You couldn't possibly do this on your own, unless you are a very experienced and clever travel agent.

One of my regular KSL Travel Show guests, Gary Commegere from Country Square Travel, tells me he got a call from a listener who told him, "On the air you sound like you know what you're doing, maybe you can help me." The guy had moved to Salt Lake from Baltimore, and he and his wife were leaving on a Western Caribbean cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. They already had purchased the cruise and air fare, but his wife's passport was in storage in Baltimore. "When does your cruise leave?" "Tomorrow, afternoon!" "When does your fight leave?" "This afternoon!!" The poor fellow said he was willing to do just about anything, including pay a thousand dollars or more in additional air fare, if he could fly to Baltimore and back from Ft. Laudale to get the passport. Not enough time - no flight would get him back before the ship set sail. As a footnote, I might mention that a certified birth certificate will also suffice for the Caymans and Jamaica, but they had been unable to get that either. Gary asked the distraught traveler the itinerary of his air travel, and found out that they were to change planes in St. Louis (American Airlines, now the owner of the former TWA). They were to arrive there at 7:00 p.m. Fortunately, Southwest flies into all of the aforementioned cities, thus lowering all airline fares in and out of those spots. Gary got him a ticket from St. Louis to Baltimore, arriving at about midnight; a rental car at the rate of $22 per day; and a flight leaving Baltimore at 7:00 a.m. which would get him to Ft. Lauderdale three hours before sailing time. His wife was to continue on from St. Louis directly to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up the baggage. Gary told him, "When you get to St. Louis, go to an American Airlines ticket agent and tell them face-to-face your predicament" (you get much farther with airlines face to face than over the phone). You see, if this guy didn't use his ticket for the St. Louis to Ft. Lauderdale portion of his flight, the airline would have cancelled all of the remaining segments, including his return back to Salt Lake. He was told to ask them to please not void the remainder of his ticket. It worked! How much did all of this cost our traveling friend? $326! Thanks, Gary - you get this week's KSL Travel Show clever travel agent award!

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