Wondering what to do if you lose your phone while traveling? Don’t worry. I’ve lost many phones in my day.
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The first was on my way to Cuba. I lost track of my phone on the flight from Mexico. When we landed in Havana, I assumed the phone was in my bag—but it had slipped out and fallen onto the floor. The second time was in India. I attended a foam party (no regrets) and accidentally waterlogged my phone in the delightful, bubbly chaos.
In short, I know how to enjoy vacations without a smartphone. I also know how to replace one, whether with a temporary burner phone or a smartphone I’ll keep using back home.
Full disclosure: My boyfriend knows about tech, so I’ve had a leg up when it comes to this topic. Plus, I’ve never lost my phone when traveling solo. These are two important distinctions. If you’re traveling solo, losing your phone is a tougher obstacle to overcome because you don’t have a sidekick with an Android. That’s doubly true if you get turned around when it comes to topics like SIM cards and eSims.
Here’s what I’ve learned along the way about what to do if you lose your phone while traveling.
What to do if you lose your phone while traveling: 5 simple steps
Step #1: Review your phone plan to figure out your options
Almost all of my American friends have phone plans that include upgrades. They swap out their older phone when it’s time to upgrade to a new one. As far as I know, for the vast majority of phone plans, this upgrade is optional. It’s a smart way to get a new phone release, but it’s not your only option.
In other words, the first thing you need to know if your phone is lost or stolen while traveling is whether you can replace it yourself or need to wait until you head back home. If you don’t actually own your phone, and you’re making monthly payments on it, then you need to settle that debt before switching service to a new device.
I’ll touch on this more in Step #5. For now, check what’s covered and isn’t with your phone plan—it will inform the next steps you take. And make sure you know what you owe on your existing phone, if you don’t own it.
Step #2: If your phone was stolen, protect yourself
If your phone was stolen, security should be top of mind. The good news: Most people who steal your phone want to resell the physical device, not mine it for personal and financial data. The bad news: While that’s often the case, it’s not always true.
Log in to your cloud services to mark your device as lost or stolen. The two most important cloud services are iCloud for Apple users and your Google account. When you log in on a laptop or an iPad, you can easily mark your phone as lost, meaning your accounts will automatically lock and require you to provide two-factor authentication.
Once you’ve secured your sensitive information, contact your phone provider. Let them know what happened. They can advise you on the next steps, if there are any.
Lastly, always reach out to family and friends to let them know that you don’t have your phone. This is to prevent scam or fraud, in case your phone was stolen with the purpose of extortion.
Step #3: Make a police report, if necessary
If you have phone insurance, you might need to make a police report to prove that it was stolen. To be blunt, this is a pain in the butt, and I only recommend it if you have a very nice phone. If you spoke to your carrier on the phone, they should tell you whether or not this step is required.
Usually, to make an insurance claim on a smartphone, you need proof of purchase and a police report. I recommend writing down a direct translation of what you need done at the police station—English might not be spoken by officers.
Step #4: Track it yourself & alert police, if possible
You can track your smartphone if you have an app like Find My Phone. However, I recommend not tracking it down yourself if you believe it was stolen. If you think you lost the phone, then you can and should retrace your steps to track it.
Remember, in countries like Japan and South Korea, theft is incredibly rare. If you notice your phone has gone missing in a country where you haven’t noticed any crime or theft, it’s likely someone picked up your phone and is holding onto it for you. They might have also turned it into a shop or restaurant owners if you left it there.
If you believe it was stolen and want to go to the police, it’s very helpful to bring that tracking data with you. The police can use it to start searching for your phone immediately.
Step #5: Look into replacements
If you’re on the road for a while, you might be itching to replace your phone. Again, your carrier or phone insurance company should have recommendations on how to replace your device. They will also remind you of any outstanding debts on the device that you lost, if you didn’t purchase it outright.
Beyond that, you have other options if you need a phone and can’t replace it using insurance.
First, if you’re using an eSIM, you can replace your phone using a smartphone resale website. I use BackMarket anytime I need a new iPhone.
Because I have a physical SIM, it’s easy to shift my data onto a new phone. If your phone is lost or stolen, you won’t have that option—but if you bought an eSIM for traveling, you can download the app on a new phone and log in. That gives you access to the same services as before.
Second, if you don’t have an eSIM, you can still go to a phone store and find a device and local plan that works for you. It’s the analog way—and it still works. It’s a pain to sign up with a foreign carrier, but it doesn’t usually take longer than an hour. You can buy a nice device that you can use back at home, or keep it simple with a ‘burner’ phone.
Again, if you own the phone you lost and don’t owe a lot to your service provider, it might make more sense to invest in a new device. You can always use an eSIM to get service while abroad before going back home.
Because eSIMs run on local networks, they don’t need to connect to your existing service provider. They’re fully independent. And if you have your data saved on the Cloud, you can even transfer your contacts, apps, and so on over to your new device.
