Why You Should Never Put Your Passport in Your Carry-on

Every time I head to the airport for an international flight, I constantly check to make sure my passport is where it's supposed to be — even if I haven't touched it since the last time I looked. As any frequent traveler knows, your passport is your lifeline when going abroad.

While most travelers do keep their passports on them at all times during the international travel process, there's one potential hiccup in the journey that you need to avoid — and it involves putting your passport in your carry-on suitcase. 

Travelers are typically allowed to bring a personal item and carry-on luggage with them in the airplane cabin (though basic economy tickets might only allow a personal item). While you might think it's a good idea to place your passport in a secure pocket of your carry-on suitcase where it's less likely to get lost, this could be a major mistake.

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The issue arises when a gate agent or flight attendant lets you know that you'll need to check your carry-on bag at the gate. In most cases, gate-checking happens when there's a full flight that won't have enough overhead bin space for everyone. Typically, gate agents will ask passengers to voluntarily gate-check before boarding begins, but if not enough bags are checked then, passengers in later boarding zones may be required to gate-check.

When you gate-check a carry-on backpack or suitcase, your bag will be tagged to your final destination, then brought by a member of the ground crew from the gate to the cargo hold of the plane. From that point, you won't be able to retrieve your bag until you reach the baggage claim. If you've put your passport in that bag, and you're traveling internationally, that means you probably won't have your passport on your person when you get to border control, which occurs before baggage claim at the airport. And if you don't have your passport, you probably won't be getting into the country.

"If you accidentally gate-check your bag and it has your passport in it, the best thing to do is approach an airline customer service representative at the gate where the plane arrived to inform them of what happened," Dan Bubb, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and former airline pilot, tells Travel + Leisure. In some cases, airport staff might be able to locate your bag and bring it to you for you to complete your immigration process. But you'd have to be somewhat lucky for that to happen. In many cases, there might not be anything the airport staff can do.

Another option would be to contact the embassy at your destination and hope they might help you find a solution, but since you won't be able to actually enter the country, that might prove difficult. According to Simple Flying, one passenger who lost their passport during a flight to Japan was presented with the option of applying for a special visa to enter the country without a passport. But, if granted, that would likely trigger extra security on all flights moving forward — not an ideal situation.

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More likely than not, if you show up at a border without a passport, you'd be turned away from the country and sent back on the first flight to your country of origin. And who knows when your gate-checked carry-on with your passport inside may follow.

If you accidentally gate-check your passport on your flight home from an international destination, that's somewhat of a different story. In that case, you may be able to work with border patrol officials to establish your identity and be let into your home country. But this is entirely up to the discretion of the agents. In any event, it'll certainly take some time, and it's not going to be a particularly pleasant process.

The bottom line: always, always, always keep your passport on your person or in your personal item — one that will never be gate-checked. And for the same reason, you should always keep pertinent travel documents like visas and vaccination records, as well as crucial medications or medical equipment, with you at all times.