Hope this question is not too stupid, but where do you keep your travel tickets? Is the hotel safe the best place or do you carry them with you at all times like your passport?

P

I haven't used a paper ticket in several years but when I did, I kept it in the bottom of my suitcase, which I kept locked in the hotel room. There are probably better places, but this worked for me.

I never carry my passport, I lock it in my case or room safe if there is one. I always carry a photocopy

I always keep it in a ziploc with my passport in the bottom of my suitcase and locked in my hotel room.

I never carry my passport or tickets with me when sightseeing - though I do carry my driver's license, medical card and a copy of my passport in my purse.

I carry everything valuable with me - although agree I have not seen air tickets in years - so if anything happens to it I know immediately.

Also - you don;t want to forget things in the room safe - or open it and find out it wasn;t very safe.

Thanks for your replies.

By way of explanation, it is three years since I went to Europe. I went with my French teacher and 10 other people. The booking was made through a travell agent here in Australia and we were all given airtickets.

In August I am travelling again to Europe and I simply assumed that since I had booked with a travel agent I would be given tickets.

Can you help with another silly question. What happens without tickets?

P

I carry passport in my moneybelt on days I need to use it: such as purchases with credit card. Copy of the passport has been USELESS when merchants want an ID when using a credit card. I keep it in my hotel safe on the days I don't need it and keep a copy with me -- not to use it instead of passport -- but to simplify replacing the passport in case it gets stolen from the safe.

Most airlines now use e-ticketing. You'll have an email receipt with your reservation/ticket number or confirmation number instead of an actual paper ticket.

Just print it out and bring it with you. Sometimes travel agencies will give you an itinerary with all the information on it. Some will print out a thing that looks like a "paper ticket" but if you look at it closely it will say "e-tkt receipt" on it somewhere.

When you check in at the airport you just give them your copy of the confirmation email or that receipt. Lots of airlines will let you check in online from home and print out your boarding pass. Or you can use a self-check-in kiosk at the airport. You either type in your information or swipe a credit or ID card for identification. If you have luggage to check in, you then proceed to the luggage check in counter where they will put on the tags, and off you go!

You often cannot use these options if traveling internationally since they have to check your passport and visas before giving you a boarding pass. You're stuck standing in the airport line

I keep all confirmation emails in a yahoo email folder so I could retrieve it if necessary.

When we went to Egypt in Feb we still had some paper tickets. I made copies and kept them in the suitcase in case of loss and kept the real tickets, passports, backup credit card and extra cash in our room safe. Days we moved to a new hotel I kept them in my security pouch under my shirt.

Have fun in Europe.

Is there no one else on this board who has gone merrily on his or her way only to find, a hundred miles later, that he or she left a credit card and an ATM card in the hotel safe?

I have a "checklist" for surveying the room before we leave so we don't forget anything. I do it methodically, the same way at every hotel. They all have pretty much the same furnishings so it's become a habit.

I pack up as much as possible the night before so I'm not rushed. That's when I forget things.

I haven't left anything in a hotel for years.

My signature bad behavior is, sadly, losing my sunglasses everywhere. I just buy cheap ones now since I'm constantly replacing them. Have to go buy new ones tomorrow, though this time it's 'cause I stepped on them after they fell off my head. I was painting the trim on my house, and when I turned around to see where they had landed--crunch I really liked them, too. Little, cute, really dark. Hopefully Tar-jay will have some more.

some itineraries/airlines do still use paper tickets. If that is what you get then you lose - you've lost it.

I never leave my passport, or paper ticket when I have one, in my hotel room. An e-ticket is different of course - you can go to any internet cafe and print out another one.

But my passport and paper tickets are on me -- in my money belt.

Thanks again for your advice. I have checked with the travel agent and I will have an eticket details of which I will receive about two weeks before travelling. Apparently in Australia we only use eticketing now.

I can't wait to get going!!

&quot;<i>Apparently in Australia we only use eticketing now</i>&quot; Whether you have an e-ticket or not really doesn't depend on where you live. Some airlines/countries still use paper tickets and even if &quot;Oz only uses e-tickets&quot; - if you were to fly on one of them, you would have to have a paper ticket.

But since you are getting e-tickets for this trip, that is just sort of an FYI . . . .

Paper tickets are to be eliminated worldwide by May 2008 (deadline was originally end 2007).

Just personal experience, I found air lines don't even look at the 'eticket'. They want to look at the passport and ask where I'm going (if I joined the right queue?) and that's it! Although I do get a print out for my own use, but I hadn't been asked for 'eticket' for probably the last couple of years.

There is no &quot;eticket&quot; to look at except in the system. Printout of eticket receipt is not necessary for check-in but advisable in case of problems eg travel agent forgot to issue eticket.

Pegontheroad: I left my passport behind in the hotel safe - once! I was in Rome for a business meeting and upon check-in, had been asked to give my passport to the front desk (which made a copy and returned it to me the next time I came into the hotel). I put my passport into the safe, but for some reason I put it underneath my travel wallet instead of in it (I moved it later). When I checked out, I grabbed my travel wallet and palm pilot but left the passport in the safe, where it blended very nicely with the colour on the bottom of the safe.

Luckily, I was only moving from a hotel in the city to a hotel by the airport. (I had a very early flight the next day and I wanted to add a Hilton stay to my trip to improve my chances of retaining elite status for the year.) When I got to the Hilton, the front desk asked me for my passport. Oops! Luckily again, I called the first hotel and it had just been turned in by cleaning staff.

The only inconvenience was the time and cost of going back into the city and back out to the airport hotel on a very, very hot day in August.

I've never done it again. It helps now that when my husband and I travel, we each do an idiot check of the hotel room and each other's belongings before we leave.

Hi Pat,

&gt;What happens without tickets?

You stay home.

Almost everyone now uses e-tickets. You get an email with a confirmation code. That is all you need.

Thanks everyone, I am such a newbie at this but thanks to Fodorites I hope I am improving.

P

The point about a copy of the passport was not to serve as ID when using a credit card but to assist the local embassy or consular office in getting you home if your passport is stolen or lost. To me the original is safer in the hotel safe than ib your bag or bum bag where it could be pick pocketed or left behind in a bus, train, restaurant etc.