Would you use the federal government's "faster" service alone or one of those private expediting companies?

Feds, all the others do is walk it through for you after making sure the form is complete.

If you need it really fast, call and make an appointment at the nearest office, you can have one in a day. call the National Passport Service - [travel.state.gov]

they can advise you the best way when they hear the details.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

I'm 7 hours from the nearest office... not sure I want to do that 14 hours of driving....

I live in central Illinois. Drove to Chicago and three hours later had my passport. I took my pictures and paper work with me. Chicago didn't take appointments (at least not then- 2 years ago), you just showed up and got in their que. 6 hours driving for me but when I left I knew I had it it hand.

If you're in a real bind for time, like I was on a recent China trip (old, valid passport didn't have enough pages left, and only had about 8 months on it anyway), you will HAVE to use one of the expediting services. It is expensive, but I had no choice. If you have the time, see if you can indeed go directly to your closest passport agency for help. I have renewed my passport at the American Embassy in Tokyo before, but that still took about two weeks.

I walked into the office in Oakland CA last time I needed one, and received it in the mail a week later-- and did -not- elect for any sort of expedition.
YMMV greatly, of course

At the San Francisco passport office, appointments were required. Despite that, I was the only person in the joint. I opted for expedited service and got my new passport in a day or two, at most.

How long ago was that, h?

I've heard that walk-ins are greatly frowned upon these days. Don't know how accurate that is.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.