BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport

Subject: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: robomatic
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 09:22 PM

Dear ffolkes:

I'll be traveling to a foreign country shortly, hard to believe of Canada as a foreign country, but when flying there a passport is required. I have a brandy new passport, the kind with an RFD chip in it. My question to those more experienced than meself is:

Where's a good place to keep the passport while 'in country' I'm staying in a hotel while there but I think I'll be doing more international travel not less and I want to develop a 'habit' of keeping my ID properly placed and personal.

I'm open to ideas as I already know there are some pretty well traveled and bright folk in these forums.

robo who will be in Edmonton in four days.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 09:33 PM

In your front pants pocket. Failing that (and assuming you don't need it after you arrive) in the hotel safe.

DON'T leave it in your hotel room. Just use your good sense and think like a thief. Treat as you would any valuable (which it is).

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Leadfingers
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 09:47 PM

One of those Travel Document Holders (Mine came out of Tesco) has space for passport , travellers cheques and currency - Means you can put it ALL in the safe together . And its tidy enough to go in an inside pocket of a jacket too !

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Slag
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 10:09 PM

If possible, keep it on your person at all times or in a safe, a hotel safe. Not in your room or lugage. You should always be able to produce it when taveling in other countries.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: artbrooks
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 11:51 PM

And try to avoid putting it in your back pocket...the Customs people on the US side mutter to themselves a little (but just a little) if it is bent out of shape from being sat upon and doesn't go through their bar-code scanner on the first try. Mine resembles a pretzel....

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 12:44 AM

Many European hotels (not Canada) used to request your passport at the desk and return it the next day (still done?). The hotel safe is best. You may need to carry it if banking services are needed, or identification is needed at some gov't office, etc.
Copy the pertinent pages so you have a record of numbers, dates, etc. and keep that in your carry-on. If the passport is lost or stolen, the record will help when you go to the consulate, etc.

I usually wear pants that have those large front pockets that are handy for passport, travelers cheques, wallet with your plastic, etc. Money or cheques not needed for the day are best left in the hotel safe.
Keep credit cards separate from wallet and money, and separate from your passport. If you are held up, most thieves just want the money and will toss the passport in a garbage bin.

I remember a large hotel in Spain. I came in very late one night, and the woman at the desk called me over, and asked my floor. She returned my passport, and gave me those for other guests on the same floor that had arrived that day and asked me to please deliver them. Her replacement had come down ill and she couldn't leave the reception area unattended. In some hotels, the checked passports were stacked openly on the counter for pick-up by guests. Others were more careful, but Europeans are not as paranoid as Americans.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:39 AM

I just keep mine in my shirt pocket. I always know where it is, and it's where I can see it. I usually wear a jacket over my shirt, so it's not visible to the world. I tried some of the security belts and necklaces, and they just felt dumb. I hate feeling paranoid about things. The shirt pocket works for me, and I travel a lot.

People seem to think I'm German (or a Hollander in German-speaking countries), so they don't treat me like an American. They address me in German and I answer back in German, so I couldn't be American. I can't bring myself to wear those knit bowling shirts the Germans wear, though. I wear woven plaid shirts, and people don't seem to think Americans would wear plaid.

I keep my wallet in my front pants pocket - keeping it in my back pocket gave me back pain. I think the best thing you can do to protect your wallet and passport is don't look like an American...

A friend of mine says I look like a homeless person. Maybe that's why I never have any trouble.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: open mike
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:41 AM

fanny packs make you look like a tourist, but they provide a
safe, convenient place to store necessary articles.

They do make neck pouches, and "walking wallets"
and there is a variety availabe here: http://www.ebags.com/

yikes i just realized my passport expired a couple of months ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 05:46 AM

I carry mine with my purse (purse as in the English sense, a small wallet for money and coins, not a handbag) I tend not to have a handbag and if I do, it's not a back pack. It's remarkably easy to get your hand into a back pack in a queue - someone tried to lift my purse just like that, not realising that all I had in the back pack was some books and a pair of socks that had seen better days.

Inside jacket pockets with a zip that closes are good, I'm equally paranoid about people taking my passport.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: GUEST,Crystal
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 06:24 AM

Last time I went abroard I got myself one of those "security belt" things which go around your waist under your clothes, and kept my passport in that.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: gnomad
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 07:15 AM

It all depends: for a day on the beach you don't want it with you, so hotel safe, or some serious hiding it away if no safe, are the order of the day. If you need it with you then either a zipped inside pocket, or a purpose-made pouch inside your clothing are good. Most places with a tourist industry are fairly relaxed about enforcement, but it is worth knowing whether it is a local requirement that you have ID papers with you at all times. Some jobsworth with an attitude can ruin your day if you don't know the rules.

Passports (especially those of western nations) are themselves a target for thieves, as alteration of a real document is found to be more successful than full-scale faking.

Re-issue of a missing document will certainly be a hassle, if it is even possible locally, and most of us have better things to do when traveling.

While you will generally get back home without one (though doubtless at the expense of much explaining and convincing of officials) you are most unlikely to pass between foreign countries unless you can produce your passport, with relevant visa(s) and possibly vaccination proofs, to the border staff. Land travel between EU countries is an exception to this.

Drifting slightly, I don't know whether it is still so, but it used to be possible to have two passports if your travel was taking you into certain middle-eastern areas, as showing a passport with Israeli entry/exit markings was a recipe for border problems in Arab countries, and vice versa.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 08:23 AM

Round the neck is best I find.

Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: jacqui.c
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 08:36 AM

I keep mine in one of the travel bags that you wear as a belt around the waist. That particular bag is used solely for travel and has a wife pocket to take boarding cards etc as well. As it is used solely for the purpose my passport stays in there all the time - that way it doesn't get forgotten when I'm going away.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 10:01 AM

I've been told you should make a photocopy of your passport and keep that in your luggage.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 10:18 AM

jacqui...shouldn't the "wife pocket" belong to Kendall?**bg**

My Rog used to leave his in the room of whatever place he was staying in Venezuela and elsewhere because quite often he stayed in private residences. He became more careful after someone came in through a skylight and stole his laptop, passport, plane tickets, and an Italian crystal chandelier. It took some doing, but the US consulate was very helpful and got him a new one fairly quickly.

Have fun on your trip!

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 10:24 AM

The other important thing is to make a good photocopy of your passport and keep that in a separate place, such as your suitcase, just in case you lose your passport; the photocopy will speed up the process of getting the passport replaced.

I do tend to keep the passport on my person, usually in a front pants pocket. I keep my wallet in the back pocket with the credit cards. The cash goes in another pocket. The keys I keep in my mouth.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Mr Red
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:14 PM

I put my passport and money in a money belt with the contents at the front - inside my trousers. It can get a bit damp in hot climes but - hey - I have never been interfered with yet.

The security is the place not the belt - it is a flimsy thing with plenty of room. So what if I look a little podgy.

I do use the hotel safe sometimes.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: michaelr
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:41 PM

Rick Steves offers waist and neck-worn models. I use the waist-worn moneybelt.

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Slag
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:06 PM

wesley, At least in the US it is against the law to make a photo copy of your passport. The State Dept. sends out a little card with your passport or renewal that has all the pertinent info on it.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 03:32 PM

Slag, that doesn't apply to a scanned copy- No such restriction noted at U. S. Passport website. An exact photographic copy is not the same.

Student travel, other travel sites, all recommend having a copy.
Student Travel
Travel Document Copies

U. S. Dept. State Passport site:
Passport

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Hollowfox
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 04:47 PM

Add my vote for the around the waist money belt.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 05:03 PM

I'd have thought that the answer was obvious-- in the guitar case. Isn't that the most likely thing not to get lost-- the thing most likely to not even leave your sight?

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 09:12 PM

It is not against the law in the US to photocopy your passport. You should always have a copy at home, at work, anywhere you could fax for the info if you needed it. The passport office people tell you to copy it.

If you're holding a US passport I also recommend getting a pretty cover for it so it isn't an American passport when seen from a distance...

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 09:38 PM

And wear a Canadian flag or the Union Jack in your button hole, but in Canada wear the American flag.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 09:59 PM

Nonononononononononno!


MUST Resist...

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Slag
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 08:03 PM

Q, et al. Yes. Chalk it up to a brain fart! I was thinking about photocopies of naturalization certificates. It is those which you cannot copy!

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 07:32 PM

How about a spare colostomy bag?

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Gulliver
Date: 24 Feb 08 - 10:53 PM

I too find using a wallet round the kneck as mentioned by Giok above to be the best (and I've travelled a lot in many countries). In airports I stick the boarding cards in the wallet as well so that everything is easily available for going through security and boarding. Otherwise I wear the wallet under my shirt, and place other important docs in there as well. A few years ago in Bangkok my drinks were spiked and I was knocked out for a few hours and while my wallet containing credit cards was taken from my back pocket and cash from other pockets they didn't manage to spot the wallet under my shirt, which contained not only my passport but many useful phone numbers and a CD with all 600 photos of my trip.

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Greg B
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 07:11 PM

What are people's positions on European accommodations who wish to
'hold' your passport for the duration of your stay? Is refusing
usually a viable option? Should one refuse?

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: Gulliver
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 12:08 AM

If there's no safe in the room, I've usually asked the hotel to put my passport along with other valuables in their safe (keeping the photocopy of the passport somewhere else). It's probably the best place for it, and I've never heard of any problems with this approach. But I have no recent experience of hostels or cheaper hotels, which could possibly be less secure.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Travel Question- Where to keep Passport
From: robomatic
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 08:19 PM

Back From Edmonton:

Thank you for the advice. I like Rick Steeves on televison, didn't realize he had a web site/ store. I like the idea of the silk underbelt and while wearing the 'port round the neck makes the most sense I'm sensitive to things around my neck and think it looks goofy.

I wound up keeping the passport and my travel documents in my ugly green rainjacket which I generally had on me or with me.

What's the deal with Edmonton's International Airport? Costs $53. to get from there to anywhere in town, and once you're in town, there's a big ol' airport by the hotel that no one is using!

One of the local's told me it was a tribute to land speculation and poor or corrupt politics, but it made no sense to have to leave town extra early to navigate south to the International, following a taxi who also got lost.