Why do some Marriott hotels store guests' passport numbers?
Jan 22, 2019, 4:32 pm
#31
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I don’t have a US driver’s licence, but most developed countries will accept any photographic formal ID - just not all, as has been suggested here. As often, the truth is somewhere between the two suggested extremes. In the last 3 years I’ve probably been to about 60 countries of which I think 5-10 have insisted on my passport instead of my ID card from an obscure island region of a country.
Jan 22, 2019, 4:36 pm
#32
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I don’t have a US driver’s licence, but most developed countries will accept any photographic formal ID - just not all, as has been suggested here. As often, the truth is somewhere between the two suggested extremes. In the last 3 years I’ve probably been to about 60 countries of which I think 5-10 have insisted on my passport instead of my ID card from an obscure island region of a country.
Australia - now that I think about it, I think I showed them my conceal carry license since that was the only thing I could find at that time.... not to mention they don't check your ID to board domestic flights....
Jan 22, 2019, 4:48 pm
#33
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An European national ID card is a travel document (i.e. border crossing document) accepted in some 50 countries and jurisdictions. It can be used in lieu of a passport in any of those countries.Not a drivers license. In the US, for instance, the only valid identity document for a nonresident alien is a foreign passport together with I-94 or I-94W form or a I-94 admission number.
Jan 22, 2019, 4:50 pm
#34
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Pete is right. Most advanced economies, to my recollection, will take any sort of government photo ID unless there is a specific legal requirement to collect passports.
Australia - now that I think about it, I think I showed them my conceal carry license since that was the only thing I could find at that time.... not to mention they don't check your ID to board domestic flights....
Australia - now that I think about it, I think I showed them my conceal carry license since that was the only thing I could find at that time.... not to mention they don't check your ID to board domestic flights....
Fact is why would you present a foreign drivers license as a form of ID (if not American going to Canada v/v or Europeans in the EU)? That just seems odd. You are in a foreign country. You might get lucky but by no means is this common practice. Your only form of legal identification is a passport. If you are well-traveled you should know better.
Last edited by bostontraveler; Jan 22, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Jan 22, 2019, 5:31 pm
#35
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No that's not the reason in either case. In your case either they have stored your information (most likely) or they have (a very very rare occurrence) forgotten to ask...but I doubt the latter.
I have stayed in literally hundreds of hotels in Italy and not once have they not asked me for ID. If anything the immigration laws are more enforced these days there.
As for European guests there is no exemption whatsoever. They (we) have to show ID each and every time. That would be a major employee infraction so it is second nature to check-in staff.
I have stayed in literally hundreds of hotels in Italy and not once have they not asked me for ID. If anything the immigration laws are more enforced these days there.
As for European guests there is no exemption whatsoever. They (we) have to show ID each and every time. That would be a major employee infraction so it is second nature to check-in staff.
For further data, I travel in Europe on a UK passport, and have booked some stays direct with the hotel or apartment. For others I use booking.com and hotels.com. I would be willing to bet that, having booked via the booking engine, they know who you are before you arrive, and have even exchanged emails with you, and so they do not ask to see ID; but when I book direct the same thing often happens. There seems to be no pattern. The only clue I can offer is that, when I am staying in Rome as a guest of the Vatican, the establishment will always ask for my passport. If I am there as an independent traveler, they often don't.
Last edited by 1P; Jan 22, 2019 at 5:37 pm
Jan 22, 2019, 5:39 pm
#36
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Well I'm not sure what countries you travel to that are unique...I've been to pretty much every 'advanced' economy and it has definitely has not been my experience. North America, yes. But checking into an Asian or European hotel with a US Drivers license?
Fact is why would you present a foreign drivers license as a form of ID (if not American going to Canada v/v or Europeans in the EU)? That just seems odd. You are in a foreign country. You might get lucky but by no means is this common practice. Your only form of legal identification is a passport. If you are well-traveled you should know better.
Fact is why would you present a foreign drivers license as a form of ID (if not American going to Canada v/v or Europeans in the EU)? That just seems odd. You are in a foreign country. You might get lucky but by no means is this common practice. Your only form of legal identification is a passport. If you are well-traveled you should know better.
The only push back I've gotten were from the countries that requires passport by law.
Jan 22, 2019, 5:51 pm
#37
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Fact is why would you present a foreign drivers license as a form of ID (if not American going to Canada v/v or Europeans in the EU)? That just seems odd. You are in a foreign country. You might get lucky but by no means is this common practice. Your only form of legal identification is a passport. If you are well-traveled you should know better.
Jan 22, 2019, 5:57 pm
#38
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I’ve lived in Italy for 4 years and since then worked in both Rome and Milan for about a year involving much less than hundreds but certainly tens of hotel stays, including a high proportion of the Marriott group hotels and have been asked for a passport every single time. If you’ve really never been asked for ID you must surely either be the Pope or have something beyond bizarre going on.
Jan 22, 2019, 6:07 pm
#39
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I’ve lived in Italy for 4 years and since then worked in both Rome and Milan for about a year involving much less than hundreds but certainly tens of hotel stays, including a high proportion of the Marriott group hotels and have been asked for a passport every single time. If you’ve really never been asked for ID you must surely either be the Pope or have something beyond bizarre going on.
David
Jan 22, 2019, 6:12 pm
#40
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Isn’t the obvious answer here “why not”? If you’re asked for ID, a US driver licence is a form of ID and will generally be accepted unless you’re actually being asked for a passport. Few countries insist their hotels ask for what you describe as “legal ID” which is a concept which doesn’t generally exist: many countries insist locals carry ID and foreigners identify themselves with passports when asked at immigration and by selected security services, but that’s generally it.
As a rule of thumb, a driver license is not a form of identification outside the country of issuance (and the ocasional neighbouring or otherwise friendly country). In fact, in some countries it is not valid identification document even in the country of issuance (drivers are required to carry both the license and a national ID card). In Europe you may not board a plane or cross a land border (even within the Schengen Area) with a driver license (except for Nordic Council and Common Travel Area nationals). In most Asian countries you won’t be able to buy even a SIM card with a driver’s license.
Jan 22, 2019, 6:20 pm
#41
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Surely you’re missing the point which is in many situations you are not being asked for a “legal” ID - hotels in many countries ask for ID in order to demonstrate identity, not to meet some legal requirement. As an extreme, I’ve occasionally used my PADI diving certification as a photo ID in hotels which just wanted photo ID verification of who I was.
This imagined link between ID’s and identification suitable for immigration authorities and/ or police if you are requested to prove your status is way off the base.
This imagined link between ID’s and identification suitable for immigration authorities and/ or police if you are requested to prove your status is way off the base.
Jan 22, 2019, 6:24 pm
#42
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Jan 22, 2019, 6:32 pm
#43
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That is the reason why most hotels, in most countries, ask for IDs in the first place—to report the identities of their guests to law enforcement agencies and/or immigration services.
Jan 22, 2019, 7:08 pm
#44
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Several countries are required to keep passport information for guests. It's been that way for years.
Not sure why this is even an interesting discussion.
Not sure why this is even an interesting discussion.
Jan 22, 2019, 11:13 pm
#45
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Because that's hardly the reason to store the data in a centralized database. Assume a hotel in China is required by law to record guests' passport information. Why should it be shared it with Marriott?