COMING AND GOING

Passport Cards: Get Ready

UPRIGHT AND LOCKED

Southwest Gift Cards: Strings Attached

Mindy LeBlanc's two children got what seemed like a nice Christmas gift: Southwest Airlines gift cards, to be used to visit grandparents in Florida. The $400 gift came as eight cards worth $50 each, the denomination most commonly sold in grocery stores.

But when the Severna Park mother tried to buy two $252 tickets, for a total of $504, she discovered that Southwest considers each gift card a separate method of payment and allows a maximum of four methods of payment per transaction. Thus, whether buying online or by phone, she could use only three cards and had to pay the $354 balance by credit card. Second option: Buy each ticket separately, taking a chance that a particular flight would be sold out by the time she finished buying the first ticket. Even then, she could use a maximum of six cards and she'd still have $100 worth of unused gift cards that would have to be applied to another trip.

Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger confirmed that airline computers handle a max of four methods of payment and that even small increments left from gift cards are not refundable .

After numerous calls and "a whole lot of aggravation," LeBlanc found a supervisor in customer service who, with nearly an hour of effort, was able to redeem all cards.

Note to Santa: Consider leaving a check next time.

SECURITY WATCH

Passport Cards: Get Ready

No final word yet on when U.S. citizens will need a passport or an as-yet-to-be-created alternative for land and sea border crossings involving Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. But the State Department is preparing now.

As early as next month, department officials will begin accepting applications for a "passport card" that is cheaper and smaller than a passport and good only in the circumstances noted above. The limited-use card, which lasts 10 years, will cost $45 for adults ($25 of that will be waived if you already have a passport, including one up for renewal). Children 16 and younger pay $35 for a five-year card. The cards could be ready for travelers as early as this spring , but CoGo wouldn't count on that and recommends getting a regular passport for travel before late summer.

The most controversial aspect of the passport card: It will contain a "vicinity read" radio frequency identification chip that can be read from a greater distance than the "proximity read" chips being put into new, traditional-style passports. The State Department notes in its rulemaking that the passport card chip has only one piece of information on it: "a unique identifying number that has meaning only inside the secure Customs and Board Patrol computer system." Even so, all card holders will be given a protective sleeve that prevents transmission of the number.

Final warning from CoGo: As of Jan. 31, to cross the U.S. border by land or sea into Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean (except for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), travelers 18 and younger will need proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate. Adults will need proof of both citizenship and identity (such as a driver's license). A passport fulfills both requirements. Stay tuned for a date when you'll need a passport, passport card or possibly another alternative document for travel to the above places.

TRAVEL TICKER

Amtrak union employees working without a contract for as long as eight years have a legal right to strike as of Jan. 30 . Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said, "We're hopeful we'll work it out before then, but it's still a crystal ball kind of thing." Union workers are hoping for either a negotiated settlement or congressional action. (An emergency presidential panel recommended a big raise and back wages, but someone would have to pay for it.) CoGo will monitor and report again as the date nears. . . . More travel services were bought online than offline last year for the first time, according to the travel research group PhoCusWright, even though fewer consumers bought travel packages with multiple components online. . . . If you don't count canceled flights, 80 percent of flights by U.S. carriers were on time in November. If December figures released next month are that good, 2007 might not have the worst on-time record ever.

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK

Into Africa

South African Airways is offering savings for two passengers flying together from Washington Dulles to cities in South Africa. Round-trip fare to Johannesburg, for example, is $1,605 for the first traveler and $255 in taxes and a fuel surcharge for the second traveler. Depart Jan. 15-March 1, and complete travel by March 14. Five-day minimum stay. Priced separately, a couple would pay at least $2,599. Buy via phone only (800-521-4845) by Jan. 22.

Reporting: Cindy Loose

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