How to keep your travel documents on your phone, offline and safe
A booking in your inbox or a link to a cloud folder is not necessarily on your phone: it often needs a connection to open. Save the files you will need to the phone itself, keep the passport copy somewhere locked, and keep one more copy away from the phone in case you lose it.
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Email apps and cloud drives show you a list of files, but many of them only download the file when you tap it. That works at home and fails at a border desk or in a taxi with no signal, which is exactly when someone asks for the hotel address or the return flight.
The test takes a minute: once everything is saved, switch on airplane mode and open each document. What appears is on the phone. What shows a loading wheel is not, and you have time to fix it.
The UK government's travel checklist frames the goal well: have a backup plan for accessing key information, such as accommodation details, flight details and passport details, for example in case you lose your phone. It suggests sharing it with friends or family or storing it online using a secure data storage platform.
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Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
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How it works
- 1Choose and payCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account.
- 2Install it at homeThe QR arrives by email. Scan it on wifi in a minute.
- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
Google Drive: mark the files for offline use
If your documents live in Google Drive, Google's steps on Android are: open the Drive app, tap More next to the file and tap Make available offline. To see everything you have saved this way, open Drive, tap the menu and then Offline.
On iPhone and iPad, the same More menu has an Available offline switch. Google's own description is that it saves a preview of the file for offline use, so open each one afterwards in airplane mode to check that what you need, such as a QR code on a ticket, is readable.
Google adds that Docs, Sheets and Slides can still be viewed and edited without a connection, which helps if your itinerary is a document you keep updating.
On iPhone: tickets in Wallet, files in Files
Anything that comes with an Add to Apple Wallet button, such as boarding passes and many event tickets, is best kept in Wallet, where a saved pass opens with no connection. For the rest, Apple says files you download from the internet or the Mail app end up in the Downloads folder of the Files app, under Browse.
For anything sensitive, iPhone has two locked places. In Photos, the Hidden collection is locked by default and opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. In Notes, you can lock a note with your device passcode or a custom password, but Apple says notes with PDF or file attachments cannot be locked, so a scanned PDF does not fit there. Apple's Preview app can instead lock a PDF with a password.
The passport copy: useful, and worth guarding
A photo or scan of the passport's photo page is useful to have: if the passport is lost or stolen, the number and details are at hand for the police report and the consulate. It does not replace the passport for travelling, and it is also exactly the kind of image that is valuable to someone else.
So treat it like a key. Keep it in a locked place on the phone rather than in the main photo roll that you scroll through in front of people. Do not send it in chats unless a service you trust asks for it, and remove it from shared albums. If a cloud folder holds it, make sure that account has two-step verification turned on, which our guide to two-factor authentication while travelling helps you keep working abroad.
A short list worth having offline
- Passport or ID copy, in a locked place.
- Flight, train and bus tickets, in Wallet or the operator's app.
- Hotel and rental bookings, with address and phone number.
- Travel insurance policy and its emergency number.
- Car hire voucher and driving licence copy, if you drive.
- Your bank's number for blocking cards, written down, not only in the bank app.
Then keep a second copy away from the phone, as the UK checklist suggests: with someone at home or in secure cloud storage you can reach from any browser.
If the phone goes, the copies should not go with it
Everything above lives on one device, and that device is the thing most likely to be lost on a trip. The second copy is what lets you rebuild: borrow a phone, sign in to your cloud account from a browser and the bookings are back. Our guide to a lost or stolen phone abroad covers the order of steps.
One thing that does not come back from the cloud is a travel eSIM: once installed, a Snoozim eSIM stays on that phone, so a replacement phone needs a new one. Keep the order email with your other documents, so you can reply to it if you need help.
Do email attachments open without a connection?
Not always. Many apps only download an attachment when you tap it. Save the file to the phone and test it in airplane mode.
Where should I keep a photo of my passport on iPhone?
In a locked place, such as the Hidden collection in Photos, which Apple locks by default with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
Can I lock a note that contains a scanned PDF?
No. Apple says notes with PDF or file attachments cannot be locked. Lock the PDF itself in Preview instead.
How do I make a Google Drive file available offline?
In the Drive app, tap More next to the file and choose Make available offline on Android, or turn on Available offline on iPhone.
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