Safeguard Travel, Money & Passports

Losing essential travel documents and money while you’re traveling is one of the most inconvenient things that could happen while you’re on holiday. After all, who wants to spend time in a consulate replacing a passport when you’d planned to spend that time on a beach?

Keeping your travel documents safe is also important for the protection of your information, too. Unfortunately, all too often these days people’s identities are just as worth stealing as their money.

Keeping essential travel documents safe

Here are a few basic tips that you should get in the habit of when traveling:

• Never carry too much money around. A good practice is to have most of your money on credit cards, bank cards or travellers cheques, because these can be cancelled if they are stolen. Just remember: all your eggs can be stolen if they’re in the same basket!
• While money belts can be a good way of carrying cash around safely, it’s also a well-known practice to a thief. Even if you have a money belt, make sure you leave travel documents and extra cash back in the hotel safe.
• Make sure you have two copies of all your travel documents (passports and air tickets) and traveller’s cheques – one for yourself and one with a reliable person back home. It’s important if you need to report them as stolen.

Beware of common scams

Scams are typically the easiest way to end up losing everything. Some scams to be aware of are:

• People posing as taxi drivers or hotel staff. All too often this can lead to not only theft of money, travel documents and credit cards, but also personal injury.
• People who pose as front desk staff and call you late at night to confirm credit card details. Never give your credit card number, just tell them you will confirm details in the morning in person.
• Scammers can sometimes work in groups. Spain, for instance, is widely known for scams that take place in tourist areas, where one person will have a large map and offer assistance, while another person pick pockets the traveller. Always remain alert, especially in known tourist areas.

In some countries it is not easy to use credit cards and travellers cheques, so you will need to carry more cash. Make sure you find out about the various ways you can purchase goods before you travel, and make sure you have enough of the local currency.