leave passport in apartment or take with?
 

Hi, we are going in June and renting an apartment for the first time. My question is should I carry our passports with us and risk the pickpockets, or leave it in our apartment and risk the maid or whoever else has the key.

My husband says take them with us, I'm not so sure.

Thanks!

I keep mine in a moneybelt worn underneath my clothes, so I don't have to worry about pickpockets. And also I don't have the worry of having it stolen from an apartment or hotel room.

I agree with JJ127 100%. That is exactly what we did with our passports, as well.

I'm embarrassed to say that several years my wallet was stolen on the Paris Metro. I have no idea why I did it but, I took my passport & one credit card out of my purse that morning and put it in the pocket of my suitcase in our apartment. If I hadn't done so, I would have spent a significant amount of time trying to get a replacement. My wallet was gone but at least I could get home. I'm MUCH wiser these days

Regardless of what you do, definitely make a copy and put it somewhere where you passport isn't!

Have a great trip!

Buy yourself a flat moneybelt from AAA or make yourself one (a piece of cloth sewn together, held around your waist by a belt of thin elastic, and safety-pinned shut with your passport and other important papers like rail passes in it.) Don't pack it full, just the necessities. You won't even know it's there. Never leave them in your room. It's not worth the spoiled vacation.

I leave mine in the apartment in a locked suitcase. Where is it you are visiting? That may be a concern.

Um, leaving a locked suitcase is an invitantion for the whole case to be stolen.

I never bring my passport with me, but , I never stay in apt. I leave it in hotel safe.
If I was going to leave it in an apartment I would hide it really really well, and not in my suitcase or in any of my belongings since if I was a theif I would ransack the tourist possesions first!

Safest in case of an apt is a money belt.

In the Netherlands, and in Belgium you must be able to produce valid ID when asked. This means a passport for foreign visitors, and it applies to everyone over the age of 14. You don't say which country you are visiting but this is something you should consider - it may be true of whichever country you are going to too.
If it isn't the case then leave it in your appartment. I really don't think the maid or whoever will steal your passport - she has a job to do and would soon be fired if reports of thefts came in.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear about the country, we are going to France, Paris to be specific. The maid is only scheduled to come one time a week, but they will have a key. We usually have our money in pouch under my husbands shirt. I plan on carrying the extra credit card on me. That can be easily cancelled by a phone call if I lose that. I just didn't want to lose a possible day replacing passports.

I suggest you photocopy your passport. Make several copies.

Once in France, leave your passport in the hotel room -- either locked in a safe (if the room has one) or locked in your luggage. Take a copy of the passport with you. In France, and it sounds like other countries too, you're required to carry identification with you. The photocopied passport will serve as official identification for the police, stores, shops, etc.

It's not a bad idea to make photocopies of your credit cards too. Leave those in the hotel locked away with your passport.

In the Netherlands, and in Belgium you must be able to produce valid ID when asked. This means a passport for foreign visitors, and it applies to everyone over the age of 14. You don't say which country you are visiting but this is something you should consider - it may be true of whichever country you are going to too.>>

it may technically be true, but i've never met any tourist who has been stopped by a REAL cop. you might be stopped by a pretend one who nicks your passport.

My favourite option is to carry a copy with me in a secure place, and keep the passport proper in the apartment or hotel safe. you are MUCH more likely to be robbed on the street [though that in itself is quite rare] than to be burgled.

there have been loads of threads about this.

regards, ann

Ann,

I've been stopped in Paris by real, live police (back in the 1980s when I looked more shifty than I do now).

But your advice is right on.

I usually carry a copy on me, and leave the passport hidden in the apartment.

Hiding places I have used are the freezer, in pots and pans, inside boots, inside a pack of pasta, in books on the shelf - I try to change the place every so often if I am there for more than a few days.

The fun starts when you can't remember where you put the passport in the first place!

annhig, you can be required to produce your ID by any police officer, including the railway police, any park warden, plus plenty of other authorised people. If there is an accident or a terrorist alert for instance, or or even if they are just feeling stroppy they can ask for it. The fine is big and not worth the risk. A photocopy is NOT acceptable.

In France a photocopy is acceptable to the police and anyone else (in my experience).

But hetismij is right, you can be required to produce identification anytime, anywhere, and without provocation.

Are people really that concerned about being stopped by the police constantly? I also find it hard to believe that French people carry around their passport on them at all times.

Police in any country can ask you to produce ID, as far as I know, that's what police do. A US driver's license is a govt-issued ID, would that really not be allowed by French police as an ID if by some strange chance you were required to produce ID when you were not committing crimes or doing anything unusual? I mean I'm sure if you were arrested and thrown in the pokey, you'd have to retrieve (or have someone else retrieve) your official passport, but would police fine people for not having a passport on them in France when they weren't doing anything illegal and minding their own business?

I don't think in the US they fine foreign tourists for not being able to produce a passport on the spot when they weren't doing anything wrong.

Yes, the French carry around their official papers.

No, I don't think people should be concerned at all.

No, (in my experience) a US drivers license will not suffice.

And, Christina, to your last point about US authorities not being too upset about foreign visitors not being able to produce a passport on demand...well, there we differ.

But that does remind me: laws in the US and France are different. In the US, police need something approaching probable cause. In France they do not.

Having said all that, the chances are probably 99.9 percent that a foreign visitor to France will NOT be asked to produce identification. It happened to me once in over twenty years.

I guess it depends on the apartment too. The one we stayed in a couple of weeks ago was very secure with an entry code to the tiny courtyard which had a locked gate and the apartment door itself was very secure with floor to ceiling lock!

http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_182.htm

We felt comfortable leaving valuables there but my husband carried our passports as this time we were about to get new visas and loss of our passports would have caused serious problems (just waiting a few weeks for an appointment at the Consulate would have been a major inconvenience!)

If I were that unsure about the safety of an apartment, I would not even want to sleep in it. So far I have had secured apartments, if I thought it were going to be ransacked every time I left I would move to a hotel.

If it concerns you to the point of nervousness I would just put it in a security pouch on my bod.

From many sources I have read that you will have to have a passport to use the internet at internet cafe's, if you plan to do that. I don't know if a copy will do or not. I would like to know before I leave next month.

Connie... you don't say where you are going to be when you leave next month! However...

In Rome in October 2006 my passport photocopy was perfectly acceptable.

In Dubrovnik in October 2007 my passport photocopy was not even asked for.

One reason to carry your passport or a copy is to provide identification in case of an accident. The passport also suggests noting in it someone to call or notify in the USA as well as at your foreign address.

I keep it with me in my moneybelt with my credit card and extra cash. My walking around money goes in my front pocket. Copies of the passport and cards are in my luggage in the apartment.

I've done both...left it and taken it. It depends on where I'm staying. But I lock it in my suitcase.
Get an Eagle Creek money belt though.
I always have two copies of my passport that I take on vacation along with an old passport and an official copy of my birth certificate in case of theft.
My best male had his money and passport stolen off of him in the metro, in Paris, and he's a very experienced traveler. But, it can happen to anyone. It was a REAL headache replacing his passport and he speaks fluent French. It took all day of running around . I couldn't believe that he didn't take an official copy of his birth certificate and an old passport along since every little bit helps in these types of situations. It was kind of hard to prove his identity with no ID. And he had his passport and money in a pouch around his neck and tucked deep into his shirt...they still got it. Happy Travels!

I think the comment of never being stopped by a cop in Europe to check ID is interesting. I've almost been stopped several times in Paris while strolling in the 7th.I stay in the 6th. But, one time, although the cops were eyeing me very hard from across the street, they were too busy with checking an African man for his ID so they left me alone.
My ex- Ghanaian boyfriend has been hassled a lot in France and especially in Belgium . He's an engineer for big international companies and has been, on the roads around the world, for over a decade traveling to different engineering projects and he's told me a LOT of his horror stories. And he's always had more than adequate ID on him.
And my best, African American friend who has lived in a Scandinavian country since the mid 60s and holds a dual passport has been stopped on the street numerous times, in the city that he's resided in for over 40 years. It's good he's totally fluent in the language of the country that he resides in and can handle the situation. Now, when I'm in the country where he resides and where I've resided part time for two decades, I get a bit nervous on the street. In the past, I never had a problem as I also speak the language and would just go on with my daily life like everyone else. I wasn't even asked, many times, to produce a passport at borders...just crossed borders, on the trains, with my Scandinavian friends.
The place that I've personally been hassled the most is in Germany where I would get hassled on trains at the border crossings...even to the point of having to open my suitcases for them to be inspected when no one else, in the same compartment, would be asked to do such. Happy Travels!

a person without a passport, is a person without a country!...
carry it on your person in a safe hidden pocket etc.....

Racial profiling is alive and well .
If I was black I may consider the law about carrying my passport with me all the time more seriously. I am not though, I am a middle aged white woman, and in all the days of my time in Europe, I have never been ided.
I am sure some people do get hassled more then others, just like someone who looks Mexican (Hispanic) might be hassled more if they live near a border town in some States. In Paris they do have issues with immigrants, so I am convinced that being black would make you more of a target for passport checking they being white. I do not agree it is right, but I acknowledge that some will have a harder time then others, even though I am in the group that has never been hassled.

Bozama, You are unfortunately completely right. As a white woman, I have never ever been asked for my papers by the police on the streets in France. On the contrary, all of my French friends of Maghreb or African origin have been stopped in the street by the police several times to show their ID.

And yes, it is compulsory in France to carry your ID with you, we all do.

Marie

When I am in Paris, I try to live like the Parisians do. We rent an apartment, and shop at the local stores. I see thousands of Parisian women carrying purses around the city, so I do, to. It is always a shoulder bag with a zipped compartment that I place my wallet in. I carry my driver's license and credit cards in my wallet. My passport is in the apartment. I do place a photocopy of it in my wallet.

I really think money belts, etc. are like little targets for pickpockets...I would never carry one. And I would never carry a passport around the city with me becaue I cannot imagine what a hassle it would be to lose it.

That's just me...this has worked for me during three visits and it is what I plan to do in June when I head over to Paris.

In Barcelona, my sister decided to give me her credit card and passport to put in my money belt. Good thing she did, as at dinner a very clever thief managed to steal her purse, which fortunately carried only her camera.

I always keep my passport in my moneybelt, along with my credit card. Once, in Germany, I cleverly had an extra credit card and a debit card stored in the hotel safe. I promptly forgot about them until I was about 200 miles away.

I've never had any difficulty with anything I've put in my money belt, which I keep under my clothes.

In more than 30 years of traveling I have never carried my passport around the city.
It was never stolen from hotels or apartments I stayed in.

Personally I don't think a moneybelt would be a target for a thief if it's hidden under one's clothing.

A copy (color) of your passport will suffice in most situations. Make a couple copies and carry one with you unless you know you will need the original for some reason - e.g. transaction at a bank. I have never been asked for my passport at an Internet cafe in Paris.
When I was a novice traveler I used a moneybelt, then graduated to the around the neck pouch, but found them to be more of a hassle than they are worth. Now I just use common sense, like not carrying valuables in a pocket that is easily picked.

Don't we have to keep ID on us at all time in the USA as well?
NEVER leave the house without my DMV ID card.

I have seen ohter posters who claim to have left their valuables etc in the hotel safe, so therefore they rather not use them anymore...

All I have to wonder is do they SLEEP with the money belt on so they don't forget it???? Too funny.

If you are absent minded with your valuables, then nothing will make any difference. Money belt or safe.

I would keep a copy of your passport on you, and hide the passport in your luggage in the apartment.

If your really afraid that your apartment will be broken in to and your items stolen then I would rethink the apartment you are staying in.

When I was in Italy I always kept some $$ in my pocket, some in my purse, and my Driver's license and one card in the zip up compartment of my purse - never had a problem. However, I would be MUCH more nervous if I did carry my passport around with me.

It's much more likely that you will lose, or have your passport stolen/taken while wandering around then from the maid at the apartment.

Have a great time!!

Does anyone know if actual passport is needed to get discount at Printemps or Galerie Lafayette in Paris.....or will photocopy suffice? Thanks!

In my experience, those two department stores have required the actual passport. However, that does not apply everywhere. Just in March, I took my photocopy around and had my detaxe papers done using the photo copy at a luggage boutique that I shop at in Paris. So, you never know, but at the big department stores I take the actual passport. Happy Travels!

Bozama...I think you'll find this interesting. Some decades ago, one of my closest friends who happens to be from England came to L.A. area and stayed with my parents and me. She wanted to go down to Mexico...Tijuana. So, I told her I'd drive her. About 20 minutes of driving, I asked if she had her passport on her and she said she'd left it at my house. So, I drove back home so that she could get it. I didn't need a passport being American so I didn't take mine.
Well, we got to TJ and as we were leaving to cross back into the U.S., she was waved through with a big smile and I was detained for quite a bit of time. Remember, she was the person who needed to have a passport not me.Plus, she really stood out in appearance. I, on the other hand, didn't stand out. The only difference was that she was White and I Black.
So, I just have my passport on me at all times now since I'm sick and tired of the hassles. Happy Travels!

Guenmai , yes, I admit, being black ( or any other visible minority, like try being middle eastern looking now, ) has you usaully pegged for extra questioning. I admit it ,but I don't think it is right, but, unfortunately that is just the way it is. If I was black I would carry my passport at all times, just because I do believe there is racial profiling.
I am not black, or young, or different looking, I look like a piece of white bread, and as such I know I am least likely to be hassled on the streets of Paris. I still am fully aware that in an airport random searches can and do occur so being white bread there is less advantageous.

I do want to comment again on the " locking the passport in the suitcase" line of reasoning. I don't get that. If someone breaks into your apartment they are there to steal, and a locked suitcase says" I have something valuable in me" . They will just take the whole suitcase, or go to apt kitchen, get a knife and pry open suitcase. Seems like a real false sence of security. I would hide passport myself,, and I have a list of places that are good and not obvious( crimminals know all about hiding it in the fridge or freezer, or in boxes of cereals or cookies,or under mattresses. You must think out of the box. I actaully have used duck tape and taped it underneath certain peices of furniture on past occaisons on some of our non Europe trips. We have rented cabins etc in resort areas for camping, and they never have safes, and I don't think anywhere is completely safe, so that was a solution I used on year. Beleive it or not, we lived in fear of being " stuck in the States and not being let back into Canada" , I bet some of you find that amusing,,