COMING AND GOING

Passport Crisis, Cont'd

BACKLOGS

Passport Crisis, Cont'd

The State Department's last-resort option for getting through the passport logjam is not working.

Call for an appointment if your trip is scheduled to begin within 14 days, the department advises applicants who haven't yet received their passports, and your paperwork will be expedited. But CoGo is hearing from travelers who can't get an appointme nt, despite trying every scheduling option that the automated telephone system offers. So they've gone to their congressmen and senators for help, with some success.

Indeed, CoGo couldn't even get as far as the scheduling options in three tries last week. All three times, the recorded system ran through basic passport info, then said it could not connect to the automated scheduling lin e; would we please try again later?

Instead, travelers are contacting their senators and congressmen to write a letter to the State Department on their behalf. Some legislators, such as Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.), have Web pages on passport assistance.

Contacted by CoGo the day the State Department promised solutions to the passport backlog on Capitol Hill, the department officially was unaware of problems getting appointments. Anyone planning to depart within two weeks who doesn't have a passport is still encouraged to call877-487-2778. "With an appointment, we can guarantee we'll see you that day and we'll help you that day," a spokeswoman said. Assuming you can pull that off, it's best to bring evidence of your imminent travel plans.

SITE INSPECTION

MySpace, Meet TripAdvisor

Can the kibitzing of dozens of your closest online friends improve your hotel selection and travel planning experience?

TripAdvisor.com thinks it can. The Web's largest travel information and advice site just added a social networking component-- sort of a mini-MySpace for travelers. There are other social networking travel sites, such as Gusto.com and FlightClub.org, but none has the wealth of information available on TripAdvisor.

The free, ad-supported site lets members invite friends to join their network or request the undying Internet friendship of any of the 6 million members who have already posted 10 million reviews of hotels and travel destinations. You can even explore th e networks of your new friends to find even more friends to invite.

CoGo found it easy to use the online tools to invite contacts from our Gmail, Yahoo, America Online and Hotmail accounts. Unfortunately, we could not import our Outlook contacts from the relative safety of the Firefox Web browser. We had to resort to the inherently less secure Internet Explorer, which always makes us nervous.

CoGo enjoyed building a map of the places we've been, but the map doesn't allow directly linking to further content. However, the map can be uploaded to Facebook.com, a more robust social networking site where you have options beyond travel planning with another network of friends.

The site is best for screening hotel information based on trusted parties in the network who have been to your destination, then effortlessly sending them all an e-mail asking for more info. But until we beef up our list of buddies, the pickings are pretty slim. We got better results by reading the opinions of travelers we didn't know and inviting the good ones to join our network.

SUPERSTITIONS

Seven's Up

As luck would have it, it's not too late to arrange a wedding getaway or other occasion on 07/07/07. The auspicious date is supposed to bring more luck than a meadow of four-leaf clovers, especially for newlyweds; chapels and reception halls across the country have been booked up for that Saturday for years. But in Las Vegas, nuptials packages were still available at press time, including Liberace ($800), P ink Caddy ($777) and Disco ($650) weddings. For details on those or even zanier options: 866-998-3427, http://www.vegas.com (click on Weddings).

Don't want a Sin City elopement? Venues in Gatlinburg, Tenn., the self-styled wedding capital of the South, have a few slots open for "lucky sevens" nuptials, too. Area chapels and ministers plan to expand hours and hold mass ceremonies to try to accommodate those interested, according to tourism spokeswoman Kristin Kelly. Details: 800-588-1817, http://www.gatlinburg.com.

If you want to be a part of the craze without getting hitched, hotel chains are also getting into the act. The Lucky Sevens Escape packages at five Marriott and Renaissance hotels in New Orleans include a room upgrade, a voodoo doll and a session with a psychic, starting at $169 double (888-364-1200, http://www.marriott.com; ask for code D51). And Omni hotels in San Antonio and other Texas cities are featuring Lucky 7's Packages. For $107.77 to $207.77 a night double, guests get a room, a six-pack of 7-Up, a pair of dice, fortune cookies and other treats. Details: 800-843-6664, http://www.omnihotels.com.

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK

Air Canada is offering summer sale fares from Washington Dulles, Reagan National and BWI for connecting service to London Heathrow, starting at $676 round trip, including $177 taxes. Fare is available for travel through Sept. 9 (lower fares for travel Sept. 10-March 7). Purchase by July 17 at www.aircanada.com. Fares on other airlines start at about $755 round trip.

Reporting: Margaret Roth, Daniel Greenberg, Gary Lee

Help feed CoGo. Send travel news, road reports and juicy tattles to:cogo@washpost.com. By fax: 202-912-3609. By mail: CoGo, Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.