Passport Hostages?

Italy requires passports be registered when checking in at hotels. At two hotels, the desk clerk simply recorded the information and returned the passport on the spot. At the other hotel, a group of us were gathering for the RS tour. The desk clerk collected all of our passports (4 or 5), recorded them while we hung out in the lounge a little ways away, then returned them.

What Steven has described is both a scam (demanding money to return them) and probably a bit of a ghost story to frighten new travelers. Not to say it's never happened, but it's unlikley. I've never been asked for my passport on an Italian train, only to see the train ticket. The only train official who ever asked for my passport was right here in the USA (coming back from Canada).

Hi Steven,

I took a few night trains in Europe this past summer, and all of them started and ended within the common EU border. There was only one occasion where everyone was asked to show their passports, and that was from Switzerland to Italy as Switzerland is not technically in the common EU border. On my trips from Vienna to Prague, Prague to Frankfurt, and even Venice to Paris, I did not have to show my passport let alone hand it over to the attendant. Certainly it would not be normal for someone to insist that you pay before giving you your passport back.

Perhaps this might happen where you did not have the sufficient rail pass or ticket to cover your journey. Often you do need to hand your rail pass/train ticket and night train reservation over to the night train attendant for the night. The attendant then shows these to the conductor (not on all trains - on some the conductor comes by and sees you). If the conductor determins that you did not have the proper fare, you will probably have to pay the extra balance before being let off. For example, if you have a rail pass that covers Germany, Switzerland, and Italy but not Austria, and you take a night train from Venice to Frankfurt, you will end up going through Austria and you probably would not have realized it. The result would be that you will be forced to pay for the duration of the trip through Austria.

That is the only exception I can think of, though. As I said, I took a nubmer of night trains and never had one problem along the way. I hope you have the same experience!

"I've read some stories" is a telling line.

Don't worry Steven, first of all you don't need to give anyone your passport. You may have to show it at boarding but I do not recall any conductors asking for it ,, perhaps these" stories" you heard were from a long time ago , before the Europeon Unions open borders.

Just so you know, hotels will ask to see passport and may ask to keep it overnight so they can do the paperwork. Hotels are required by law in many countries to record the PP information of foriegn guests. If they are not busy the desk clerks may do it right at check in and give it back to you, but sometimes they keep it a few hours or till they are not busy and record everyones at once. It is not a scam or trick, it is the law they have the information.

I had to show mine on an overnight train going from Prague to Frankfurt before the Czech republic was part of the EU (is it different now that they are?). The worst part was getting woken up in the middle of the night. They just checked the passports and gave them back to us. But I have read stories in the past about people impersonating officials and stealing passports.

In over twenty years of traveling in Europe, I have had to "give up" my passport only once, that on a night train in 1987 when we were crossing a border in the middle of the night.

I was asked to show my credit card to use a Dauer-Spezial ticket last November in Germany, but not my passport.

The last time I used a railpass in Europe (2000), they looked at my passport to confirm my ID when I validated it.

In almost 40 accommodations in Germany, they have never once even asked to see my passport, let alone take it.

Piggybacking on what Lee mentioned.

In Germany you may not have to show your passport but that is not true for many, many places in the rest of Europe. From Macedonia to Estonia, Bulgaria to Portugal, almost always I have been asked for a passport when checking into a hotel. Sometimes they keep it overnight sometimes not. It isn't really a big deal.

Even in London, I have been asked for a passport everytime I checked into a new hotel. If returning to a hotel, they normally already have my details and will therefore not ask for a passport.

I am not sure about the rest of Europe, but we had our passports taken from us on our night train from Milan to Paris last October (along with everyone else's in the cabin). Us being the only North Americans in the cabin got it back after having to pay him 25 Euro and he gave us a hand written receipt on the yellow part of a carbon paper (not the original sheet) after we had mentioned "bribe" to him.

The Italian nationals in our cabin said this was fairly common and the conductor was a jackass.

All in all, do I care that I lost 25 Euro? Not really, but the point is that this can happen.

Jon, you never asked what the fee was for?? You just gave him money and you don't know why?? I guess they just count on people not questioning them , or in just accepting some lame quickly barked response. What a shame.

Pat:

I know exactly what the money was for, to get our passports back.

He didn't speak English. As well, the other occupants in the cabin concurred that it was a bribe.

Pay some dude 35 Euro and be done with it, or get into an argument? Big deal, I chalk it up to being part of the experience. There are douche bags wherever you go and I am not going to let one ruin my trip.

Bribery unfortunately makes the world go round. My wife and in-laws have many experiences with this from their time in Saudi and Africa. Sometimes you can't even get your boarding passes (or even in the airport) without slipping someone cash.

On night trains this past summer, I was asked for my passport each night when showing my rail pass. One of the nights, they just looked at each and then handed them back. For all the other nights, they kept both my pass and my passport and didn't give them back until the following morning. It did feel weird to not have my passport, but they were always pleasant and gave it back the next morning. I never asked to give a copy. However, I was able to give a passport/visa copy at a hostel instead of the original & they didn't mind.