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In the past month I’ve gone through this process a couple of times and figured it’d be helpful what I found in terms of pricing, ease, and overall best experience. In my own personal circumstance, I needed to renew my passport because I’d hit a bucket list accomplishment, filling it prior to its expiration. In case you’re wondering, it took me roughly 4.5 years to fill it. I decided for my next one I’d pick up the larger 52 page booklet with over 40 pages of stamp/visa pages. I have my work cut out for me. During the same timeframe I also needed to get an e-visa to enter Brazil. Luckily this is done via an e-visa process and I could submit an electronic photo without having to submit my passport.
Both my new passport and visa needed a single photo. Here’s what I ended up discovering as I waded through all the possible choice out there:
First up – The Apps.
If you’re applying for your first passport or a renewal, you’re going to need a physical passport photo. Here’s a list of Passport Apps that will take the pic for you, and then you can order via Walgreen’s, Costco, WalMart, pick your favorite local printing service.
- Passport Photo ( what I used for my Brazilian Visa and highly recommend )
- ID Photo- Passport Photo ( highly rated and free )
- Biometric Passport Photo ( over 1500 reviews and free )
ePassportPhoto – For $0.99 have it delivered to your home
This is an interesting service that you can utilize in a couple of different ways. The best application is one where you don’t have to leave your house, and this service incorporates that. For $0.99 you can upload one of the pics you took from an app above, and then have it mailed to your house. If you have the time, you never leave the comfort of your home.
Prefer it Old School? You can slide into any of these stores and have it snapped AND printed for you.
Walgreen’s – $14.99 for 2 photos
CVS – 14.99 for 2 photos
Rite Aid – $7 til end of month with $2 coupon
Costco – $4.99
Sam’s Club – $4.95 for 2 photos
Target – $12.99
WalMart – $7.44
Note…some WalMarts offer photo taking in store
AAA – varies by membership level. $5+
USPS – $15
UPS – make an appt – $11.99
*Not all stores offer the service.
FedEx – $14.99
Overall: Use App and either have it mailed to you, or print off at a store. Not – tech savvy – Costco/Sam’s Club is your best bet. Non-member…Rite Aid.
You won’t find a quicker, easier, better way of getting the EXACT passport photo that you want. And for many of us, that requires taking multiple photos with the best lighting and angles. I mean…this photo is going to be around for 10 years – you want it to be good.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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