The short answer
For an international trip, carry a passport that meets your destination's validity rules, any visa or electronic travel authorisation, your travel insurance details, your boarding passes and booking confirmations, and a bank card plus a backup. Add a driving licence and, where required, an International Driving Permit if you'll drive; a consent letter for children travelling without both parents; and copies of the important ones kept separately.
A travel document is anything an official, an airline or a desk might ask to see. Some are needed to cross a border, some to board, some only if something goes wrong. This list covers them all; tick off what applies to your trip, and it'll be remembered on this device.
To cross the border
- Passport for every traveller, meeting the destination's validity rule (some want six months left after you arrive). Check the rule.
- Visa, if your nationality needs one for the destination or a transit country.
- Electronic travel authorisation, such as the US ESTA, Canada's eTA or the UK's ETA, applied for on the official government website.
- Proof of onward travel (your return flight), which some countries ask to see on arrival.
- Accommodation address, for arrival forms and border questions.
To board and check in
- Boarding passes for every leg and every traveller, saved to your phone so they open offline. (Do you need to print them?)
- Booking confirmations for flights, hotels, car hire and transfers, with their references.
- Rail passes and tickets for any train journeys.
Health and insurance
- Travel insurance policy number and the 24-hour emergency assistance phone number.
- Health cover card where one applies, such as a UK GHIC for state healthcare in the EU.
- Vaccination certificates, if your destination or route requires one.
- Prescriptions or a doctor's letter for any controlled or injectable medicines.
If you'll drive
- Driving licence, in date, for everyone who'll drive.
- International Driving Permit, where the destination requires one alongside your licence (Japan does, for example).
- Car hire voucher and the credit card in the main driver's name, which many desks require for the deposit.
For children
- Each child's own passport, checked separately: they usually last only five years.
- A consent letter from any parent who isn't travelling, with their contact details.
- A birth certificate copy if a child's surname differs from the adult they're travelling with.
Money
- A main bank card that's good for spending abroad.
- A backup card, kept somewhere separate from the first.
- A little local cash for the first taxi, tip or snack.
Copies, kept separately
- A copy of each passport's photo page, on paper and somewhere locked on your phone. See how to keep one safely.
- Emergency contacts: your embassy, your insurer, your bank's lost-card line, someone at home.
- A one-page itinerary with addresses and references, left with someone at home too. Our printable template does this in a few minutes.
Pets
Taking a pet abroad brings its own documents (a pet passport or health certificate, microchip and rabies records), with rules that vary by country and change with where you're coming from. Start with your government's pet travel guidance months ahead, not weeks.
Paper, phone, or both?
Keep the originals you'll be asked for (passports, licences) in one pouch held by one person. Keep everything else on your phone, saved to work offline, and a paper copy of the critical ones in a separate bag. If the phone, the pouch or the bag goes missing, you've still got two out of three.
Questions people ask
What documents do I need to travel abroad?
A valid passport that meets the destination's rules, any visa or electronic travel authorisation required, travel insurance details, boarding passes and booking confirmations, and a bank card. Add a driving licence and International Driving Permit if you'll drive, and consent letters for children travelling without both parents.
Do I need to carry my passport at all times abroad?
Some countries require you to carry ID, and many hotels ask for it at check-in. Elsewhere, many travellers leave the passport in the hotel safe and carry a copy. Check the advice for your destination.
What is an electronic travel authorisation?
A permission to travel that you apply for online before the trip, for countries you can visit without a visa. Examples include the US ESTA, Canada's eTA and the UK's ETA. Apply only through the official government website.
Should I keep digital copies of my travel documents?
Yes, of the important ones, stored somewhere locked on your phone rather than in your photos or email, plus a paper copy kept apart from the originals.
