Australian traveller makes ‘stupid’ $4,500 mistake after losing passport during trip to Europe

An Australian traveller whose passport was stolen in Italy is warning other Australians not to make the same expensive, ‘stupid mistake’ she did.

Steph, who posts videos of herself renovating and reselling homes on social media, shared her cautionary travel story to help others avoid the same fate.

Besides a lot of hassle and fuss, the loss of her passport also cost her $4,500.

“My passport got stolen. But that’s not the worst part. I made a really stupid mistake,” she said on TikTok.

She called the Australian embassy in Rome and was advised not to board the plane without her passport, so she took a ferry from the island of Sardinia to the Italian capital.

When she got there she said ‘the embassy was so helpful and got me a passport within 48 hours’.

But because they had to take the ferry and wait two days for an emergency, this meant that Steph missed her flight home to Melbourne.

When she searched online, the best deal she could find for a replacement ticket was a $1,700 booking with two stopovers, one of which required her to pick up her bags and re-check in for another flight — which was her “stupid mistake.”

Australian traveller Steph (pictured), whose passport was stolen in Italy, has warned other Australians not to make her costly ‘stupid mistake’

Although Melbourne was the final destination of the trip, the trip consisted of two separate bookings.

‘I didn’t realize that one of the stopovers was actually considered a destination and that you collect your luggage there and check it in again.

“When I read that you had to pick up your luggage, I thought, ‘I don’t mind, I’ll save $600,’” she recalls.

But if you collect your luggage and go from the arrivals hall back to the departures hall, you have officially entered the country. Many countries do not allow passengers to do this with an emergency passport.

When Steph arrived at the airport in Rome, she was not allowed to board the plane, so her $600 savings cost her dearly.

“As a result, the $1,700 was lost and I had to book another flight,” she said.

‘So if you ever travel on an emergency passport and you book a flight home, make sure you fly on the same airline and that the stopover is a transfer, and that you don’t have to collect your luggage at any point.’

She ended up paying a total of $4,500 to get home, on top of the cost of replacing her stolen passport with a temporary emergency passport.

Steph had travel insurance and is still waiting to hear whether it will cover some of her unexpected expenses, even though some of it was her own fault.

Commenters under her post thanked her for pointing out what had happened so they could prevent it from happening to them.

In addition to a lot of effort and hassle, the loss of her passport cost Steph (pictured) $4,500

“That’s not an obvious mistake at all. I’m an experienced traveler and would have done the same thing, but I didn’t realize this could happen. Thanks for pointing it out,” one person wrote.

Another poster asked how her passport got stolen in the first place.

“I had my handbag over my shoulder and a man ran up behind me and ripped it off my shoulder,” Steph replied.

‘I think it would be better to have smaller wallet/passport bags to keep your trash in.’