Important Travel Documents

In case of emergency, the items listed below may prove most helpful:

 

• A copy of your passport showing the photo page, (please be advised, that it is against federal law to reproduce a color copy of your passport) or list your passport number and issuing location.
  • We suggest 1 copy for each hotel you have booked.  Hotel staff must report passport numbers to authorities each day for all checked in guests.  They will ask to hold your passport to log in the numbers.  They may be careless with your passport, so be safe-- give them the photocopy instead.
• Send yourself an email that lists all credit card numbers with 800 telephone # to report their loss or theft and your passport numbers. Remember if you don't have the number it can take a VERY long time to get the credit card company to find your account and help you. 
  • Then save that email to a special folder
  • If a situation occurs, then you can go to an internet cafe or access the web from your hotel.  Login to your email and locate the saved message in the folder.  Then you will have all of the data you need to report the loss
  • Some clients have reported success in scanning their passports and emailing the scan to themselves to reprint copies when needed.
• A copy of your valid driver’s license.  A color copy works best.
  • Your destination may require an international drivers license.  Your CTL agent will advise you if this is needed and the steps to obtain one.  The International drivers license is a document that translates in 12 languages your current license’s restrictions and permissions.
• If recently married, please take a copy of your birth and marriage certificate, when traveling under your maiden name.
• List of all Travelers Check numbers and how to report their loss or theft. (email this to yourself as a backup as well)
• Your health insurance ID and/or a copy of the front page of your health insurance policy, with claim office phone number.
• Copy of your itinerary and our agency phone number.
• Copy of your airline tickets, car, hotel and tour vouchers.  Your destination booklet prepared by your Court Travel agent will have copies and confirmations of all items we have confirmed on your behalf.
• Phone numbers of contacts at your destination and emergency phone numbers in the US.
• Don't send postcards!  They are too expensive and by the time you find a stamp you've left the country!  Send family and friends emails to stay in touch.  Don't forget email addresses for use in internet cafes!
• We advise placing the above mentioned items in either a ziplock bag or manila envelope in an unused pocket of your suitcase.

 

A Word About Your Passports

Thousands of passports are stolen each year and many more are lost. Black market sales of American passports in Asia and Latin America are unbelievable. Here are the steps to take when your passport is stolen or missing.

 

• Notify the police of the country in which you are traveling. At the moment you are without your passport you are in that country illegally.
• Get a copy of the police report and take it to the local office of your country's consulate. Do not waste time by going to the embassy; it is your consulate that will issue a replacement passport.
• Provide the consulate with your passport number, it will frequently take 3-4 business days before the consulate receives a reply from the US and sometimes even longer if you do not have this number. With the number and some other form of ID such as a birth certificate you can usually have a replacement the same day. Have a B&W copy of the face page of your passport made. This can facilitate the replacement process.
•  When your passport has been prepared you must again provide 2 photos of yourself. 

 

A little precaution can prevent a lot of inconvenience. Keep your passport and travel documents with you at all times and avoid displaying them in public.