bhbarr

We will be leaving for London and Paris in a few weeks and I was curious what other travelers would recommend we do with our passports. Should we carry them with us at all times or leave them in the hotel? I wasn't sure if we would need identification when we are touring or if we might need ID's if making a purchase?
Obviously, we will take them with us to Paris , but just day to day in London what do you all recommend??
Thanks!

adrienne

You'll get half the people saying they keep their passports with them and the other half keep them in the hotel safe.

You can bring a driver's license as ID or a copy of your passport with you during the day.

capxxx

You will find a lot of disagreement about that question on this board. My prediction: about half will say keep them on your person at all times (some will recommend an under-the-shirt passport holder); the other half will say keep them safe at the hotel (some will say in a safe).

It is always a good idea to take along a photocopy of the main page just in case it goes missing, so you can get your replacement from the embassy more quickly.

capxxx

Wow adrienne we must have the same psychic!

J62

The advice here on Fodors is usually split ~50:50 - keep on you at all cost, or leave in hotel.

There are those that will try to convince you that you're a fool if you leave it in your hotel, as it's likely to get stolen. And what if there's a major crisis and you need to leave the country in 15min, so it's far better to carry it on your person at all times in a steel belted money belt tucked under your clothes.

Then there are those that will try to convince you you're an idiot for carrying it around with you all day - the risk of losing it from your person is far greater than from your hotel room. They'll tell you to stop being so paranoid, and to relax and enjoy life.

There is no right answer - just the same old argument on both sides.

J62

3 for 3

Cholmondley_Warner

Unlike our continental friends there is requirement in the UK to carry ID.

Many of us don’t. The only times that I can see it being required is in changing large amounts of money (because of our money laundry laws all transactions over £500 should be recorded).

As to where to put them? Yankee passports have a substantial black market value, so thieves will want to nick them. So keep them in the safest place – they’re not called “safes” for nothing you know!

texasbookworm

Having been searched out in the Oxford Road Marks and Spenser by the extremely polite London police and queried about my picture-taking at the US Embassy, I was more than glad to have my passport with me (in a little bag thing I wear around my neck under my top). I think the "successful stop" souvenir paperwork was the result of, or at least expedited by, having the passport on my person. My husband also carries his with him overseas. We leave a photo copy in our luggage and in our email accounts for digital retrieval.

alan64

If our hotel has a safe, we keep it there. If it doesn't, I carry ours in an under-shirt pouch. We also travel with a couple photocopies as mentioned.

adrienne

I never stay in the posh hotels with safes so I lock mine in my suitcase.

capxxx - I guess we've both read all the previous posts with this question.

Dukey

Now we can have another "disagreement" as to whether or not only "posh" hotels have safes LOL

G_Hopper

I keep my passport with me - usually in a "money-belt" that is worn on my waist, wallet part on the back. In this I also keep a spare credit card or two, excess cash (you don't want to go into your money-belt every time you need cash). I do this because:
• I always know where it is.
• I usually don't stay at places with a safe.
• If I did make use of the hotel's safe, I would likely forget the passport and have to waist time backtracking to pick it up.

G_Hopper

Correction to the last bullet point: I would "waste" time as my passport wasn't around my "waist." ;-)

chartley

We are British and usually carry our passports with us. We have not yet been pickpocketed, nor had anything stolen from our hotel room. We have occasionally needed them, perhaps as a backup ID when using a credit card, and it's good to have them handy when booking into hotels.

The majority of British people have passports, so they have become the standard form of ID when doing things like opening a bank account, or carrying out some high value transaction. We don't think twice about letting someone make a copy for their records.

I don't think an out-of-country driving licence would be as acceptable a form of ID as a passport.

fmpden

A passport is the only thing that proves who you are and that you are legally in the country.

Cholmondley_Warner

A passport is the only thing that proves who you are and that you are legally in the country.>>>>

Not for us pesky yurpeens. We don't need them in other bits of yurp.

Michel_Paris

Keep in my pocket, inside leather holder. If I have paper airline tickets, also put in there. Never used a hotel safge

I've not used money belts in a long time. Maybe I've been lucky. If I have a zippered jacket or pant pocket, put stuff in there. Camera also goes into pocket.

I try to minimize obvious targets for a pickpocket, never travel with back pack or waist pouch (f. pack). If I were in the business of stealing, I would assume the good stuff is in there.

I've never been asked for my passport in my daily wanderings around London and Pairs. Customs and hotel.. sure.

Stefann

I always leave it in hotels in my luggage....I just don't want to loose it somewhere. But it probably depends where you go, sometimes if hotel does not look so safe just keep it with you or if streets look dodgy and too crowded maybe better to leave it at the hotel.

suec1

I would like to know - has anyone posting here ever had their passport stolen from their hotel room? - posh or not? I have been pickpocketed so you can guess which camp I am in. It feels a whole lot safer to have it in the hotel room, usually inside my luggage, than being toted around. I do usually carry my driver's license for ID purposes (in case of accident, I suppose).

Mimar

And beware of room safes. If you want to leave valuables in a safe, use the hotel safe. Room safes are vulnerable to employees, whether ex- or just opportunistic.