Dull practicalities for immigration- proof of flight, etc?
 

I'm visiting Europe (Germany, Italy, and London) for a month in the winter. I've seen several weird posts or articles about how one must be able to know the addresses of their hotels, show their itinerary, etc.

I've never been overseas. If I travel in the US, I just keep everything in my email on my phone. How do you handle this? Should I print my flight confirmations and hostel confirmations all out ahead of time and just keep it in an envelope? Is my visa credit card enough proof for "sufficient funds"? Is there something else that I'm overlooking?

I basically don't want to misplace anything important. I never print out plane etickets or carry much cash or travelers checks (although I don't know anyone who does anymore). But obviously I don't want to run into trouble with immigration.

The main reason I ask, btw, is that I've had a few very strange run ins with Canadian immigration. Nothing serious or even personal, I think, just very thorough border patrol. So I prefer to make the process as smooth as possible.

What is so hard about having the address of your hotel handy?

And yes -- you probably should print out your confirmations, just in case.

No one carries travelers checks -- and if someone has TCs they are pretty much useless. You get cash from an ATM when are in the arrivals hall.

I have been asked odd questions at security points before getting to the counter or before carry-on security check points such as where I have been, if I have train tickets, hotel receipts for a proof. I suspected these were rhetorical behavioral questions. They didn't mind when I told them I have some of them in my checked luggage.

>>> I never print out plane etickets or carry much cash or travelers checks (although I don't know anyone who does anymore).

This might happened to work for you where you live within the scope of the airlines/airports you have visited.

While I don't print out plane etickets, I still have vital info: booking codes, the flight number/time info on sheets. So you think all these info are in your phone. What are you going to do if you cannot retrieve them from your phone? What if you lose your phone? What if your phone is kaput? You tend to have less fall back options away from your home country.

Whether you can get away without carrying much cash or not depends on what you are doing. You might not need them with what you do at home, but that might not be the case in the countries you mentioned and the type of business you need to deal with.

Traveler checks are unmistakably passe and useless. I agree with that.

Usual Schengen Zone (Germany/Italy) entry is stamped passport and no questions, although once I was asked how long I was staying.

UK entry seems to always get a short interview and where you are going to be staying is a common question. Here a printout would be handy (also for filling out the immigration card).

Are you young? If you are worried you could bring a copy of a bank statement to prove funds, but it wouldn't come to that unless the interview is not going well.

I always bring a 2 pocket folder with key printouts in it. Phones can get lost or lose power.

Not hard, janisj, it's just that normally I don't write down the address/confirmation numbers until the day before. I move 6 times on this trip and it just would not have occurred to me to have all of that information available when I land initially in Munich.

Thanks, Greg. That is the type of thing I was looking for- and the back up idea is a good point- I usually use the computer at hotels and hostels but a printed out backups in my luggage might certainly come in handy. The behavioral questions are sometimes so random.

I guess what I'm really wondering- I'm assuming you fill out paperwork before landing or something- so you list ALL of your destinations or just your immediate destination?

It goes beyond immigration and costs you nothing to have printouts of your confirmed reservations. But it can cost you if you don't, not often, but occasionally. I just make it a rule to carry an itinerary along with printed reservations and never worry about the effect of other people's mistakes or not having information at hand when I need it.

Most recently, I was promised a complimentary room at a nice hotel and on arrival the manager was away. Not having a copy of our email exchanges would have cost me dearly. I rest my case.

That's true. I've had a hotel lose my reservation before- hadn't thought of that. All right, I'll print everything out beforehand:)

I once had a hotel try to charge me three times my original booking amount in Savannah for St Patrick's Day for two rooms I booked. I was a little freaked out. I had the paper copy of my original booking reservation with me saving me around 1,000 dollars. It still ruined my last night there. It took them till morning to have the manager say I was right and they were wrong.

Usually the people that get asked all these questions are yong people who look like they don't have much money and as if they may be coming to stay with a boy or girlfriend or try to get a job there and/or end up a charge on the public benefit systems. I haven;t been asked any of those questions since the first time I arrived at 21 dressed very casually - and I've been back to the UK at least 15 times.

Still you should know the address of your hotel and be able to show that you have either a return or an ongoing plane or train ticket - just in case they should ask. I am just usually asked purpose of trip and just say either vacation or business.

Also, having your hotel reservations printed out means you have a printed address to show to a taxi driver or to someone you want to direct you to the place you are staying. While I bring my iPhone, I also print everything out. I had a time when the scanner that reads an electronic boarding pass was not working at the airport - everyone in line had to go get a printed copy of the boarding pass if they din't already have one.

I usually have printouts of everything in a folder. I also usually have both the email confirmations and screen shots of everything in my iPad because I can never seem to locate the correct email when I need it.

Oooh cjar, I like that idea a lot. Thanks! Now to see if I can figure out screen shots...

<i>but a printed out backups in my luggage might certainly come in handy</i>

I know this is stating the obvious, but you want to have those printed out backups in your <b>hand</b> luggage and not in your checked bag(s).
In Munich, you will go through passport control first, and afterwards to baggage claim.

yes -- they are of no help at all in checked bags.

I take print outs of all hotel/flat reservations, all flights, all theatre or exhibition bookings, dinner reservations, etc. Toss then as I go along.

Also have a sheet w/ copies of the front/back of each credit card/ATM card and a copy of the info page from my passport.

I always travel with hard copies of my flight, car, and hotel.

Like janisj, I toss them when I no longer need them.

I am kind of curious as to how a copy of the credit card would help you? Is it so you have the number on hand if it gets stolen? Because I can't see any other way it would help.

I do the same as janisj, plus these days I scan the copies and email them to myself. I include cipies of any visas. I also do the same with a list of important numbers which includes my credit card numbers. Having a card stolen is the most important reason for having the numbers handy.

I find the practice of trusting everything to your phone unwise - there are too many things that might go wrong, having it stolen being only the most serious. I have had the battery die (i.e. no longer hold a charge) and even had the battery charger die on one trip. And that's assuming you can find somewhere to charge it if necessary en-route.

I just tossed my first flight information, and my first hotel booking.

yep paper print out is a must

<i>I am kind of curious as to how a copy of the credit card would help you? Is it so you have the number on hand if it gets stolen? Because I can't see any other way it would help.</i>

I think having a hardcopy of the front and back of your credit card is just asking for trouble. Better to just have written down the card type, last 4, and the emergency contact number.

This was a good question, it got good answers, and your follow-up questions were perhaps even better. I think they will help a lot of people.

The little "interview" in the UK allows them to photograph you and compare your face to their database of people who have previously entered the UK. At the same time, it allow the Border Control officer to assess your demeanor.

I am old and well-off and have visited the UK many times. Still, I am always asked the purpose of my visit and where I will be staying. When I am staying with friends or at an apartment, they ask the address. When we stay at hotels, the name of the hotel, the street and the city are enough.

I wandered around in Croatia for two days spending expensive euros before I found a bank machine that would give me nice cheap kuna on my Capital One card. Now I try to keep enough cash for a day if my card gets swallowed or stolen.

And if it's all on your phone, where are you if your phone gets stolen? At home, you are just a random woman (no offense); when you are abroad, you are a target. Even if they catch the crooks, you aren't going to be around to testify. It changes the dynamic.

You are no more a target when abroad than at home.

Nevertheless a hard copy is useful to have just in case. You should certainly know the name and address of your first hotel in the UK and either Germany or Italy, whichever one you land in first, unless of course the UK part of the trip is in the middle in which case you will need both.

At home I drive everywhere. When I travel I take public transport. I am much more of a target when I travel.

<I guess what I'm really wondering- I'm assuming you fill out paperwork before landing or something- so you list ALL of your destinations or just your immediate destination?>

There's a very short little card that most airlines will give you on the plane--sometimes shortly after takeoff, sometimes shortly before landing. You fill that out and bring it with you.

The questions on the card are different for every country--I don't remember Germany's specifically, or maybe it's an EU card. But the address of your first destination is often asked--you put your hotel. No need to give all the hotels and destinations unless, of course, the agent asks you. I have never been asked for all that, but they are the law and can ask whatever they feel like asking.

I have never been questioned about proof of funds upon entry, even when quite young, and have never even considered bringing a bank statement.

I do carry printouts of my itinerary, although I usually use my phone, because electronics can fail.

Btw, the immigration card will also ask your passport number and expiration date and the carrier and flight you entered on, without fail, IME.

When I travel, I make up an itinerary sheet - just a 1 pager - it has my flight info, any pre-purchased ground transport, names and addresses of anywhere I will be staying with dates, and my contact info. I keep a copy of that sheet with me for my own reference and I put a copy in my luggage.

I do the same thing as Novembermoon, I make an itinerary with all my info on it -- flights, hotel reservations, train reservations, etc. I print several copies, keeping one on me, one in my carryon, etc. I refer to this all the time. Also, I email it to some contacts (person watching my house, relative) so they know where I am, you never know when some emergency can happen, either abroad or at home.

I am always stunned by people who travel and cannot do anything if their phone doesn't work, or gets lost or stolen or (shocking, I know) they don't have it on them. Sometimes phones can not work, also, or no Wifi, lots of things. People who cannot move withought having a phone to tell them what metro line to use, also, stuff like that.

I don't know why anyone who makes plans & reservations would not also make themselves an itinerary as they do so, so simple & sensible. And print 3 copies while they're at it - one for each piece they carry. I can understand it if there's no fixed itinerary, a wandering sort of open-ended traveling as I've done on occasion. But I want to write it, print it and forget it. I can refer to it when I need to but not have to devote brain cells to keeping track when I'd much rather think of more interesting things. Just thinking about it when I see it mentioned several more times, as if anyone doesn't. I guess there must be some who don't, or didn't and now do and figure it's worth mentioning.

I don't see anything wrong with using your phone for everything--it's not inherently worse than using paper for everything. The issue is having a backup in case something goes wrong with your Plan A, whatever your preferred Plan A may be.

By the way, if you have a US passport, you can enroll for free for EasyPass and use the automated passport control gates in Germany.
http://www.easypass.de/EasyPass/EN/E.../rtp_node.html

The only other difference between me or other EU citizens who can use that without prior registration anyway and US citizens seems to be that an agent will open the last door for you manually to give you an entry/exit stamp in your passport.
Still could be quicker than lining up at staffed passport control.

<i> Usually the people that get asked all these questions are yong people who look like they don't have much money and as if they may be coming to stay with a boy or girlfriend or try to get a job there and/or end up a charge on the public benefit systems. </i>

My daughter, traveling with her 10-year-old child, was asked a lot of very detailed questions at immigration in Dublin two weeks ago. They even asked the child a number of questions, maybe checking up on the mother's responses? My daughter is a 40-year-old college professor, but she's non-white.

I once was delayed for over an hour at Boston airport because I didn't know the address of where I was staying. My daughter (who was waiting for me outside in the arrivals hall) had reserved a B&B for me and I didn't know the name. She had just moved and I didn't know her address either. They put me in a special line, where I had to wait nearly an hour to be interviewed. They wouldn't let me call my daughter to ask the name of the place. I might still be there, but I got the bright idea to say something like, "I think it had "Orchard" in the name." The agent pulled out a phone book, said, "Is it Orchard Place B&B?" (or something like that), and I replied, "That's it!"

There's no immigration card to fill out for Italy (Schengen), nor for Ireland (non-Schengen). I don't remember one for France, Germany, or the Netherlands (all Schengen countries) either, but I wouldn't want to swear to that. I've passed through these places as a transit passenger in recent years, and immigration is always in the first Schengen country you reach, if transiting to another Schengen country.

I usually put all the crucial information about flights, car rentals, hotels, concert tickets, and museum reservations on a single sheet of paper, in order by date, and print that out. I copy the pertinent lines from each confirmation as it arrives and paste it into my document. Most confirmations are full of boilerplate, and I don't want to carry all that paper around. Also, it makes it easy to find each item quickly. I keep the originals of the confirmations in a Dropbox folder so that I can access them from any computer.

@NewBe - guess you didn't read this on why relying on your phone is a bad idea:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-9696526

There is immigration card (landing card) to complete for UK if you are a non-EEA citizen. You need to enter among other things your full contact address in UK, so you should have your hotel/accommodation details at hand.

thursdaysd, that's this thread. And yes, I rely on my phone. Many people do. I also prepare a Plan B in case my phone dies or gets lost, which is a printed sheet of information. As I said, it doesn't matter which is A and which is B as long as you have both.

Alec, I'm an Italian citizen and have flown a number of times to the UK from Italy. The most recent time was two years ago. I don't remember this landing card, but maybe it's slipped my mind if they distributed it just to non-EEA people on the plane.

Yes, and also there are a stack of them on the channel for non-EEA and Swiss citizens.

>>if they distributed it just to non-EEA people <<

That is what they do . . .

My iPad is usually my back up. Yes, I did paper before iPad and iPhone. I also navigated with paper maps and got lost a lot- so mock me if you like but travel definitely got less stressful post- smart phone:)