Where have you lost your passport and did you get it back?

[ozmille]

Following on from Tae's passport adventure I was wondering where (and if) some of you might have lost/misplaced your passport and if it turned up in the end.

I'll start it of...

When arriving in Mexico I took a bus to Puebla. Hands full I placed my travel wallet in the overhead locker of the bus. Arriving in Puebla didn't remember and went on. A week later I had to get back to the airport so went to the same bus terminal and had to give my passport as form of ID. Off course passport nowhere to be found. Gave the guy my name and he said one second please... and he pulled up my travel wallet with passport! Happy ending but a very stressful 30 minutes going through all my bags in a bus terminal in Mexico. Haven't lost my passport since.

 

[QF WP]

I've never lost my passport, but at the moment, my Irish one is taking forever to be processed over in Dublin, so I may need to pick it up in London if it doesn't hurry up.

I'd have liked to have gone into Brazil (GRU) on my Australian passport in 2001, if I'd realised that the Colombian authorities had arrested ex-IRA cell members training insurgents there, within a couple of days of my arrival. The whole of South America was on alert. Needless to say, I got the full search treatment and questioned, therefore missed my connection to CNF. Not easy when I didn't speak the language and I had a Brazilian friend meeting my flight.

Thankfully, when I did front the ticket counter, one of them spoke english and they re-booked me on the next flight and alerted the airport authorities who made announcements and told my friend. Needless to say, the duty free alcohol that I had was a welcome addition to that FA's hand luggage home, along with a huge kiss of gratitude.

 

[anat0l]

Read [post=420775]this post (click me)[/post] for my gaffe. That was a rather heart pounding moment I'd rather not experience again....

 

[Timtammi]

Back in the 90's I was flying back to Aus from Toronto. I had just left behind a SO and was quite upset about leaving. I had stopped to make a phone call at a payphone that was in the main departure area of the airport from memory and had put down my passport/boarding pass while making the call. Somehow I got all the way to the entry to the aircraft on the airbridge and found not only did I not have my boarding pass but I did not have my pp either! The plane was getting ready to leave and the FA told me to run as fast as I could back to the phone area. Lucky for me it was exactly where I left it. Thinking back I have no memory of how/why I made it all that way through to the plane without those things but I guess this was pre 9-11. I made the plane and all was well, it gave me a hell of a fight though and I'm forever checking I have my pp now when I travel.

Cheers

 

[Ewing]

I am always very careful of my passport when travelling so have never actually misplaced it.

I did however have it stolen back in 2008 when my house was burgled. It was a bit worrying as I was scheduled to fly overseas in a few days, but fortunately being based in CBR I dropped into the DFAT building, paid some money and had it replaced within 24 hours (it was actually ready in 2 hours but I didn't pick it up until the next day).

 

[Blackadder]

Twice and thankfully recovered both times, once left behind on a US Airways flight at Charlotte, realised I had left it behind and advised teh gate agent who went to search for it.
Another time at Huntsville Int Airport, dropped somewhere and handed into to security agents there.

 

[Mal]

Left my passport at security screening (BNE Intl) when I was unpacking stuff etc etc.

Walked through and didn't realise until I went to check very soon after. Remembered where I'd come through, asked if they had found a passport and sure enough it had been handed in. PHEW!

 

[parsonstrish]

I lost it in dep. area JFK dec '10, on trip back to Oz, never found, very traumatic.:shock:

 

[grussellt]

Remember the warning to never hand over your passport and let it out of your sight? Well in the late 1960's all foreigners on a train from Plovdiv (Bulgaria) to the Turkish border were asked to hand over their passports to a railway attendant. He promptly disappeared and couldn't be found anywhere during a very slow, tedious journey. A very worried group of passengers were left standing on the platform at the final destination. Just as the train started to pull out the attendant re-appeared and deposited a box full of passports on the ground and waved as he left! Never again!

 

[Maca44]

Filled out departure card on the tables outside the door to customs at Sydney T1, went through to the customs and when in line realised I didn't have passport. Immediately went back outside and there was a guy looking around for me. That was the first time I have ever experienced anything like this, and with lesson learned will never happen again.

Also, even though not a lost passport, several years ago flying in F on UA from SYD-SFO my passport slipped down the gap between the window; had to wait a short time at SFO while the engineers retrieved it. Slight design defect as I was told it occurs occasionally.

 

[ozmille]

Remember the warning to never hand over your passport and let it out of your sight? Well in the late 1960's all foreigners on a train from Plovdiv (Bulgaria) to the Turkish border were asked to hand over their passports to a railway attendant. He promptly disappeared and couldn't be found anywhere during a very slow, tedious journey. A very worried group of passengers were left standing on the platform at the final destination. Just as the train started to pull out the attendant re-appeared and deposited a box full of passports on the ground and waved as he left! Never again!

A friend of mine took the Orient Express from Beijing to Moscow and the exact same thing happened. He was not impressed!

 

[kpc]

I have never lost / misplaced my passport as yet because:
1) It is the first thing I pack before I go OS.
2) I check at least 5x that I have it before I leave for the airport:shock::shock:
3) Sometimes, I ask the taxi to stop so that I can double check that it is still in my bag:idea::shock:
4) Between checkin and boarding the plane I check every 5 minutes as to the whereabouts of my passport
5) I check at least once, sometimes twice midflight that my passport is still in my bag.
6) I always place my passport back into my bag immediately after I pass through immigration at my destination.
7) I immediately place my passport in the hotel safe on arrival.
8) I never carry my passport for those countries where you have to carry photo ID. I either carry my drivers licence or a photocopy of my passport.

No, I don't have OCD!!:shock:.....what's the saying? "A man without a passport is a man without a country"

....am now crossing all my fingers, toes etc that I never lose my passport!

Now, I better check to see where my passport is as I have an OS trip in 2 weeks:shock:

 

[ozmille]

There was this funny clip on the Sydney Airport website about this a while ago... looking for it on youtube now

*found it*
http://www.easepft.com.au/

 

[Ewing]

I have never lost / misplaced my passport as yet because:
1) It is the first thing I pack before I go OS.
2) I check at least 5x that I have it before I leave for the airport:shock::shock:

I wish everyone did that.

Last October I took 6 other people with me to Fiji. One of the travellers took charge of 3 of the passports and naturally left them in the hotel safe.

After making the trek back to the hotel on Denarau, we ended up checking in for the flight back to Sydney while it was boarding. Fortunately we were all in J - I'm not sure if they would have allowed that if we were in Y

I always check that I have mine though. My passport number is easy to remember (think something like M9123123) so I never actually have to take it out to fill out the forms thus reducing that risk.

 

[kpc]

There was this funny clip on the Sydney Airport website about this a while ago... looking for it on youtube now

*found it*
PFT - The PFT Guide

I have "Obsessive Passport Disorder" , no Q about that!:shock:

 

[anat0l]

Remember the warning to never hand over your passport and let it out of your sight? Well in the late 1960's all foreigners on a train from Plovdiv (Bulgaria) to the Turkish border were asked to hand over their passports to a railway attendant. He promptly disappeared and couldn't be found anywhere during a very slow, tedious journey. A very worried group of passengers were left standing on the platform at the final destination. Just as the train started to pull out the attendant re-appeared and deposited a box full of passports on the ground and waved as he left! Never again!

We were traveling by bus on Eurolines from Amsterdam to Prague. When we just crossed the Czech border, the bus pulled over and a gentlemen (who didn't wear any official clothes) stepped on board demanding passports from everyone. He then got off the bus and walked a short distance away where there was a parked car which appeared to have some electronic equipment in the back seat as well as another pax.

Some of us braved the cold outside the have a cigarette, but I just got out to work out what the hell was going on. Were they genuine border control officers? Were they corrupt? Were they skimming all our personal details?

About ten minutes elapsed and then they handed all our passports back before we continued our journey to Prague. Since none of the officials - from the bus driver to the ones who "checked" our passports - could speak decent English, getting an explanation out of them was a lost cause. So I never thought of it again.

 

[ozmille]

I always check that I have mine though. My passport number is easy to remember (think something like M9123123) so I never actually have to take it out to fill out the forms thus reducing that risk.

Same here, not so easy to remember but had to fill it in so many times in the last couple of years that I know it by hard now. Very handy.

 

[openseat]

I left my passport on the bed as I was going off to Dulles airport to fly back to Sydney before my mother died. I was under a lot of stress at work to get things done before leaving and put the obvious emotional strain on top and I left it behind in my unit. I had deliberately left it on the bed so I wouldn't miss it along with my cabin bag.
But left it I did!
It wasn't til I got to Dulles that I realised what had happened when checking in. My friend was driving off at that point but luckily was caught in a snarl outside the terminal. We broke about every law, including driving down the breakdown lane on the Dulles Access road and route 66 as well as topping out at around 90mph.
Finally got back to the airport with minutes to spare - the AA people were wonderful as they knew about why I was flying back to Oz. They got me through security in record time and managed to schmooze the TSA supervisor who led me through. The gate agent was waiting for me and all went well with the door closing behind me. The purser was outstanding, really making sure everything was fine. I naturally wrote a profuse letter of commendation. AA actually do have some very good people as well as the occassional very ordinary staff.
I was basically catatonic from the stress on the IAD-LAX flight and then slept most of the flight LAX-SYD in Y, I think about 9 hours. First and only time I've fallen asleep on a plane while it was taxiing.

 

[Voyages]

Last year, security screening at LHR T5. From memory it was a BA flight to DXB.

Didn't realise I hadn't got it until I quickly checked before getting to the satellite terminal. It was a terrifying few minutes. Ran back praying/hoping and got it from one of the security desks. They then made an announcement asking passengers not to leave belongings behind after passing through security.

 

[Mal]

I have never lost / misplaced my passport as yet because:

But ... I know you have misplaced a boarding pass (and your QFF card) at least once in your flying history