If You Lost All Your Money
 

Okay,

So, suppose you were somewhere (I go away for school in the summer to attend some graduate level courses and have to live in dorms) and the fire alarm went off at midnight. You put your flip flops and dressing gown on, grab your room key, then realize as you are on the front lawn of the dorms that you have neither wallet or money belt. Everybody is filing out of the building, and you quickly realize that it's not a drill.

In the case of a serious fire or disaster does a hotel have an obligation to house you (or a school where one is renting a dorm room) in the case of an incident where the building is uninhabitable?

Obviously, the question is, what does somebody do when their entire source of cash and any ready cash is destroyed? If I got up in the middle of the night and found I couldn't get back to my room and I couldn't get any compensation for several days, what does one do? I don't know how to get a new debit card just by walking into the bank without photo ID. If I lost my money belt, and cards, I would probably be very hungry till I could get my folks to book me a ticket home.

Can money be wired to a temporary residence? Like if I'm staying in a hotel for a week can I make arrangements for cash from the front desk. Is it possible to obtain a CC or debit card for a very temporary residence? Like if I'm living in the gym, like Revenge of the Nerds? Could I just get a fax copy of my banking information and transfer money electronically to draw pure cash?

On that topic, is it possible to board a domestic flight without any ID except maybe a letter saying why I don't have ID? I've heard you can board with a police report, but I've never actually seen it done. I traveled in my undergrad with a large group of people and one of the girls thought she had lost her wallet at a nightclub. We pieced things together and retrieved her wallet, but what would somebody do? Another guy in the same group left his wallet in a cab. We tracked it down with the aid of some people at the conference site, and he was okay, but I don't know what one would do?

CK

Assuming I had money to lose...
 

I'd call my daddy, have him prepare a hotel room under my name. I'd check in and call my bank and have them get a new credit card out to me asap.

Have copies of your IDs in the cloud or with a family member. Not sure about flying without ID and if they'd take the copies.

As long as the TSA can verify your idenity, you will be able to fly domestically. Who's flown without an ID?

Put your phone and wallet on your nightstand and never leave without it.

Keep a couple of credit card numbers/expiry/3-digit-codes emailed or put in an online doc to yourself for such cases (if someone hacks in and charges your credit card you can always cancel it, or just email it to yourself in a cipher like 1 digit less).

Some sensible steps when travelling:

Carry a card wallet, to store your cards separately from your cash.

Keep one credit card, with a zero balance, separate from others as your "emergency card". Do not use this card for anything else.

Keep your driver's licence separate from your passport. If you have dual nationality, keep your passports separate from each other.

Take copies of your important documents, and leave them with a family member (or e-mail them to yourself).

Tell your bank if you are leaving the country. Banks often block your credit cards if they notice unusual transactions.

Before travelling, find the address and phone number of your local embassy or consulate.

Keep a relatively small amount of cash, in local currency, or an easily useable, major currency (USD can be spent in any international airport in the world), in with your passport or driver's licence. I would suggest enough for a short cab fare, one night's cheap hotel and a decent meal. $200 will suffice in most parts of the world.

Never, ever, carry a "bum bag" (fanny pack in America) or a neck pouch. These are a gift to thieves. They also advertise that you are a tourist, and probably carrying cash.

Absolutely. If you are really stuck, call someone (partner, parents, Auntie Freda or whoever), and get them to book and pay for a room online. Many hotels offer half-board options, which can be paid for online, too.
Then get Mummy, Daddy or Auntie Freda to either book you on the next flight home, or Western Union you some cash, while you sort things out with the banks, passort office, etc.

Your cards can be replaced, often very quickly in fact. You can have someone wire you money to a WU or similar service, pretty much anywhere. You could have a family member or friend book you a new room - or even do it yourself if you have points and/or your CC info stored with a chain's website.

In most communities in the US (and probably elsewhere) the Red Cross will typically assist with people displaced from a fire - hotel, home, etc. with temporary emergency shelter and food. Often there are other charities, churches, etc. that do something similar either routinely or in response to a particular incident.

Even if nothing like the above took place, I imagine any decent, mid-to-higher quality hotel, particularly a chain, would arrange some sort of relocation or assistance - at a minimum for publicity reasons and probably other obvious reasons, too.

The best defense is a good offense though, so being prepared with some of the advice already mentioned is best. I try to keep my wallet handy at a hotel for that reason, along with other preparations. But remember possessions can be replaced and you can work through problems with lost cash...you can't be replaced! :)

Money
 

When my daughter was in Spain a few years ago someone lifted her wallet with her credit card and all her cash. She called me and I called Visa who arranged to Western Union her $500 that same day (no charge to us) and arranged for a new credit card to be issued the next day. We were nervous as we never had to do this.

When she had her pocketbook stolen 2 weeks later it was now a piece of cake as I knew the drill. Western Union again and another discussion as to how to secure your valuables.

The Hyatt Churchill had a gas explosion in November, you can see how they handled things in the thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...1-21-14-a.html.

Get a Speck (or other brand) case for your phone that can hold CCs (and other similar size items).

Have this on my iPhone so I always have at one CC in it.

Also in this day and age it's very easy to take a picture of ID / Passport / etc. and save it to your google drive. I have both of mine saved so that if any emergency occurs while I abroad and I can't access or have lost my passport I can easily retrieve a copy of my passport as long as I have internet access (without being dependent on needing my own computer or flash drive).

FWIW a couple years ago my boss lost his ID and CCs during the weekend and had no problem flying out of IAH (where he was based) to meet up at the client site. I think he just had to present some alternate forms of ID verification. If I remember correctly Chase allowed him to withdraw money at the branch near our client site after he presented some sort of verification (it may have been a non-government issued ID combined with a statement or other document that verified his name to match against the picture ID).

Own some old fashioned (paper) traveler's checks. Keep the serial numbers in a secure on-line location. Often same day replacements are available.

For those with extensive travels in the US, have a bank account at one or more of the large nation-wide banks. Walk into the bank, see the teller, and cash a check; modern banks have signature cards scans and sometimes photos of their customers available online. Likewise, keep scans of one's passports online too. Alternatively, store this digital information with someone -- family, employer's 24 hour security department, etc -- who can make it available online or via fax on demand.

Major credit card companies can often get cards replaced overnight, sometimes same day.

For those who can do so, it is good to have a solid relationship with one's banker, a specific person who recognizes one's voice. Yes, real bankers are fewer and fewer these days.

Responsibility of lodger being responsible for providing alternative accommodations varies by jurisdiction

And in OP's case, taking a summer graduate course:
open a bank account upon arrival
have the university issue a replacement student ID card -- the ID office should have the original photo in their database and thus able to verify identity

Also, large universities in the U.S. (OP didn't list location) often have affiliated credit unions. It is often useful to open your local bank account there--they tend to have better rates for students, and are also more likely to accept a student ID from the affiliated university as photo ID.

As far as dorm housing is concerned, I would be very, very surprised if universities (again, U.S.) aren't required to provide housing to displaced students who live on campus in the event of an emergency. If you have a regular apartment, you are expected to buy renter's insurance to cover such emergencies, but no one ever talks about that for dorm dwellers, which suggests that it's something the university must provide. Also, considering some universities require students live on campus as a condition of attendance, I think they would have to accept responsibility. IANAL, however, nor do I play one on TV.

I'd imagine the University would at least make some suitable arrangements. Imagine the publicity if they didn't!

True. Particularly in the current Age of Helicopter Parenting.

I think that you can send money to Western Union or Moneygram with a test question, like "What year did you graduate college." Assuming you could find internet access, you could probably get online and send it to yourself if you remember your credit card number, expiration, security code etc.

But this does kind of make me think, maybe I should scan my identity documents and leave them on a flash drive with a trusted family member.