Copies of Passports,etc.

no need to carry a paper copy of your passport in a money belt;
leave it in the hotel as you carry your passport with you which is required by law in Italy

What about copies of your credit cards?? Would be concerned leaving them in the hotel unless you cut off all the names and expiration dates and just keep the phone number of the credit card company and the credit card number with you.

For my past few trips, I have emailed myself copies of all my documents and then if anything happens I have copies there. I also carry copies of my passport.. If you want to take full front and back copies of your credit cards, put all the copies on one piece of paper. That does not take up much room in your money belt.

But if you are that worried, take only the phone number and the credit card number. That is all you need to cancel them.

I make a list with the following info for each card:

Issuer/card name
Last 4 digits of card number
Telephone number for reporting loss/theft when out of the country

I have had cards stolen and I have (more often) lost cards. You do not need the entire card number when you call. You probably don't need any part of the number at all unless you happen to have two cards from the same issuer. They'll ask for identifying information (like social security number) along with your name, then they'll cancel the card. Although the risk of traveling with copies of credit cards is very low, it is not zero, and it has no purpose that I am aware of.

I lock up extra credit cards and ATM cards inside my suitcase rather than using a money belt on days when I'm not relocating. I do the same with excess cash I've gotten from ATMs--anything beyond what I expect to need each day. It's typically not more than 200 euros, and I have no hesitancy about leaving it in a locked suitcase.

This topic comes up over and over again. For more points of view, check for earlier threads. I know there was one within the last 4 weeks or so.

I scan all my important documents and put them in a Dropbox file, which I can, in case of need, locate by using any computer.

I keep a backup file with credit card data and telephone numbers to cancel them, as well as access data to bank accounts. The file is on my laptop but it could be on dropbox or google drive as well.
The important detail is that the file is encrypted so if my laptop is stolen - or google drive account hacked - it cannot be accessed. Nowhere on the laptop there is a copy of the access password.

On a mac os computer encrypting such a file is easy and does not require any extra software: you just create with disk utility a .dmg file protected by a password that you use like a virtual drive to store sensitive files. When you close the file - in the same way like expelling an external drive - you are left with a single .dmg file that cannot be opened without the password.

I choose to risk "time in jail" by NEVER carrying my passport, except in authoritarian countries! I'm in Italy right now, and have presented a printout of my passport, repeatedly, to non-government sights that want to verify who I am. I've gotten occasional Elderly discounts, and have used it as an audioguide "deposit." The relief of the audioguide clerks that I had something other than a physical passport or credit card (i.e. Making them vulnerable to loss or security breach) was visible. Every time I entered the Venice Biennale, I used my printout, which shows my face quite intelligibly.

Of course (changing countries), if I were going to Sainte Chapelle, which requires airport style security to enter the courthouse compound, I would take my passport. I took it to the Budestag tour in Berlin last month.

Whatever method you use, note that you should keep a copy of the non-800 phone number to report a lost card. Calling an 800-phone number from a cell phone will probably not work.

I'm with Tim and keep the original locked up in the hotel (either room safe or hotel safe) and carry a paper copy of my passport with me when out and about. I've also, on the last few trips we've been on, home or abroad, loaded scans of my personal documents like passports, driving licences, pre-printed boarding passes and copies of the trip dossier/information/itinerary etc., onto a USB stick which can be secreted away safely somewhere. On my most recent trip my friend loaded similar information onto his smartphone. (I'll do this, as a confirmed Luddite, when I can figure out how best to do it!).

I also have paper backup for all the above obviously, which is stowed either in a hotel safe or in the bottom of my backpack away from prying eyes. This all may seem a bit 'over the top' but I believe it's better to have the options as by sod's law, you'll need them only when you don't have them!

Ian

There's a photocopy of my driver's license in each bag I travel with. I want TSA to immediately know who I am when they decide to open my luggage. I also leave them a love note, which provides instruction on how I want my bag re-packed when they're done sifting through my things. (I'm dead serious.)

I hide one copy of my passport in one of my checked bags. It's easy. You'd have to tear the bag apart to find it, and so far, nobody has.

The credit cards I travel with are the only numbers I carry, just in case one of them disappears. I have lost cards before while traveling. I write the card numbers and the CVV number backwards for each card. I have code initials for bank names. I carry this information with me at all times in a small notebook that does not have my name on it, which I use to write fastidious travel notes. In 30+ years of travel, I may have lost a wallet or two, but I've never lost my notebooks. They're more important to me than some old plastic credit card.

I keep valuables in my luggage all the time when I travel. I never travel without electronic equipment, rarely valued at under $10,000. My luggage is locked when I leave my hotel room, but I almost never put away my laptop and my 1T hard drives. I'm too lazy to dismantle my digital workstation each time I leave my room. I have insurance. Even so, I don't stay in hostels and I don't travel to questionable locations. I've never felt unsafe in my favorite boutique hotels, and I never worry much about theft from my hotel room. Every room has a safety deposit box. Most hotels have one at the reception desk, too.

Here's a story I've written about before: I left 600€ in my safety room box in Florence once after checking out. My housekeeper discovered the locked box and ran out to me at the taxi in the street to tell me my room box was still locked. I love traveling to Italy because most people I meet are honest and caring. I know many angels there.

I can't answer your credit cards but having copies of your passport stashed in your bags can be very important. When my wife lost her passport earlier this year, the copies in our luggage made the process of getting a replacement relatively easy. We lost a few hours but, according to the folks at the consulate, was nothing compared to how long it would have taken without those copies.

Copying your credit cards is a bad idea!! A credit card number and expiration date is as valuable as the actual card - so you now have 2 things to worry about being lost or stolen.

All you need is the international phone number for your card. If your card is lost, call that number and after going through security questions to identify you, you can cancel your card. No card number needed, the card issuer has all that.

If you do online banking you can log in and get your info that way. Or just keep a list of the phone numbers for the card. I keep mine electronically (cloud based so I can get it anywhere) because it has no value to a hacker. It just says things like Citibank phone - 123.456
You can certainly have a paper list instead. Doesn't matter where you keep it.

I carry a copy of my passport and driver's license; my travel partner does the same so we each have a back-up of a back-up! Once checked into the hotel, we leave ours in the hotel safe and just carry around the copies. If there's no safe, I'd just carry the passport and leave the copies in my bag.

I think it's a great tip to have the scanned documents in dropbox also. Maybe even take a picture with your phone if you'll be bringing it with you.

About passport replacement: Mine was stolen while I was in transit, and I went to the nearest US Consulate (Napoli) after closing hours, was let in due to this being considered an emergency, and the entire process (including the agent taking the photo) took less than an hour before I had a new, temporary passport in my hands.

I don't believe that copies of your passport actually speed up the process, since all the passport info is stored in the State Dept's computers.

Zoe,

That was a quick process for you and it was nice of them to do this after hours.

I agree that it doesn't seem to serve any purpose to carry a Passport copy with you since the State Department has a copy in their computer anyway. Before when you had your physical photograph attached into your Passport, it probably did help to copy it to have the copy to show specifically for the picture part. But I still have a copy in my bag when I travel anyway.

Zoe,
I'm sure you're right. I'm merely reporting what the folks at the Florence Consulate told my wife at the time.

I have a photocopy of my passport zipped into the lining of my suitcase.
I also carry photocopies of important stuff that I may need - just in case.(usually in my money belt and in the past have taken pix with my camera....but re-thinking that incase I lose my camera.....
What do you think???

Jeff, not contradicting you, just adding another dimension. It was stressful enough taking only an hour!