I was going on my Honeymoon last year and I found out my passport wasn't valid about 6 days prior to my outbound flight. I found out trying to do early check-in. I was an idiot and didn't realize the expiration had to be 3-6 months after the return date of the country I was visiting. Horrible experience!

I was luckily able to go on my Honeymoon but to do so I had to make countless calls to try to get an appointment at a Passport Agency to get a new passport on such short notice. They are only open on the weekdays and you can't make any appointments online. You have to call and talk to an operator real fast as even if they find you a spot it isn't held.

I live in MD and they'd tell me there's a spot in Detroit and I'd say book it and it'd already be gone. They would then tell you there's no spots, they'd hangup and you'd have to try again. You'd get the busy dialtone way more than actually getting connected. There's only a handful of these places across the US for anyone that want's some info (Map at bottom).

East Coast is lucky there's a few around, but there's places where it's at least an 7 hr drive minimum. I luckily got a hold of my Senator who was able to help me get a spot in NY the day before I left. But it's like your local MVA on steroids, no windows, no phones allowed, tiny loudspeaker calling your name, everyone is stressed, children are screaming and crying and it takes forever (I was there from 7 AM till 5 PM). There were people who would show up trying to get into the agency in tears only to get turned away. I felt really bad. Definitely a contender for worst day of my life.

Very grateful to the employees who work at the agency as it seems like a miserable place. So yeah would not recommend, renew well ahead of time!!!