What to do if you are stranded abroad: a step-by-step playbook

Lost or stolen passport

1. File a police report at the nearest police station. Get the report number written down. Required by your embassy and by most insurance policies.
2. Contact your embassy or consulate. Each country’s foreign ministry has a 24-hour emergency line. Examples:
   • US citizens: +1 (202) 501-4444 (from outside the US) or local embassy 24-hour line
   • UK citizens: contact via gov.uk/world/embassies
   • Canadian citizens: +1 (613) 996-8885 (collect call from anywhere)
   • Australian citizens: +61 2 6261 3305 (24-hour consular emergency centre)
3. Request an emergency travel document. Most consulates issue them in 1–3 business days. You’ll typically need: police report, photo ID (driver’s license, photocopy of lost passport), passport photos, and a fee.
4. If you scanned your passport before travel (Phase 1 of our travel safety checklist), email yourself or your embassy contact the scan. Massively speeds up emergency replacement.
5. Notify your travel insurance and any airline with your booking. Most will rebook for free or low cost with a verified incident report.

No money / cards frozen / wallet stolen

1. Cancel your cards. Each card issuer has a 24-hour international line printed on the back of the card — but you don’t have the card. Use the issuer’s mobile app or website, or call collect:
   • Visa global emergency assistance: +1 (303) 967-1090
   • Mastercard global service: +1 (636) 722-7111
   • American Express: +1 (336) 393-1111
2. If you used a separate backup card (Phase 1 advice in our checklist), use it now. Withdraw a moderate sum — not all your remaining credit, but enough for 2–3 days.
3. Receive an emergency wire transfer:
   • Western Union and MoneyGram have agents in nearly every country. Pickup usually requires photo ID and the transfer reference number.
   • Wise (formerly TransferWise) is cheaper if you have access to your account.
   • Bank-to-bank wire via your home bank’s app, if you have access. Often 1–3 business days.
4. Embassy emergency loan. Most consulates can issue a short-term repatriation loan in genuine emergencies — this is a last resort and is repayable, but it works when nothing else does. US citizens: see travel.state.gov → Emergencies → Send Money to a US Citizen Overseas.
5. If you’ve been robbed, file a police report. Most travel insurance requires one within 24 hours for any theft claim.

Missed or canceled flight

1. Open the airline app first, not the desk line. Rebooking is usually instant in-app; the desk line at the airport is the slowest path.
2. If the cancellation is the airline’s fault (mechanical, crew, schedule change), you’re entitled to rebooking on the next available flight at no charge. EU/UK regulations (EU261) plus US DOT rules require either rebooking or refund.
3. If it’s your fault (missed connection due to over-long layover, slept through alarm, traffic), most airlines charge a same-day change fee — cheaper than buying a new ticket if you act fast.
4. If you’re stranded overnight, most airlines provide a hotel voucher for delays they’re responsible for. Ask explicitly at the desk; they don’t always offer it unprompted.
5. Travel insurance trip-disruption coverage typically covers reasonable hotel, meals, and ground transport during an extended delay. Save every receipt; keep them in a single folder on your phone.
6. If you used a credit card with trip-protection benefits (many premium cards include this), the card issuer will reimburse trip-disruption costs separately from the airline.

Medical emergency

1. Call the local emergency number first — see our emergency numbers by country reference. Hospital choice matters in many countries; emergency services will often direct you to the closest equipped facility.
2. Tell the ambulance crew or hospital staff: your name, your nationality, your accommodation address, your home country’s emergency contact, and any major allergies or current medications.
3. Call your travel insurance’s 24-hour line as soon as you can. Most policies require notification within 24 hours; many will arrange direct billing with the hospital so you don’t pay upfront.
4. If the local hospital cannot provide adequate care, travel insurance with evacuation coverage will arrange transport to a regional center or repatriation. Don’t fly commercial after a major medical event — insurance evacuation flights are medically equipped.
5. Notify your embassy if you’re hospitalized for more than 24 hours. They cannot pay your bills but they can liaise with family at home, monitor treatment quality, and arrange repatriation documentation.
6. For loss of a travel companion — tell the embassy and your insurance immediately. They handle the logistics (repatriation of remains, family notification) so you don’t have to figure them out under shock.

For pre-travel medical preparation, see our medical access abroad guide.

Arrest or detention

1. Stay calm and stay silent beyond identifying yourself. You have far less protection in most foreign legal systems than you do at home.
2. Ask immediately to contact your embassy or consulate. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Article 36), foreign nationals must be allowed to contact their consulate. If they refuse, ask again, in writing if possible.
3. Don’t sign anything you cannot read in a language you understand. Many foreign police forms include confession language; signing without a translator can be catastrophic.
4. Don’t offer money to officials. In countries where bribery is common, it’s still illegal; and in countries where it isn’t, the attempt itself is a new crime.
5. The embassy will not pay your legal fees or get you out of jail. What they can do: provide a list of local English-speaking attorneys, monitor your treatment, notify family, and (in some countries) arrange for outside food and reading materials.
6. If you’re a dual national, the embassy of your other citizenship may have limited or no access if you’re detained on the territory of the country whose citizenship you also hold.

Natural disaster or political crisis

1. Get to a structurally safe location. Hotel above flood line, away from windows in a windstorm, on high ground after an earthquake (tsunami follow-on), away from intersections during civil unrest.
2. Switch to local news. Your home country’s reporting lags by hours; local TV / radio / verified social-media accounts are faster. Be skeptical of unverified social media in the early hours.
3. Register with your embassy if you haven’t already (STEP, Locate, ROCA, Smartraveller). Embassy alerts and evacuation logistics flow through this registration.
4. Conserve phone battery aggressively. Power outages last days in major incidents. Airplane mode + WiFi-when-needed; brightness low; close all apps.
5. Have a 72-hour cash reserve. Card networks go down in disasters before they come back up. Cash + a battery pack + paper map of your area covers the realistic worst case.
6. Don’t self-evacuate by road or air without instruction. Roads become death traps in some disasters; airports are routinely overwhelmed. Wait for your embassy’s guidance.
7. Help local responders only if asked. Well-meaning tourists trying to help often compound the problem. Stay safe, stay informed, follow the embassy’s instructions.

What your travel insurance will and won’t do

Related guides

• Travel safety checklist (pre-trip prep)
• Emergency numbers by country
• Medical access abroad
• Travel advisory guide
• Digital security for travelers
• Run a personalized assessment