Flying without a standard ID, Who's done it? What should I expect? Options

[▲ndrusi]

For reasons I'd rather not get into, I don't currently have a valid driver's license. I have an expired learner's permit (which is sufficient ID for most purposes) and a Temporary Driving Certificate which together allow me to drive, and I'm supposed to receive my card "soon." However, I have a plane trip also coming up "soon" and I cannot assume it'll get here in time. My permit is expired by too long to be used as an ID for flying, and the temporary certificate doesn't have a photo for some reason so it's no good either.

So now I have to figure out some alternative form of ID. The person whose fault it is that I'm in this situation in the first place is confident that this sort of thing happens all the time and surely there are ways around it. The TSA website is almost hilariously nonspecific about this sort of situation:

We understand passengers occasionally arrive at the airport without an ID, due to lost items or inadvertently leaving them at home. Not having an ID, does not necessarily mean a passenger won’t be allowed to fly. If passengers are willing to provide additional information, we have other means of substantiating someone’s identity, like using publicly available databases.

Passengers who are cleared through this process may be subject to additional screening. Passengers whose identity cannot be verified by TSA may not be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint or onto an airplane.

Does anyone know what I'm actually in for, and/or what sort of things I should be looking into to try to handle this?

(Yes, I know I shouldn't have left this until the last minute. I didn't want to. Long story that, again, I'd rather not get into.)

[Adam G]

Do you have a birth certificate? As a Canadian if I get in a plane I'm almost always going to the states, so I need a passport. If you got yourself a passport, even if you're not traveling internationally, that would work.

[▲ndrusi]

I'm pretty sure a passport would actually take longer to get.

[Dake]

I'm pretty sure a passport would actually take longer to get.

You can expedite a passport and get it same day but you have to make an appointment, show necessity and pay a couple hundred bucks (it also helps to have a passport office in you town or nearby).

Barring that, I'd say a birth certificate plus your expired ids with pictures and just be prepared for "enhanced" screening.

[The Predaking]

You are in for a cavity search following an extensive pat down.

Enjoy!



Seriously, get a government ID with a picture on it. They have them other than Driver's licenses.

[Dissever]

Expedited passport is really going to be your best bet. You can expect to pay through the nose for it.

Barring that, I would recommend arriving about half an hour (or a full hour, depending on the size of the airport) earlier than you originally planned. If possible, bring something (temp driving certificate perhaps? If not, a utility bill) that ties your name to your current address. Be prepared to wait a lot as folks discuss the matter with their supervisors, or search through those databases. Be patient, and cooperate fully.

[▲ndrusi]

Seriously, get a government ID with a picture on it. They have them other than Driver's licenses.

Around here those also come from the DMV office, and as such I'd still have to wait for them to mail it to me. NC DMV offices don't have their own card printers anymore apparently.

The flight isn't international, so I don't know whether I'd be able to manage "necessity" for an expedited passport. I'll definitely look into that, though.

The temporary driving certificate has everything on it that a real license has except for the photo, so there is that. I'm also employed by a state university and have an ID card from there--it wouldn't be valid ID on its own, I don't think, but it couldn't hurt.

[Dissever]

I'm also employed by a state university and have an ID card from there--it wouldn't be valid ID on its own, I don't think, but it couldn't hurt.

This is good! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif) Use it, it's state-issued.

[lordtaco]

You just need two forms of ID, one with a picture of you on it.

Last November, I actually made it to airport security and found out at the last second realized I had left my driver's license at home. They let me through, I dug around in my wallet and found my work badge with my photo, and also my social security card. No problem.

[Scavgraphics]

Flying without a standard ID, What should I expect?

Likely a strip search...but hey, maybe a date if it goes well (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif)

[Kevin S]

I think you should get your hands on some sort of current ID. Maybe something like a Nondriver ID card. They expire, like a license - but are pretty much only for writing checks or taking flights. They're also far easier to get, than a Passport.

So unless your flight is taking you outside the US, it should be all you need.

I happen to know, as I can't drive (for health related reasons) & its all I need for a flight. I think I even had to renew mine, about 1 week prior to the flight. Easy to pick up at the DMV - and at least for me, it was just a walk-in visit (my ID had expired just that year, and didn't notice until shortly before the flight).

Why put yourself into a potential fix at the airport? Just get something like this & at least you should be covered.

Kevin
(Also, I vaguely recall that there's a posted message stating that if you don't have a current ID w/ photo, you won't be allowed to board a plane. At all.)

This post has been edited by Kevin S: May 26 2011, 11:10 AM

[▲ndrusi]

I think you should get your hands on some sort of current ID. Maybe something like a Nondriver ID card. They expire, like a license - but are pretty much only for writing checks or taking flights. They're also far easier to get, than a Passport.

So unless your flight is taking you outside the US, it should be all you need.

I happen to know, as I can't drive (for health related reasons) & its all I need for a flight. I think I even had to renew mine, about 1 week prior to the flight. Easy to pick up at the DMV - and at least for me, it was just a walk-in visit (my ID had expired just that year, and didn't notice until shortly before the flight).

Why put yourself into a potential fix at the airport? Just get something like this & at least you should be covered.

Kevin
(Also, I vaguely recall that there's a posted message stating that if you don't have a current ID w/ photo, you won't be allowed to board a plane. At all.)

The problem with this suggestion is that, as I mentioned a few posts ago, North Carolina DMV offices don't distribute ID cards (driver or otherwise) anymore, instead mailing them out from a centralized location in Raleigh. If I asked for a non-driver ID card now, there's absolutely no reason it would arrive any sooner than the new learner's permit I'm already waiting on.

[Kevin S]

The problem with this suggestion is that, as I mentioned a few posts ago, North Carolina DMV offices don't distribute ID cards (driver or otherwise) anymore, instead mailing them out from a centralized location in Raleigh. If I asked for a non-driver ID card now, there's absolutely no reason it would arrive any sooner than the new learner's permit I'm already waiting on.

Sorry, did not read every post. Still, I'd recommend that you try & get the ball rolling, even if they can't help you. Maybe they'd be able to expidite the process or offer a temporary card. (And you could always luck out & get your new ID just before your flight.)

And lets just say they let you board in NC. Remember you need an ID to come back, too. Your gamble isn't that they'll pass you once, but twice. Worth doing all you can to avoid it.

Kevin

This post has been edited by Kevin S: May 26 2011, 11:51 AM

[DeltaSeeker]

I had to fly from Indy to Altanta once, and didn't realize until I got to the security checkpoint that my driver's license had expired. I was asked for an alternate form of ID, and the screener accepted my Social Security card. I had to go through the extra screening, though. Of course, this was before they started the current "enhanced" screenings, so I don't know if if would fly now.

[Jeremy]

I found out the hard way that my license had expired last time we flew to Pasadena for Botcon, but I don't remember it being a big deal even though I was momentarily freaking out that it would be when the check-in guy pointed it out. I had been driving around with an expired license for a little over a month since my birthday is in late April.

This post has been edited by Jeremy: May 26 2011, 02:26 PM

[ChessPieceFace]

I bet your old learner's permit will be fine. It's still a photo ID.

The last time I flew, I got all the way to the gate before I realized I had passed through two security checkpoints holding a second copy of my wife's boarding pass instead of my own. And they'd checked my ID with the pen and everything. And we don't even have the same last name.

So allow a bit of extra time just in case, but bring your old ID and don't lose sleep over it. The TSA people don't actually care about these things.

[Dake]

Please read the third and fourth posts in this thread.

[Adam G]

An expired driver's license should still be a valid form of ID. All the fact that it's expired means is that you can't legally drive with it anymore. It still contains your personal information...

[Fishbug]

Please read the third and fourth posts in this thread.

That would require it to not be a bot.

This post has been edited by Fishbug: May 28 2011, 11:44 AM

[Mugen no Ken]

An expired driver's license should still be a valid form of ID. All the fact that it's expired means is that you can't legally drive with it anymore. It still contains your personal information...

That's not quite true.

At work, we cannot take an expired ID for check cashing, nor will Western Union allow us to use it for money transfers or receiving.

Mind you, this isn't the airport, but the point is that a number of places will cease accepting it for various things once it hits the expiration. (If they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, that is.)