Traveler’s Nightmare: Lost My Passport In Salzburg

My wife and I had dreamt of Christmas in Salzburg for years. After our first trip to Austria in the spring of 2000, we swore we’d be back for Christmas someday. It took 17 long years, but was worth it. The Christkindlmarkt was still going strong when we arrived on Christmas day. Crowds of happy travelers surrounded us sipping glühwein (hot mulled wine) munching hot apple specialty desserts, and shopping for unique local crafts. We had three and a half days to enjoy this Christmas wonderland. Each day we found new restaurants with scrumptious Bavarian fare, museums worth exploring, and world-class music that’s made Salzburg famous.

Salzburg Christmas market

Being experienced travelers, we knew that one of the worst fates that can happen was to lose a passport. On this trip, we experienced the best and not-so-good of foreign travel. I’ll share what we learned to help you avoid or deal with a similar situation.

How our troubles began

On this trip to Salzburg, we couldn’t figure out the hotel room safe, so we carried our passports with us. Big mistake. All had gone well until heading to restaurant Ess Zimmer for a five-star dining experience. We caught a taxi in the Old City and arrived at the restaurant five minutes later. Instead of pulling into the driveway, the driver stayed on a busy four-lane city road to disgorge us. I was flustered at this dangerous unloading place and quickly pulled my wallet out to pay. I handed the driver a 20 Euro note for the 8.50 fare and needed both hands to grab the change, a 10 Euro bill and coins. That left my passport wallet in my lap when I quickly exited the taxi.

Horse travel is still alive and well in Salzburg

No sooner had I closed the door and stood on the sidewalk the driver pulled away. I took the 10 Euro note and reached for my wallet to stash the cash. A feeling of horror instantly swept over me. The wallet was gone! I told my wife, “I lost my passport. It’s in the taxi.” I won’t repeat what was said, but there were a couple of F-bombs dropped as we realized what just happened. I was shaking, knowing right away the gravity of my mistake. A million thoughts went through my mind. After going over our options, we decided to keep our lunch reservation and hoped the driver would bring my wallet and passport back while we ate lunch. No such luck.

Who to call

After lunch, we spent the day going to lost-and-found where the manager, Mrs. Walker, couldn’t have been more helpful. Next, the City Hotel Trumer Stube’s staff let us use their phone for multiple phone calls to cancel credit cards and an atm card. I called United Airline’s Gold customer service line to ask their opinion. Lois at United was just who I needed and said, “I believe you can go to the airport and get an emergency exemption to fly back home.”  I had a glimmer of hope.

Cityhotel Trümmer Stube Salzburg

The next call was to the US Embassy in Vienna where I asked: “Can I fly without a passport like the United agent said?” He replied in a grumpy voice “I’ve never heard of that before.”  Next, I tried the US Embassy in Munich and got a recording saying the office was only available by appointment and to leave a message to schedule one. The last step was to file a report at the police station in case someone turned in my passport there instead of the lost and found.

Option 1, 2, or 3

I was screwed! There was no definitive answer to my predicament to stay or try and return to the United States. Our flight was to leave Munich the very next day at 2 pm for a stopover in Frankfurt, then home. I had three options: stay in Salzburg and miss my flight in hopes of being reunited with my passport, go to Munich and camp out at the embassy until I could get my replacement documents, or go to the airport and try and fly home. We chose the airport option and caught the train from Salzburg to Munich’s airport early the next day.

Salzburg mosaic

Other services desk

At the airport instead of going to the Lufthansa ticket counter, I went to United where I hoped my Gold status would help. I had bought my ticket on the United website, but the route was serviced by their partner, Lufthansa. We approached the United agent at the cue where passports were checked, I told the agent, “I lost my passport yesterday.” The agent blurted out, “Oh my god!” Not the thing you want to hear. I told her about the conversation with the agent on the Gold line and said I had taken a photo of my passport on my cell phone before leaving the US.  The agent asked her supervisor what to do. Next, I was led to the “Other Services” desk where Stephan K. was busy with a phone call.

Stephan K. Munich Airport, our hero

Once Stephan was free I told him my predicament. He went to work quickly and after the first phone call said “I think I can make this work. I just need to get my supervisor’s okay.” After about 15 minutes the clearance was granted. Then I asked if we could change the route and take the direct flight to Washington to avoid the Frankfurt layover. Stephan said he would try, but it could be costly to change our tickets.

He said, “I’ll ask my supervisor to waive the fee if the cost is exorbitant.” Ten minutes later this magician managed to change our itinerary to the nonstop flight to Washington without paying  $385 in fees! Stephan said “There’s one last hurdle. I need to call Munich Airport security so they will let you through.” Once clearance was granted we thanked Stephan profusely and went up to security.

Up the stairs to customs clearance

The agent at security asked for our passports and I told him about our arrangement with United. The agent said “I don’t know anything about this. Do you have your boarding passes from when you entered Germany?” We had them, thank god. After looking at the boarding passes the agent said I’ll have to call my supervisor.”

Our hearts dropped and visions of a long layover in Germany peppered our thoughts. After just a short phone conversation the agent said, “Wait here for my colleague to escort you to the office.”  Two minutes later we were taken to the customs office and interogated.

One more time

I repeated the whole story about how I lost my passport. The security supervisor asked to see our police report from Salzburg then disappeared for 10 minutes. He came back saying, “There’s bad news. Since you crossed the Austrian border without a passport, this is a crime. It’s only a misdemeanor but needs to be processed.” He disappeared to talk it over with his supervisor again and five minutes later came back and said: “Since you couldn’t reach an Embassy due to the holiday, the misdemeanor doesn’t apply.” Just sign on to our WiFi and send us a copy of your passport then you’re free to go.” It took over 10 anxious minutes to sign on and send the copy before heading to one last checkpoint.

On the plane at last

The relief we felt as we boarded the plane was pure jubilation. I beat the odds of having to stay an unknown number of days in Germany over the New Year’s holiday waiting for an appointment with the embassy. After landing in Dulles, Washington I told the customs agent I lost my passport. I said, “I have a photocopy on my cell phone.” He replied coarsely, “That won’t help you.” Wait here until my supervisor comes.” We were taken to a large room to wait with about 30 other passegers. After a 25 minute wait I was called to the desk, and yes, the photocopy of my passport did help clear this last obstacle. I was free to go home.

Salzburg ice skating

Throughout the whole ordeal, I maintained a positive attitude that this would all work out eventually. I admit there were times of doubt. I did have brief visions of spending the New Year’s weekend in Germany waiting alone until I could make an appointment with a US Embassy, but I beat the odds.

The mistakes:

Not using the safe in the room to store the passport,.

Leaving a taxi without a receipt or driver’s business card.

Not having the fare ready for a quick departure from the taxi.

What to do

My advice is:

Once in the foreign country don’t carry your passport around.

Always store your passport in the hotel room safe.

Always get a receipt from taxi drivers.

Always have a paper copy or cell phone copy of your passport before leaving home.

Always maintain a polite stance when dealing with customs officers, airline ticket agents, and anyone else helping you.

Hold on to all boarding passes until one week after you return home. Boarding passes can be quite valuable in a predicament like mine or even to recover missing miles on your mileage account.

In the end, it was a delightful visit to Salzburg. The locals that helped us were the type of caring individuals you would hope for in this situation. I wish you happy travels and know that things can and do go wrong on a foreign trip, but these experiences are what travel stories are made of.

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