Image Credit: Alessandra Taryn

Here’s a sobering statistic.

Only about 37 percent of Americans have a passport.

Even worse, not everyone who has one uses it.

But it remains the best and most economic travel investment you can make.

A ten-year passport currently costs $135, or less than $14 a year for you to have the unfettered option to see the world.

In the meantime, here’s a heads-up.

Starting this spring, getting a passport will cost $10 more.

The new pricing kicks in on April 2, and an adult passport will cost $145 while child passports (ages 16 and younger) will cost $115, up from $105.

Other than the price increase, you shouldn’t wait to apply beyond April, because the time it takes to process a passport will be longer due to increased demand.

One more important note: for frequent travelers, when you apply for your passport, make sure you ask for the extended number of pages—about 50 instead of the usual 24.

Why? Because once you fill up that passport with country entry and departure stamps, the U.S. State Department will no longer add pages to your passport.

You’ll be forced to get a new one.

Here’s hoping you DO fill up all those pages.

For more information about passports and visas, check out:

• Passports With the Easiest Access to Other Countries
• What You Should Know About Traveling With A Passport
• Why You Should Have a Duplicate Passport

Keep reading for more travel tips.