Scanning Travel Documents as a Digital Backup: Passports, Tickets and Bookings
What to scan before a trip, how to store copies so you can reach them abroad, and how to keep them safe if your bag or phone is lost.
Losing a passport or bag abroad is stressful. A set of scanned documents, kept safely, makes replacing things faster and gives you proof of bookings when a phone dies or an email can't be found.
What to scan before you go
- Passport information page (and any visas)
- Visa approvals or e-visa documents
- Flight and train tickets
- Hotel and accommodation confirmations
- Travel insurance policy, with the emergency phone number
- Driving licence, and any international driving permit
- Vaccination or health certificates, if required
- Rental car booking
- Emergency contacts and your embassy's contact details
- Credit card details, kept in a secure form, such as lost-card phone numbers rather than full card numbers
Scanning tips
- Scan in colour, in good light, with all four corners visible.
- Check that numbers are sharp, especially passport and booking numbers.
- Combine booking confirmations into a single PDF by trip, in date order.
- Name the files clearly:
2026-11-Paris-Trip-Flights,2026-11-Paris-Trip-Hotel.
Where to store copies
Keep copies in more than one place, and not only on the phone you're travelling with:
- On your phone, in a folder available offline, since you may not have signal or data.
- In secure cloud storage, protected with a strong password and two-step verification.
- With a trusted person at home, who can send them if needed.
- Optionally, a printed copy in a separate bag from your passport.
Make them available offline
Before you leave, check that the files open without an internet connection. Roaming and airport Wi-Fi are unreliable.
Security precautions
Passport and ID scans are sensitive. Don't store them in a general photo gallery, don't send them over public Wi-Fi, and don't email them to unfamiliar addresses. Consider password-protecting the folder.
If something is lost
- Report a lost or stolen passport to the local police, and contact your embassy or consulate.
- A scanned copy of your passport speeds up replacement or emergency travel documents.
- Contact your bank to cancel lost cards.
- Use your insurer's helpline, and provide your policy details.
Tickets and QR codes
If your tickets are QR codes on your phone, save a PDF copy as well, and consider printing important ones, in case your battery dies.
Share with your travel companions
Share key bookings, such as accommodation and flights, with people you're travelling with, so that anyone can access them.
After the trip
Delete scans of documents you no longer need, such as one-time bookings. Keep a record of trips for expenses and insurance if necessary.
Checklist
- Passport, tickets, bookings and insurance scanned.
- Files stored on the phone, in the cloud and with a trusted person.
- Available offline.
- Stored securely.
- Emergency contacts noted.
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