The Worst Place To Put Your Passport While At The Airport
Nothing halts a trip like a missing passport. To avoid losing this travel essential, many fliers will double and even triple check their pockets and luggage for the document before they reach security and probably check all over again once they are in the departure lounge. Neurotic, perhaps, but preparedness doesn't hurt — just like how it doesn't hurt to renew your passport months before it expires or travel with extra passport photos.
What can inadvertently cause trouble, however, is putting your passport in your carry-on luggage. If an airline puts passengers' carry-on luggage into the hold owing to space constraints, travelers may volunteer to gate-check their bags, forgetting their passport is inside. When flying internationally, baggage claim normally comes after border security, where you absolutely do not want to be without your passport. So, to avoid difficulties, delays, and even deportation, choose a different spot to store your international ID.
Keep your passport on your person
In general, it is best to keep your passport on your person, even if it feels a bit bulky in your pocket. Most jackets should have pockets large enough to accommodate passports, especially interior pockets, which offer added security. Better yet, keep your passport and other important documents in a designated passport cover or case that can slide into your interior jacket pocket. This is the most reliable way to ensure your passport and other important documents — including boarding passes, visas, and credit cards, for example — are safe and accessible when you need to present them.
In addition to a passport wallet, consider carrying photocopies of your travel documents. Many hotels, Airbnbs, and other accommodations ask for passport details during check-in, and a photocopy can serve this purpose without requiring you to hand over the original passport book. Again, a little bit of preparedness goes a long way. Once you've got a plan and followed it a couple of times, you'll know the rhythm and find air travel a breeze.