So much of my travel “convenience” relies on my iPhone - access to financial accounts and credit card statements, Apple passes in my wallet (boarding passes, hotel reservations, etc.), airline websites. Although I do carry paper backups for the most important stuff, my phone lets me interact with my travel very efficiently. One of the best reasons to have an iPad when traveling is to have all your travel apps, banking apps, etc. on two devices so if your iPhone goes missing while you’re out and about, your iPad (presumably back at the hotel) makes it easy to mark your phone as lost or erase it if stolen and carry on with your travel as before. Of course, two iPhones would serve the same purpose, but the iPad is nice to watch movies on.
But surely this is just adding one more valuable item with the potential of being stolen to your inventory? Would it not make more sense in this case to get a crappy burner phone with travel and banking apps, etc. as it would serve the same purpose but involve less risk?
@JohnJames
Yeah, some people take their old or a cheap phone with them as a backup. Leave it at the hotel with your emergency backup card.
@JohnJames
Exactly. What do they do with iPad during car road trips? Leaving the iPad in the car?
Excellent thought. Similarly, I usually trade my old phone, but one of these times I’m thinking of keeping an old phone for just this scary scenario.
I’m honestly more worried about anything I leave back at the hotel than what I’m carrying myself. I have two banking apps. One that holds my spending cash and another that holds my life savings and investment accounts. I delete the app completely for the life savings bank account so that if my phone does get stolen — they wouldn’t even know that the account exists. I travel with an older iPhone regardless because they have slots for physical SIM cards. The newer phones don’t. And from my experience, e-sims are kind of crappy. They are hit or miss and they run out of data very fast.
@Zinn
So you delete the app when travelling and then download and activate again upon return?
Jordan said:
@Zinn
So you delete the app when travelling and then download and activate again upon return?
Also, out of curiosity, how would this “life savings” heist based on just having your phone work? Does the phone not have a lock code? Also, your bank accounts don’t have that either? Also, if you lost or had your phone stolen, you wouldn’t immediately call your bank with a new burner phone to check for transactions?
@Cade
I’ve heard stories of people getting their bank accounts drained via Venmo or Zelle. With Zelle, the transactions are instant so I’d rather not take any chances.
Zinn said:
@Cade
I’ve heard stories of people getting their bank accounts drained via Venmo or Zelle. With Zelle, the transactions are instant so I’d rather not take any chances.
Why would you link Venmo to your life savings or even keep all your life savings in one account? (Diversify your finances). Only link these things to a single account that is meant for short term spend and is easy to access. Put the rest of the money in longer-term accounts that aren’t as liquid and earn more money on your money.
@Zinn
How reliable & secure are safes in hotel rooms?
I bought an iPad after I dropped my phone in the ocean and I couldn’t get into my emails or make/receive texts and phone calls. I tried accessing my email through the hotel computer and of course, it sent a text to my phone for verification 
. Luckily I had sent all travel itinerary to my traveling partner and was still able to check in blindly at the airport. But now I always bring an iPad for backup, in case anything like that happens again.
@Luca
Exactly. The verification process I can understand for security, but if your phone dies and you have no other device, you are screwed trying to get a new one. Been there, done that.
I’ve never considered traveling with a second device for this. I always bring an iPad for movies and shows, but it’s set up with no personal info. Perhaps I’ll add my email. Not banking though.
You can just log into iCloud and do the same thing without needing an extra device.
Oakley said:
You can just log into iCloud and do the same thing without needing an extra device.
Just thinking out loud. What if your iCloud password isn’t memorable and is stored in a password manager requiring your phone or logged-in computer to access? Or you need 2FA via text? Not ideal, but it’s reality for a lot of people. Trying to think of ways around this.
@Blane
This is the problem with 2FA. It’s not appropriate for everyone, specifically people who travel without access to backup devices.
Oakley said:
You can just log into iCloud and do the same thing without needing an extra device.
So you don’t have 2FA on your iCloud? That seems like a huge weak link.
I do this too.
I always bring my iPad as it is, but this is a good thing to have in case you lose your phone! Thank you!