Worst case scenerio- lost passport ?

You probably want to carry a photocopy of the information page of your passport AND a copy of your citizenship papers separate from where you keep your passport. This will make it easier to get a replacement. If you have to rely on someone back home sending them to you, it could take days.

If you don't want to carry the documents with you, you could scan them and email them to yourself. This way, if you need them, you just have to check your email and print them out.

Pat, a couple of years ago a friend of mine lost her passport when we were in Paris. It turned out to be an interesting and educational experience. We went to the Canadian Embassy on avenue Montaigne and if I am remembering correctly my friend only had to show Canadian ID (Medicare card, University faculty ID, etc.,) fill out some paper work, answer a raft of questions and then she was given a "laisser passer" to show at the airport to allow her on the plane home, but NOT a temporary passport, which I found surprising. The "laisser passer" was a small piece of paper much like a receipt for a purchase.

All of this took about two hours and was not unpleasant except for the Embassy employee who tended to her, who had a poisonous personality and about whom I wrote a letter of complaint to the Dept. of External Affairs when we got back to Canada. Her name was CHANTAL and I hope you never have the misfortune of meeting her.

I lost my passport in Paris on my very first. It's been many years so maybe things have changed. I went to CDG and could not find it. After looking everywhere I went to the Air France ticket counter and they called the American Embassy. When I spoke to the embassy they said oh it's 8 AM and you are already the 5th person who has lost their passport.
I guess it is pretty common. They took all my information and a half hour later faxed over some paperwork that I allowed me to fly home.
I have no idea where I lost it or if it was stolen.
I now carry it on my body in a money pouch and carry an addtional copy in my luggage.

I have a reoccurring dream, at least once every two weeks, that I am at an airport and either forgot or lost either my passport or a family members passport.

What does this mean?

I realize this is neither relevant to the post nor interesting.

Michael, it means that at least every two weeks you read a thread here about wearing moneybelts and where to carry passports. Maybe you should wear your moneybelt to bed to prevent bad dreams. It could double as a dreamcatcher.

Karen ,, LOL,, too funny.. yes,, I am problng that fear,, what is the worst case scenerio,, and for me personally, it would be a few days delay in my trip,, but I think for some there IS a real fear of not having their pp.. like they are actually losing their citizenship,, not just proof of citizenship.

Mine was stolen, along with $, other ID, ect in Paris prior to 2001, and it did take a day of running around to get the replacement. As an Amex card holder, got a quick replacement card and $500 cash to keep going on our vacation.
The big deal was losing a day of a 6 day trip, and having to skip one city (still had to pay for the room) and becoming particularly paranoid on that trip.
The worst case was when DD's college room-mate visited her during spring break, and they went clubbing in Rome--at the train station,room-mate LEAVES her luggage, purse to get a coffee and--when she walked back, it was gone! This happened on a Saturday of a three day Italian holiday. Phone calls, distraught other mom, didn't make it easy to get it sorted out, however, my rule with all my adult children was to give them an Amex card to use in just such an emergency--and they came through like the ads say--helped with the police reports, pointed them to the embassy(when it finally opened) and a cash advance for them to live on until they could take the train back to Nice.
If you want to be blase' about it, be my guest, but be prepared for the consequences, not only for you, but for the others that you will get suck into the process.

Jerry,, I am not being blase,, ha ha,, I have been to Europe many times and never been dumb enough to walk away from MY stuff,, and I leave my PP and extra cc in the hotel safes. I always get hotels with safes, ,and they have been safe..

I have also never gone to Europe for 6 days,, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of airfare and travel time for such a short visit. So perhaps for me,, losing one or two days out of several weeks doesn't seem as horrible, You do see the difference don't you,,since you cited those as your worst case scenerios,, not mine.

I also travel alone quite a bit, so not "sucking anyone in" to anything. When I travel with my kids,, I am as cautious as I always am, ,and with adult friends , hey , I tell them to watch their purses etc and they are on their own.

One of my employees lost his passport while traveling in North Africa. He had a much more complicated time returning to the USA. In the end, it took him nearly an extra week before he was back at work. Losing a passport in a high-alert security region could be much more a hassle than Western Europe.

A friend of mine's wife recently had her purse stolen in an internet cafe in Prague, with passport. She said the biggest hassle was that the US embassy was only open from 8:30 to 11:30 AM. On the plus side, once she got there the person ahead of her in line turned out to be from the same Chicago suburb, and she wound up with a new friend. (She said there were about 20 people in line that day with lost/stolen passports.) It cost her an extra day in Prague.

We lost a passport in the Philadelphia airport which had been amazingly returned within seconds to the US Airways desk 30 feet from where where we were standing. A friend did have her purse stolen from a restaurant in Paris, and it took her 2 1/2 days to resolve the problem. Her frustration with the red tape and uncaring attitude of the US Embassy eclipsed the theft itself.

A friend of mine got her passport stolen while we were in Barcelona (I still kick myself for not recognizing the scam) and she got it replaced within a day. While it was relatively quick and easy to get it replaced, losing just one day (for those of us who have very little vacation time) was enough for me to guard it like it was gold

My bad dream isn't that I've lost my passport, but that it's expired! Whenever my passport isn't current or is getting close to expiration I seem to always dream that I win a marvelous trip only to find out at the gate that my passport has expired!

I too was given that American Express Card by my Dad when I to Europe the first time. I was to use it in emergencies. The problem is that 19-year-olds don't always recognize an emergency when it's staring them in the face! ; )

I did have my passport stolen once, but thankfully it was here in the US and I had plenty of time to get a replacement.

Carrying copies of paper in separate locations does seem like the wisest approach. I wonder when they'll become digital.

Pam

We were at a conference in New Orleans where a colleague had his British passport stolen (along with computer & other stuff). He had to travel to Houston for the replacement, which wasn't easy without a passport!! To make matters worse this was on the Friday of a weekend where Monday was a holiday. This remains in my mind as my "bad dream" scenario.

keri,, why was it hard to travel from New Orleans to Houston,, I didn't think you needed one to travel around in STates?

Hi Pat, when my daughters and I were in London several years ago (1988) with my mother (they were 7 & 9) I lost all three passports. My daughters and I went out one morning while my mother stayed at the hotel. It was cold out so after a while the girls wanted to go back to the hotel with Nana. We went to the phone booth so I could call my mom and tell her that the girls were coming back to the hotel so she would be outside when the black taxi got there. For some reason and now I can't remember why, I didn't have the passports in the money belt. I had a passport wallet which held the passports and some money to had gotten that out to get money for the phone...I don't know how if it fell out of my bag or if I was pickpocketed..but they were gone. I realized they were gone when I went back to the hotel and was going to pay the taxi and I had no money. I reported it to the local police station then the girls and I went straight to the American Embassy. We were at the embassy had to fill out papers, get pics taken, then they closed for lunch and after lunch they issued new passports, total time about 3 hrs. The next morning the police called and it was found in Hyde Park, passports in it but of course the little bit of money I had in there was gone. So at least in London at the American Embassy it only takes several hours to get a replacement.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that American consulates no longer issue replacement passports. They will, however, give you a document that will get you home. A friend got her pp stolen in Dublin the day before departure. Not to worry. The police had a special department to deal with stolen pp's. They issued a document which took her onto her plane and through Immigration at JFK without a hitch. I suspect the procedure might vary, depending on the country and on whether you're in a big city or out in the country. How Canada deals with its passport losers is probably completely different.

Pat, The person who lost the passport in N.O. was British. He needed to get to Houston because there was no British embassy/consulate in N.O. How do you fly, rent a car, etc. without ID? That was his Catch-22.

Thank you posters who have posted about losing passports, it does seem that the loss of one, while definately inconvenient is not always the huge hassle people imagine it would be. I guess alot would depend on where one is when it is lost( small town with no embassy as opposed to larger city center) .. and how loss is timed during trip( while in transit or day of flight for example being least fun ) ..

I hope I never have to find out, but it really doesn't worry me too much,,I am more concerned about losing my ATM cards, as that I hear is alot more hassle!

He didn't have a drivers license?

Nancy, I don't think he had a DL, or maybe it was in the briefcase that was liberated.

Pat ,,,, your 5/15 post was most accurate. I've been to Europe 9 times. On one of the early trips my passport was stolen by a pickpocket in the departure area of Frankfurt airport. It was the last day of my trip. Due to all the hassle of packing and rushing the night before i didnt get much sleep. So,leaving my passport sticking out of my shirt pocket,i decided to take a short nap before the boarding announcement (i was an hours early).When i woke up i found the passport gone. At first i was panicked. But i went to my airline counter. They directed me to a room used by the German customs/police.They didnt ask many questions but in the interim, my flight to NY had departed. So in about an hour they walked me through some interior corridors to an Air Canada flight to Toronto(my baggage was on the first flight !!). I got the impression that they were relieved to see me leave? My ticket was altered, Frankfurt-Toronto-Los Angeles. In Toronto i was questioned by US customs.They asked where i lived, where i worked, some i dont recall,and, which still is suprizing to me: where i went to high school? It didnt take long. I suspect they called LosAngeles and verified my answers.After that, everything went smoothly. My baggage was even waiting for me in the LAX baggage area.

Worst case - you forget your passport on your connecting flight before you take off to Europe. I can speak with experience, I forgot it on the plane in the seat pocket (didn't realize it at the time). Luckily thanks flying on points which gave me an 8 hour layover, great flight attendents and probably the fact that I was flying exec, there was enough time to locate the passport, have it land in its next city, turn around and fly back to my airport where the pilot hand delivered it to me. I was lucky, but it could have been a disaster!

I lost mine in London in 2000. It was my first trip to Europe, I was 19 and naive...lol!! I wound up losing my whole money belt out with girlfriends at a pub one night. It had everything in it! I can't exactly remember how I had gotten another plane ticket, only that my father helped me out. The passport took half a day at the US Embassy. I can't remember the cost but I do remember being frustrated at wasting my time there.

Since then I have grown up, lol and became a huge fan of Rick Steves so I will be extra careful!!