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.