Have you ever forgotten an important document while travelling?
By maddysmommy
@maddysmommy (16230)
United States
May 13, 2008 4:26pm CST
I did and it was my son's green card.
We were held up at the airport in Rarotonga, on our way back home because I forgot his green card. We were the first in line and the last ones to get on the plane which was about to leave without us. It was very embarrassing considering all our family were waiting for us to say goodbye.
It was our first time travelling out of USA (after receiving our green cards two years ago) and even though I did pull it out from the envelope where we keep our important documents, I left it on our bedroom dresser thinking that I will put it in my wallet later on. I carry mine with me because it's a form of ID I use whenever I need to.
When we approached the counter, they asked for our passports and green cards and when I gave her mine, I told her what happened to Maddy's one. She said we had to buy an ongoing ticket in order for him to enter the country. She even insisted we stay another day because they were having trouble contacting the Auckland office to book another ticket. We could of, if there was another flight out the next day, but there wasn't and also we had connecting flights back to DC. There is only one flight that goes in and out from LAX and that's on a Saturday. It cost us $713 USD for his ticket which we had to charge to our credit card. We were guaranteed that it was fully refundable minus the administration fee of $50.
When we arrived in LAX, they were going to charge $570 for my son to enter. But because it was our first time out of the USA, he waived the fee and let us in. We waited 40 minutes though for the approval to come through from head office.
It was not a nice experience at all and I made sure when we got home, that I put his green card in my wallet. I have also written down his number on a business card and placed it in my wallet incase his actual green card got lost.
I am happy to say that the refund was approved May 6 and should appear in our credit card statement very soon (takes 5-10 working days).
I hope I never have to go through this again.
3 people like this
9 responses
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
14 May 08
Well I have not done much travelling, so I can not say that I have experienced this. But I am known for misplacing things, especially, my keys. I am glad that everything turned out alright. You were at LAX? You were like twenty minutes away from me. I could have come down to say hey,LOL , since you did have to be there for forty minutes.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
14 May 08
You know I should of called you when we got there as Maddy and I had 12 hour wait in LAX (on our way to Rarotonga). Because we went for the cheapest airfares, it meant we had to fly early Sunday morning and our flight out to Raro wasn't until that night. Matt joined us later on in the afternoon as we used his airpoints to get him there. GRRR next time my friend.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
15 May 08
I know, trying to entertain Maddy for that length of time was tiring but he did fall asleep in the end - not going to do that again! I did hint to my relatives to come and get us but no-one volunteered so i just left it.
1 person likes this
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
15 May 08
For a whole 12 hours. My that is a long time. You could have went to my sister's house. They live right there off of Century and Aviation. I would have been bored if I had to wait for a flight for that long. But then again, I do not flight, for the same reason that I do not drive, hehe, Scared.
1 person likes this
@raijin (10345)
• Philippines
15 May 08
Nope, nothing like that happened to me. Though I haven't got the chance to travel outside of my country, I guess I just have to double-check things before leaving for the airport.
But there's a story I knew of, just happened yesterday. A Filipino family who happened to forget one important thing for their trip, check and read the link for you to find out what they left behind..
http://ph.yahoo.com/s/91681
http://ph.yahoo.com/s/916811 person likes this
@raijin (10345)
• Philippines
16 May 08
Well it kinda made me mad for that boy's family, especially his parents. I really can't imagine leaving someone so dear to me like, even if I know I am at a hurry or was busy with something else.
I am glad you read it, I really thought the parents were dumb!
1 person likes this
@itsmepinky (1300)
• India
15 May 08
That was quite an experience and a good lesson for you to learn. Luckily i have not forgotten anything so important while travelling. Yes sometimes i do forget to carry some documents to work . then i have to come home and do the work.
~Pinks~
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
15 May 08
A lesson well learned alright. I won't ever do that again. thanks pinky.
@Madona1 (2096)
• Gibraltar
16 May 08
Hello there, I am sorry that you and your family had been through this horrified experience. Thankfully everything was sorted and had a good ending. For me, luckily I haven’t forgotten any important documents while travelling as my hubby and I will double check two main things (money and passport) prior to our departure. But I did forget small things like toothpaste, pyjamas, make up kit and camera etc.
The interesting thing was one day I picked up my hubby’s passport to have a look for no reason and notice his passport would be expired in 2 weeks time, which we were about to travel during that period. Without any delay, I told my hubby and he went to the Passport Office for a renewal. Now I recall this, I still think I was lucky to check the Expiry date of the passport that made our journey succeed just in time. But I couldn’t figure out what triggered me to do so.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
16 May 08
I was also lucky to check my sons passport 3 months before our trip because it had already expired last year August. So just as well I had a whole month to courier it to New Zealand, have it renewed and sent back. They were so good it was done in 2 weeks without any problems.
@dolce_vita78 (8062)
• Philippines
15 May 08
That must have been a really bad experience huh? Well, at least your refund was already approved. This has never happened to me yet and I do hope it would never happen to me in the future. I often travel and one of the things I always check are my documents. I would rather forget something that I could buy in my destination rather than to forget some important documents. I do hope that you have learned from your experience. Take care!
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (170694)
• United States
15 May 08
I am lost my passport in London. I dropped in the tube (London subway) my husband lost his wallet while in London on a differnt trip and had to cancel all of his credit cards.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
15 May 08
Awww no, passports and wallet - that must of been so upsetting to lose those while travelling.
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
13 May 08
I am not usually an organized person, but when it comes to getting ready for a trip, I'm absolutely neurotic about organization. I have all of my important douments in the same place, and they are all ready to go, when I am ready o go. I have never forgotten a document that I ned, when I travel, either upon leaving for my destination, or returnin home.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
13 May 08
I think I'm losing it LOL I knew I had to take it but left it on the dresser.
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 May 08
I'm constantly forgetting to transfer EVERYTHING from one purse to another. I'm often too lazy to put cards and papers back in their appropriate places right after I use them, so they end up on the bottom of my purse. So I change purses and bang! The one or two things that don't make the transfer are the things I need again right away!*sigh* It's a curse.
I have now reduced my self to two purses only and keep my money in my shoe. LOL
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
14 May 08
LOL @ money in your shoe! haha I often change purses too but have never forgotten my wallet which has my cards in it.
@vickmahon11 (32)
• United States
14 May 08
omgosh! your experience sounds horrifying! i've never had anything like that happen to me, nor do i want it to! i have always heard a saying that goes,
"a bought lesson you never forget!" which just means that when a bad experience "costs" you something like in $$ or heartache or material possessions that it marks it in your memory so deeply you never forget about it so you never repeat that mistake. it sounds like you "bought that lesson" big time!
my heart goes out to you! and to your child!
luv ya'
mama vickie
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
14 May 08
I sure did buy that lesson and hope to never do that again. I'm just glad the airfare is being refunded even though $50 will be taken out for admin fees. Better that than the whole amount.
