for business travel), Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos.

Travel to all other countries by air or sea from the US require a passport, and I repeat travel to all WHTI countries by air requires a passport, not a passport card.

I ask for a couple of reasons. First, in countries in which a Passport Card cannot be used for returning to the US, they know what US Passports look like, but I wonder if they will recognize the Passport Card as legitimate ID for transactions at stores and banks, for example, and accept it. I suspect that while some in large cities some people might recognize it as a legitimate US governmental document, many, if not most, will consider it fraudulent and not accept it, as they know nothing about it. I’m even wondering if it will be recognized as a legitimate ID in the Caribbean, etc., considering its only legitimate use is in returning to the US at a US port of entry.

Second, in the US, for example, the airlines don’t accept it as legitimate ID for domestic flights. I’ve seen it refused several times, but US Passports themselves are accepted for domestic flights.

Personally, I’ll stick with my US Passport and carry it on my person, at all times when traveling internationally. It is the one form of identification, universally accepted internationally as proof of identity and citizenship. Oh, I don’t carry it in my back pocket.

I wish you the best in your travels Lee.

1)If you travel to a country that requires a Visa (I have China and Egypt), they need to place the Visa in your passport.
2) Thumbing through your fully stamped passport is just plain cool. It can bring back memories and act as a mini journal.