So at the beginning/end of your trip your passport get lost/stolen...
#16
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Am I the only one who tends to keep my passport either (a) on my body or (b) in a hotel safe while traveling abroad?
I don't think I've ever put it into a backpack or just left it in a car somewhere. I remember the hostel years of my youth...everybody had a story about stuff getting stolen. While I don't doubt that the stories often took on lives of their own, I still kept my passport physically on me 24x7 when I was staying in hostels. Do people really keep their passports in their backpacks? Or leave them in rental cars?
FWIW, I'm aware that the hotel safe isn't impermeable. It's probably child's play for a serious burglar. But I figure it's a good-enough deterrent when I'm doing something that would make it difficult for me to keep my passport with me (e.g., diving, snorkeling, etc.).
I don't think I've ever put it into a backpack or just left it in a car somewhere. I remember the hostel years of my youth...everybody had a story about stuff getting stolen. While I don't doubt that the stories often took on lives of their own, I still kept my passport physically on me 24x7 when I was staying in hostels. Do people really keep their passports in their backpacks? Or leave them in rental cars?
FWIW, I'm aware that the hotel safe isn't impermeable. It's probably child's play for a serious burglar. But I figure it's a good-enough deterrent when I'm doing something that would make it difficult for me to keep my passport with me (e.g., diving, snorkeling, etc.).
#17
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London, UK
Posts: 163
Thankfully never lost my passport but have at times travelled with one of my other two as backup "just in case" - similarly the Mrs has to (for all intents and purposes) carry both of hers when going home to see the folkes as is required to enter her home country on her home passport and using her British passport is by far the easiest way to get into the UK (the passports are in different names so also helps having it as proof of ID as it matches all her bank cards etc).
No idea if there'd be issues of using different passport than that provided for the advanced passenger information or border issues for countries that have more formal exit procedures.
No idea if there'd be issues of using different passport than that provided for the advanced passenger information or border issues for countries that have more formal exit procedures.
#18
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: Qatar, Turkish, Aeroflot
Posts: 546
I lost my Irish passport in 2014 almost immediately after arriving in Beirut, but it took me about 12 hours to realise I had. Lucky for me, I had my UK passport as well...unlucky for me, I entered on my Irish. Turned out I dropped it straight after passport control and found it in lost property in the airport, thank god!
I also lost it again in Berlin in 2016 but this time without finding it. To make matters worse, I lost it on a Saturday and had a flight to Bogota on Tuesday evening. Thankfully, the Irish embassy was willing to provide an emergency passport on condition of confirming that Colombia and Panama would accept the emergency passport and have a police report (which I got by having a German-speaking friend recording my story in German on WhatsApp for me). Got it within 30 minutes at a cost of 140EUR...so actually, it was a lot less stressful than expected.
Had it been my British passport (which at that time was in the Russian Embassy in London and it was Russian holidays at that point too), it would have been a trip back to London and waiting up to 3 weeks just for an appointment at the passport office!
I also lost it again in Berlin in 2016 but this time without finding it. To make matters worse, I lost it on a Saturday and had a flight to Bogota on Tuesday evening. Thankfully, the Irish embassy was willing to provide an emergency passport on condition of confirming that Colombia and Panama would accept the emergency passport and have a police report (which I got by having a German-speaking friend recording my story in German on WhatsApp for me). Got it within 30 minutes at a cost of 140EUR...so actually, it was a lot less stressful than expected.
Had it been my British passport (which at that time was in the Russian Embassy in London and it was Russian holidays at that point too), it would have been a trip back to London and waiting up to 3 weeks just for an appointment at the passport office!
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 15,663
This seems like the right place to post my recent experience (and may also cross-post under "dumbest things I've done"):
Last month I flew SFO-AMS with an expired 2nd passport. Yes, this is 100% my fault, but also a failure by UA gate agents to ensure I boarded with a valid passport. Of course this was immediately caught when I presented my passport to the Dutch authorities at AMS so I was sent to a special area adjacent to the regular lines. I explained the situation and presented my valid US passport card as well as a photo of my valid first passport.
After a couple of hours I was told that I was likely to be sent back to the US as I did not have valid documents. At that point I begged the officer to admit me as I could obtain a replacement passport from the US consultate the following morning. The officer returned shortly and said that they had been unable to reach anyone at the consultate (by this time it was after 5pm). I then provided them with a screenshot showing the after hours emergency number for the consulate. After about 3 hours I was told that I would not be sent home but that it would take some time to "process the paperwork."
Finally after 5 hours I was given documentation that permitted me to enter the country for 48 hours in order to secure a valid passport. Yay! I walked over to the Sheraton AMS where I had a room waiting. I completed and printed a passport application (DS-11 I think).
The next morning I presented myself to the US Embassy at 8:30am as instructed by the website. I was given a 10:30am appointment along with a list of nearby passport photo shops (the earliest opened at 9am. At 10:30am I was admitted to the embassy. The consular officer told me that I was lucky to be admitted and that the application for an emergency replacement passport does not have a category that covers my situation so they would treat it as a lost passport. Make sure you have credit cards to pay the normal application and expedite fees. By 11:30am I had a brand new US passport. Yay!
Now for those who have not had this experience, please note that the emergency replacement passports have a couple of features that immediately single them out as abnormal: (1) They are super thin and only have 10 pages (2) They expire after one year. Basically they are issued to allow you to go the passport control and board an airplane to return to the USA. Some countries may refuse entry to emergency passport holders.
Sure enough my passport was carefully scrunized by every immigration official and by every gate agent. In most cases the official and GA consulted with a manager before allowing me to proceed. Fortunately I was able to complete my original trip (beyond EU) with only a day lost to a missed connection at AMS.
We considered other options including fedex and having my son fly over with my current passport. But neither of these options proved feasible as the fedex customer support team was less than helpful and I had already told the Dutch authorities that I was going to the embassy.
Coincidentally I received Conditional GE approval just prior to my return to USA, so I did an EOA at SFO. Of course the customs officer had to ask managment if he could process an EOA on an emergency passport - thankfully the answer was yes!
Epilogue: Once you return to the USA, you have to apply for a new 10-year passport. However you can apply by mail using a special form (the same one used for mistakes and name changes) and you don't have to pay the $120 fee again though there is another $60 expedite fee. Mine is currently processing and I will update this post if there are any glitches.
So here are my tips:
Last month I flew SFO-AMS with an expired 2nd passport. Yes, this is 100% my fault, but also a failure by UA gate agents to ensure I boarded with a valid passport. Of course this was immediately caught when I presented my passport to the Dutch authorities at AMS so I was sent to a special area adjacent to the regular lines. I explained the situation and presented my valid US passport card as well as a photo of my valid first passport.
After a couple of hours I was told that I was likely to be sent back to the US as I did not have valid documents. At that point I begged the officer to admit me as I could obtain a replacement passport from the US consultate the following morning. The officer returned shortly and said that they had been unable to reach anyone at the consultate (by this time it was after 5pm). I then provided them with a screenshot showing the after hours emergency number for the consulate. After about 3 hours I was told that I would not be sent home but that it would take some time to "process the paperwork."
Finally after 5 hours I was given documentation that permitted me to enter the country for 48 hours in order to secure a valid passport. Yay! I walked over to the Sheraton AMS where I had a room waiting. I completed and printed a passport application (DS-11 I think).
The next morning I presented myself to the US Embassy at 8:30am as instructed by the website. I was given a 10:30am appointment along with a list of nearby passport photo shops (the earliest opened at 9am. At 10:30am I was admitted to the embassy. The consular officer told me that I was lucky to be admitted and that the application for an emergency replacement passport does not have a category that covers my situation so they would treat it as a lost passport. Make sure you have credit cards to pay the normal application and expedite fees. By 11:30am I had a brand new US passport. Yay!
Now for those who have not had this experience, please note that the emergency replacement passports have a couple of features that immediately single them out as abnormal: (1) They are super thin and only have 10 pages (2) They expire after one year. Basically they are issued to allow you to go the passport control and board an airplane to return to the USA. Some countries may refuse entry to emergency passport holders.
Sure enough my passport was carefully scrunized by every immigration official and by every gate agent. In most cases the official and GA consulted with a manager before allowing me to proceed. Fortunately I was able to complete my original trip (beyond EU) with only a day lost to a missed connection at AMS.
We considered other options including fedex and having my son fly over with my current passport. But neither of these options proved feasible as the fedex customer support team was less than helpful and I had already told the Dutch authorities that I was going to the embassy.
Coincidentally I received Conditional GE approval just prior to my return to USA, so I did an EOA at SFO. Of course the customs officer had to ask managment if he could process an EOA on an emergency passport - thankfully the answer was yes!
Epilogue: Once you return to the USA, you have to apply for a new 10-year passport. However you can apply by mail using a special form (the same one used for mistakes and name changes) and you don't have to pay the $120 fee again though there is another $60 expedite fee. Mine is currently processing and I will update this post if there are any glitches.
So here are my tips:
- Keep a note on your phone (and in the cloud) with a photo of your current passport
- Bring a US passport card and keep separate from your passport
- Carry extra passport photos
- Immediately go online to locate the website for the nearest US embassy or consulate. You should find instructions on what to do and the hours
- Follow instructions to the letter and if possible print a completed application form before visiting the embassy
- Consider fedex if your passport is found, as this will save you the time and signficant hassle of applying for an emergency passport and then a new 10-year passport
#20
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,593
#21
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,682
Boraxo, that is a fascinating story. Thank you for sharing it. So, even though your valid passport was at home, because your new passport was issued on the basis of it being lost, your passport at home is no longer valid? Interesting.
I'm impressed at your tenacity and thinking thru the problems which then allowed you to enter the country, get a passport, and carry on with your trip. Well done.
I'm impressed at your tenacity and thinking thru the problems which then allowed you to enter the country, get a passport, and carry on with your trip. Well done.
#22
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan, IHG, Enterprise, Avios, Nexus
Posts: 8,355
I've never been robbed and carry my passport securely. I have needed my passport to go into a casino, exchange money, rent a car, go through roadside police check points, enter a national park, pass through through a military roadblock and for VAT exemptions to name a few. In the unlikely event I am robbed there is a photo copy of my passport information page in my hotel safe and jpgs of the passport in my phone and on my cloud storage.
While I've never been robbed I have had a hotel room burgled including the safe which judging by the aftermath didn't seem that hard to open.
While I've never been robbed I have had a hotel room burgled including the safe which judging by the aftermath didn't seem that hard to open.
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 15,663
That said it is in your interest to report passports that are later found (and to return the cancelled or damaged passports with your application). There have been reports that your name may be flagged worldwide after you report a stolen passport so that officials can double check to ensure you are in fact the person whose name is on the passport.
.
#24
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Programs: UA 1K, AA Lifetime Platinum, DL Platinum, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 7,954
At first, this surprised me. I would have expected that the UA computer would be programmed to catch an expired passport when it was scanned at check-in. Then, I realized the error in my logic: when I travel internationally on UA, they don't scan my passport at the airport, as I already have it in my profile. The visual checking at the gate is to make sure that the passport matches the ticket, and that my face matches the passport. I'd be surprised if they ever check the expiration date at this point, although they have an obligation to the destination country (but not the passenger) to ensure that the traveler has a valid document. This must be a very rare situation, or they'd have better controls to guard against it.
#25
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Join Date: Jul 2001
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Posts: 102,103
At first, this surprised me. I would have expected that the UA computer would be programmed to catch an expired passport when it was scanned at check-in. Then, I realized the error in my logic: when I travel internationally on UA, they don't scan my passport at the airport, as I already have it in my profile. The visual checking at the gate is to make sure that the passport matches the ticket, and that my face matches the passport. I'd be surprised if they ever check the expiration date at this point, although they have an obligation to the destination country (but not the passenger) to ensure that the traveler has a valid document. This must be a very rare situation, or they'd have better controls to guard against it.
If the passport loaded in the PNR — whether loaded from a stored passport file in a FFP account or otherwise — is with an expired passport date in the PNR, the PNR would probably reject without a boarding pass getting issued for a US departure to foreign lands. But when doing online check-in to PYOBP or to get a mobile phone boarding pass in the US, it’s possible to use a recently expired passport to clear the TSA TDC but then usually the TSA will note the expiration date; however many put away the passport and instead use a hard card ID or maybe CLEAR to pass TSA TDC and get airside even as the check-in itself would have been done against a stored passport that hadn’t shown an expired date and appeared valid for the trip at the time of remote check-in. At the gate often it could be just a quick look at passport page rather than a machine scan of the passport, and that’s how people do get by the airline even when they shouldn’t.
My bet is that whatever passport expiration date was loaded in the PNR for US-AMS wasn’t an already expired date at the time of check-in. It may have even had the passport number and expiration date for a valid passport in the US which the State Department only was to electronically cancel after the FTer was noted in Europe in need of an emergency replacement while unable to physically hand in any currently valid passport prior to being given a 1 year or less validity one to use in the interim.
Ending up listed in the Interpol database for a lost/stolen passport can lead to some hassles at times even if the electronically or physically cancelled passport is not part of the journey. Could be a bit of a problem at times even for those who merely share a name with the person for a listed LSTD.
#26
Join Date: Feb 2022
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 927
Years ago I flew to GIG from MIA and left my passport at the counter where you had to arrange for a taxi at GIG (before the days of Uber/Lyft). I realized it when I tried to check in at the hotel. The hotel got me to the US Consulate where I was able to get a replacement (costing me $200). This was is when Brazil required US Citizens to have a Visa adhered to one of the passport pages.
Eventually when I left I went to the Lost and Found at GIG and they had my old passport. When I got to exit customs I had to try to explain in very broken Portuguese of why I had 2 seemingly active passports and the visa in one of them. The woman just shook her head and waved me through not really wanting to hear my situation.
Eventually when I left I went to the Lost and Found at GIG and they had my old passport. When I got to exit customs I had to try to explain in very broken Portuguese of why I had 2 seemingly active passports and the visa in one of them. The woman just shook her head and waved me through not really wanting to hear my situation.