Lost Passport or Credit Cards: What to Do
Jul 15th, 2009, 06:07 AM
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Lost Passport or Credit Cards: What to Do
My column today touches on a topic that can cause a great deal of anxiety for any traveler: What to do if you lose your passport, money, or credit cards while on vacation in a foreign country. Here's a link: http://www.fodors.com/news/story_3486.html.
Has anything like this every happened to you? What did you do? How easy was it to get your passport and/or credit or ATM card replaced while overseas? How about insurance ... was that any help at all?
I think this could be a very useful thread for people, so I'd like to get a wide variety of experiences, both positive and negative.
Thanks.
Has anything like this every happened to you? What did you do? How easy was it to get your passport and/or credit or ATM card replaced while overseas? How about insurance ... was that any help at all?
I think this could be a very useful thread for people, so I'd like to get a wide variety of experiences, both positive and negative.
Thanks.
Jul 15th, 2009, 07:44 AM
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I keep a scanned copy of all my credit cards, front and back as well as my passports in a separate folder in a web mail account e.g. Yahoo or Gmail.
This served me very well when I lost my passport in Quito, Ecuador. Was able to bring it up at the American Embassy, on their computer and had my passport replaced with no trouble, except the photographs. Now I travel with extra photos taken in the USA.
This served me very well when I lost my passport in Quito, Ecuador. Was able to bring it up at the American Embassy, on their computer and had my passport replaced with no trouble, except the photographs. Now I travel with extra photos taken in the USA.
Jul 15th, 2009, 07:45 AM
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The one thing I would add is to contact your credit card company IMMEDIATELY after noticing that it/they have been lost or stolen. I know this seems self-evident, but some might wait even just a few hours to make sure it hasn't just been misplaced.
Most companies will put a 24 hr hold on the account. You can then call back at the end of that period and let them know whether it's been found or indeed is stolen, at which point you can cancel.
When my wallet was stolen in Athens last year (fortunately the cash wasn't in it and my passport was in another pocket - I always keep all three in different pockets/money belts), there was a slight chance I had left it or it had fallen out at our daughter's apt. Since we wouldn't get back to the apt until late that evening, I called the credit card companies and they put a hold on them. Turns out they weren't at the apt so I cancelled the next day. Good thing I had called - found out that less than 3 hrs after I put the hold on it, the thief tried to draw several hundred euros out of one of the accounts. Didn't work due to the hold that had been put on the account.
Otherwise, lots of good info in the article.
Most companies will put a 24 hr hold on the account. You can then call back at the end of that period and let them know whether it's been found or indeed is stolen, at which point you can cancel.
When my wallet was stolen in Athens last year (fortunately the cash wasn't in it and my passport was in another pocket - I always keep all three in different pockets/money belts), there was a slight chance I had left it or it had fallen out at our daughter's apt. Since we wouldn't get back to the apt until late that evening, I called the credit card companies and they put a hold on them. Turns out they weren't at the apt so I cancelled the next day. Good thing I had called - found out that less than 3 hrs after I put the hold on it, the thief tried to draw several hundred euros out of one of the accounts. Didn't work due to the hold that had been put on the account.
Otherwise, lots of good info in the article.
Jul 15th, 2009, 09:53 AM
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I see little risk in emailing copies of important documents. For me, risks are far outweighed by the benefits of having access to the information. You can easily make your scans safer by putting then in a password-protected Zip archive before emailing. But to be honest, I don't do that.
Jul 15th, 2009, 11:16 AM
#6
No that has never happened to me. I carry a spare copy of the front page of my passport, which I understand can help with having a new one issued.
If I lost my debit card, that's not a worry, because no one else has my pin and I always have secondary sources of funds.
If I lost cash, again not a problem because I have other stashes of cash, and other methods of getting more.
I only use a credit card for paying the hotel bill, it's locked in the safe, not carried on my person.
So while I might face losing one of these things, there's no way possible I could lose my passport, cash, debit card, and charge card all in the same incident. They're never all in the same place together.
If I lost my debit card, that's not a worry, because no one else has my pin and I always have secondary sources of funds.
If I lost cash, again not a problem because I have other stashes of cash, and other methods of getting more.
I only use a credit card for paying the hotel bill, it's locked in the safe, not carried on my person.
So while I might face losing one of these things, there's no way possible I could lose my passport, cash, debit card, and charge card all in the same incident. They're never all in the same place together.
Jul 15th, 2009, 02:38 PM
#7
I carry copies of the picture page of my passport (and visas if any), and both sides of my credit and ATM cards, and any plane and train tickets in a spare money belt, along with passport photos and extra cash (I usually have a third cash stash elsewhere). I did once call and put a hold on a credit card as my wallet was stolen (with just one day's cash and an expiring bus pass) and I couldn't remember whether I had CC receipts in it. A few days later I called back and took the hold off when it was clear it hadn't been compromised. I keep the actual passport and cards in a money belt either on me or in a hotel safe - never travel without it.
Note that if you're traveling abroad you need to make sure you know the non-800 phone numbers for your cards as 800 numbers won't work (I always have fun checking this with my bank, where the staff keep insisting I just need the 800 number!).
Note that if you're traveling abroad you need to make sure you know the non-800 phone numbers for your cards as 800 numbers won't work (I always have fun checking this with my bank, where the staff keep insisting I just need the 800 number!).
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