I don't think anyone has explicitly said this, so everyone please be sure to note that email is (mostly) not a secure communication channel. It passes in plain text through most of the internet.

It is a probably true that by sending it to yourself in a browser-based email system it will probably not leave the confines of your email provider's servers, but it will be probably be stored in unencrypted form on their servers.

I guess I'm more old school. I keep paper copies of my passport and credit cards in my money belt. I thought about keeping them in my luggage; on the off-chance I'm forced to check my bag, however, I'm not going to entrust valuable documents to the f---ing TSA.

Another suggestion is to make a spreadsheet on Google Docs that lists all your credit cards, and their emergency numbers. Whether you put the actual credit card numbers in there or not is up to you. It's probably better not to.

When I've lost cards and called the company, I've never had the actual number. They run thru your address, SS#, etc, and the card gets canceled and a new one goes out.

Something important to remember is that there is a huge difference between a credit card and a debit card. If someone steals and uses your credit card, you call in, and the charges are put on hold and eventually disappear off your credit card, and you never pay a cent. If someone steals your debit card and makes a bunch of charges, the money is pulled out of your checking account and you don't get it back in until the whole fraud process is complete, which could take thirty days or longer.

I've changed my debit "check" card to have a daily limit of $1 to avoid that problem. I'd recommend doing the same.

Which is why I never use a debit card. It also means that if there ever is a dispute I can simply point out that I *NEVER* use a debit card, all such transactions are fraud.

When I tried to get rid of mine (my ATM card functions as one) I found it was impossible. The system can't be set to block card transactions without also blocking all forms of outside-originated transactions. (Direct deposit, automatic payments initiated by credit card companies etc.)

Yeah I have managed to have the debit disabled once but it wasn't easy.

A bank manager suggested I lower the daily debit limit instead as he couldn't figure out how to disable it.

I've been changing it to a dollar ever since. On my last card my max limit was $20,000 by default!

You can always call and raise it back up if you need to..

I've managed to get my bank to give me a plain old ATM card that does not function as a debit card. Ask your bank, they may be able to do something like this for you.

Yes and no. They could give me a plain old ATM card but that only applies to the markings--if someone uses it as debit it still works.

I've done the email version of card number backups, but not all in one email, I spread it among four accounts (gmail, outlook, hotmail, yahoo), none of which have my name as part of the username. Each account gets a part of the info - 8 digits in one email, the last 4 digits in another, the other 4 and security code in another, month/year in the fourth email. Someone would need to be able to get into all four emails to recreate the number, and if two are compromised, I don't think a hacker could do anything with them. They also wouldn't say "AMEX 12345678", but just be a context-less string of numbers. Yes, it would be more work for me to reassemble the numbers in an emergency, but it feels safer to me.

I do keep an email with all my FF/club/store/hotel loyalty numbers in the body, and another email with important phone numbers, like credit card companies (even for cards/banks I don't use, in case someone else needs it), and I edit it before I travel with the numbers of the airlines and hotels (with addresses) I am using and send it to a family member and trusted friend, in case I can't deal with it as easily. Family member also gets a photocopy of my passport and credit cards (with my itinerary). It almost seems overkill, but I feel it's worth the effort.

I've had plain ATM cards too. You get funny looks when you ask for one, and they usually have to mail it. It isn't a VISA or Mastercard. The card numbers aren't long enough. You can still use it for PIN debit transactions but not as a credit card. Get one and try charging something with it, it won't work.

My bank issues plain ATM cards that have the usual 16 digits.

iTwin SecureBox
 

Nobody has mentioned this solution, probably because it's relatively new. A new feature they just released on iTwin lets you use your iTwin device as a key and encrypt files before storing them in Dropbox. You can carry the iTwin with you. (It's a little USB device.) Then use it as a key if you want to retrieve your passport/cc info from Dropbox. Its very safe, since the physical key is required to access your data, in addition to the usual Dropbox password, and the encryption/decryption is done right then and there on your laptop.

I've been using this on my international trips. I actually don't keep any copies of this sensitive info physically on my laptop. So I'm safe against anything that may happen... laptop theft, loss of the iTwin (useless without password), breach of my Dropbox account (useless without iTwin key).

I put my passport and credit card numbers in 1Password, which is encrypted and sync'd on my iPhone 5, iPad and MacBook Pro, which are all backed up both to iCloud and local drives.