momofkhm Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I don't know where else to ask this. I'm looking for a something to hold up to 4 passports. When I search on "passport holder", I get things that hold one. "Family passport holder" brings up the same stuff. "holder for multiple passports" brings up backpacks. Or something that will be small and easy to find in my purse. I hope to carry something smaller than my normal one which has a pocket that will hold my ipad 2. (Read old and big!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Unless some of the passports are for very young children, I believe this is an extremely bad idea. These things should be divided among the travelers. If you lose 1 passport, it will be a PITA. If you lose 4 passports, it will be much worse. I have a small "Security" pocket made and sewn into the inside of my pants. Women wouldn't do that, but they sell Travel Pouches that can go around your neck or fit under your belts that do the same job. Again, I suggest, strongly, that each individual traveler above the age of 12 has his/her own passport in their possession at all times. Put your credit cards, most of your money, etc., into the Security pocket. Keep a very low profile and never hand your passport to anyone except an airline person at the check in or an Immigration official. Sometimes, checking into a hotel, they will want to look at your passport. The key words are look at. Never allow your passport or credit cards to be out of your sight. After checking into a hotel, put *everything* you do not need into the hotel safe deposit box. If not in your room, near the front desk. You may need to carry your passports with you, at all times, depending on the country you are visiting and their local laws. Have a safe trip and enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I would find a local seamstress or one on etsy and ask them to sew you one. It wouldn't be hard to make a folio-style item with two pockets on each side, and a basic tab closure. Or you could have them make a little zippered bag of the appropriate size, with a tad extra room to slip in folded boarding passes, a list of phone numbers, your itinerary, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I used to use a ziploc bag. Not very pretty, but it worked. A tip: I put sticky labels on the back of each passport (we travelled with seven documents) with the name of the holder. It made sorting much quicker at passport control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Try Bagallini -- they have a whole range of very lightweight camping-sturdy nylon loads-of-pockets wallets and purses. I have one quite close to this one that I got years ago at TJ Maxx. I love it. One exterior pocket is just right for 4-5 passports and -- critically! -- another exterior pocket is just right for my phone, so I don't have to open up the Great Vortex of the main section. It crosses across the torso (a bit more secure than flopping off my arm) and is small enough to wear under a jacket. It's also small and light enough that I can jam the whole thing into my backpack once I'm on a plane so I don't have to keep track of two separate items. If you have a TJ Maxx near you, they seem regularly to have Bagallini line items, so you can check them out first. ETA - just saw Laura's post -- I have little colored stickers on the back of the passports so I know whose is whose, for rapid sorting against the boarding passes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Amazon sells a RFID shielded one that holds 4 passports. I am on my phone and don't know how to link it, but they are out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 We just use a small pouch with a string that can go around someone's neck. Either dh or I carries it and tucks it under our clothes. Personally, I think it's best to keep the family's passports together. It really isn't any less of a hassle to lose one than to lose all of them (the embassy/consulate that's helping you likely deals with many lost passports and can take care of a family), and having each family member carrying her own just increases the chance of one disappearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I like this one from etsy, but searching "family passport" brings up lots of choices. That said, when I travel, I'm like Lanny - I put my passport(s) in a zippered cloth bag I wear under my clothes, along with a credit card, ID, some cash, and a list of important phone numbers. I've made several of these bags; they are super-easy and make up quickly. I can wear the bag outside my clothes for the first part of the journey, then tuck it away after I've gone through ticketing and screening. Plus, if it's attached to me, I can't misplace it or leave it behind somewhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I just use a regular cross-body purse that holds *just* our passports and travel docs and a pen for filling out customs forms. Then I have my regular purse/carry-on during the flight. I wear the cross body bag over my clothes, but under my sweater/jacket. I also do the dots/stickers with initials on the back of each passport for sorting purposes at boarding, etc. We make copies of the ID pages that we carry in a separate location, and usually will leave the actual passport in the safe at the hotel and carry the copies (you can get the copies notarized if need be). Usually this is sufficient in most places, especially if you also carry your actual US driver's license as well. We've never had issues this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 We fly a lot in the US and my kids use their passports as identification. I put them in ziplock bag or a small nylon zippered pouch that fits in my purse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltop Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 We have one from LL Bean that holds 5. It isn't designed to hold multiple passports, but it does the job well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I stuff them in a pocket of my carry-on. Unless I am very nervous about theft, in which case I would put them in a cloth bag under my clothes. I agree, I would rather each person carry his/her own passport unless s/he is too young/irresponsible to be physically separated from the parent. I do still carry my 8yos' passports, because they are not responsible enough to be in charge of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I posted above--it's a pac safe wallet... Normally I just wear a waist belt as well. You can use aluminum foil to wrap your stuff to protect it from RF if you have a security concern about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I put them around each child's neck, with instructions to keep them under their shirt unless they needed to show them to someone official. For some reason, I was afraid not to have the child have his or her own passport. Thinking about this now, I suppose I thought that if something really bad happened, it might make it worse for the child and the passport to be together, but the possibility of something small happening, like losing one in a crowd, seemed much more likely, in which case having the passport on the child seemed safer. I suppose in the back of my mind, I thought a child with documents was less likely to be "lost" for long. I suppose I also had in mind the idea that if something happened to us, the parents, the child better have his passport. I have no idea if this was really a good thing or not. I kept the youngest's with mine when he was very small and made sure we stayed together when traveling. We've only traveled in relatively safe Europe and Canada and the US, though, and my children used their passports whenever they needed an id (not having any other) so we were used to giving it to them to carry. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm with Lanny. I don't carry passports in my purse or shoulder bag. Too easy to have the strap slit and the bag gone in crowds. With little kids, I would carry them in a separate bag with the strap under my shirt. With teens and young adults, I would have them carry their own in a round-the-neck pouch or bag like mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 When I am in iffy situations, I carry my carry-on (a backpack) over both shoulders, with the bag part in front where I can hold onto it. I will move my most valuable items to my front jeans pockets if I feel more insecure than usual. (Only because I always forget to pack the inside waist thingy.) I have "passport cards" as well as passports, and I carry these in my wallet in my jeans (front pocket in iffy places). I know it's not the same as having the passport, but at least it should be helpful if I lost the passport and needed to go get help from the embassy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm interested that so many of you have everyone carry her own passport. I have a lot of expat friends who travel very often, sometimes with stacks of passports (both diplomatic and regular, depending on what type of expat they are) and everyone keeps all the passports together with copies of the passports in a separate place. I'm not saying that it's wrong to hand them out, I just hadn't heard of people doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm interested that so many of you have everyone carry her own passport. I have a lot of expat friends who travel very often, sometimes with stacks of passports (both diplomatic and regular, depending on what type of expat they are) and everyone keeps all the passports together with copies of the passports in a separate place. I'm not saying that it's wrong to hand them out, I just hadn't heard of people doing that. We kept all of them together. We once did lose seven passports in one go (left in a taxi - my fault) but getting seven new ones was little harder than getting two new ones (one from each country). Meanwhile, I think that keeping them all together over many years of travelling reduced the likelihood of any of them getting lost: they were bulky and we therefore noticed their presence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I travel with my passport in a light canvas bag, which I wear hung around my neck under my clothing, depending on what I am doing. A purse is a thief magnet and the last place I'd put my passport. When my son stayed with a friend in South America for a month, his passport went into a very secure locked safe at the residence, and carried a color copy with him at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb in NZ Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Like Laura, we use a ziplock bag for our passports when our children were small. We have 9 passports for the 5 of us. I put our NZ passports in a ziplock bag & our US passports in another ziplock bag. Both bags go in to a 3rd bag that is stored with our tickets, etc. in my boarding bag. I only take out our passports when we need to show them to immigration. I have a card that I keep in my bag with all our passport info on it that I use to fill in immigration documents on the plane. Now that my dc are older, everyone carries their own passports during transit, but they all get returned to our ziplock bags when we return home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 We bought a regular passport holder and have used it to hold up to four passports at a time. My husband carried his and three more for children who couldn't be responsible for their own. I held my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 An over-the-neck passport holder will hold multiple passports. We have had four passports, plane tickets, rail tickets, some $, and credit cards all in one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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