@CaBeaver should have received his passport weeks ago based on standard 25 business day timelines provided for mailing applications. Transparency is required. Someone who is travelling in 3 months can apply for passport using mailing option due to given timelines but they may not even have the passport after 3 months. The problem is that there is no set processing times and the timelines given are not reliable. It's more or less a lottery now. If you are lucky you may get your documents within 2 weeks and if you are not they may take months and they may even loose your certificate (this has happened a few times).
When dealing with an organization like this, I cannot blame someone if they are hesitant to spend thousands of dollars on genuine hotel and flight booking (regular long haul flights are expensive even in economy and the cheapest economy option often does not allow cancellation). I don't think there is anything wrong with booking a 100% refundable ticket to get service you need as long as you genuinely need a passport to make concrete travel plans.
That being said, if someone really needs a passport they will be able to get it even on same day by presenting a proof or urgency and paying extra fees (which is even higher on weekends and holidays).