Travel Document Checklist: What to Keep in Your Passport Cover

Keeping your most important travel documents in one place saves time at check-in, security, and border control. Here is a practical checklist of what many travelers keep together, and what is better stored elsewhere.

Keep together in your passport cover

• Passport — check its expiry date well before you book. Some countries require a passport to be valid for a certain period beyond your stay.
• Boarding pass — printed or as a backup to the one on your phone.
• A payment card — ideally one that works abroad without high foreign transaction fees.
• A second form of ID, such as a national ID card or driver's license, if you have one.
• Visa or travel authorization details, if your destination requires them.
• A small amount of local currency for the first hours after arrival.

Better kept separately

• Copies of your passport and key documents — store a paper copy in a different bag and a digital copy somewhere secure. If your passport is lost, copies make the replacement process easier.
• A backup payment card, so that losing one wallet or cover does not leave you without access to money.
• Travel insurance details and emergency contacts — keep these in your phone and on paper.

Habits that make airport checks easier

• Put documents back in the same place every time, so you always know where they are.
• At passport control, be ready to take your passport out of its cover if an officer asks you to.
• Do not overfill your cover; a slim cover is easier to hand over and to put away quickly.

Check the official requirements

Entry rules, visa requirements, and passport validity rules differ by destination and nationality and can change. Before every trip, check the official government website of your destination and your airline's requirements.

Our full-grain leather passport cover has two interior compartments for a passport, cards, and small travel documents.