Successfully flew with expired ID from Dallas

Airport: Dallas (DFW)
Date: April, 2008
Reason given: Expired ID
Reference: Erin
Result: Successful
Description: It seems my driver’s license expired this year on my birthday, unbeknownst to me. I am now finally in the habit of leaving the house for domestic flights without even thinking about digging out my passport, which was a necessity anytime I flew anywhere while we lived in Amsterdam. So, armed only with an apparently expired driver’s license to identify myself, the security guard informed me he was going to have to write in huge black letters across my boarding pass “No ID.” Then I had to wait five minutes for a “female assist” to come pat me down, search through my belongings, and exclaim that I certainly don’t look my age and at first she wondered why they would be so up in arms about a high-schooler not having an ID. (For those of you reading who are unaware: it’s been over a decade since I was in high school.)

TSA defers to Delta at DFW: Consumerist Thread on Flying without ID

The Consumerist has a thread on flying without ID. Unfortunately, their answer isn't very helpful--basically they advise that even though ID isn't necessary--run out GET ID as soon as possible anyway. Some of the commenters share interesting experiences about flying without ID. Unfortunately, the experiences described don't have any date information, so they won't be posted here directly. There is one particularly relevant post TSA deferred to Delta airlines on deciding about ID. This seems recent because TSA was in fact checking the IDs at the time, and let the passenger fly as a selectee on the originating flight. This is disturbing because it suggests that TSA is enforcing corporate policies, rather than the law (secret or not). The Delta rep also threatens that the flyer will be put on a list:

At the sceurity screening in Charlottesville, Virginia, I realized that I'd left my driver's license at home. "No problem," said the kindly TSA ID-checker. "You can travel without a driver's license. You'll just be a selectee."

With that he wrote "SSS" on my boarding pass, and when I went through I was taken aside for the extra-special treatment: full wanding, luggage dump, jokes about having to confiscate my doughnut.

They couldn't have been nicer.

On the way back, however, in Dallas, the TSA ID-checker sent me to the Delta counter, where the Delta representative told me that I couldn't possibly fly without an ID. "I don't care what they told you in Charlottesville. Looks like you'll be taking the bus home."

Eventually, an even nastier Delta supervisor decided to let me travel. "But you'll be on a list from now on." He wouldn't tell me what kind of list, and I decided not to press my luck.

Curiously, the authority that made the decision as to whether or not I could fly apeared to rest with the Delta supervisor, and not the TSA screeners.

Lost ID, but no problems flying from SFO

Airport: San Francisco (SFO)
Date: March 14, 2008
Reason given: Lost ID
Reference: Molly Oliver
Result: Successful
Description: So, a little spacey quality snuck in as I was travelling last weekend and I mislaid my photo ID in SF airport. It is also much easier to get on a plane without identification than one would be led to believe. I do think I actually made it through security a little quicker with out, although I had to suffer the humiliation of being shunted into this little cattle corral thing for a bit, stay extra long in the air-puffer chamber and then have some nice young girl wipe down my shoes, phone and the entire inside of my bag with what looked like an oversized Stridex pad. I am so glad that the TSA is keeping us safe.

Although airport security tells passengers they must show ID to board planes, they really don’t

By Scott Canon and Mike Rice McClatchy Newspapers
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.20.2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Flying across the country? Leave your pocketknife in the car. Don't carry more than a few ounces of liquids onto the plane. And don't forget that ID.

Wait? ID? Turns out we don't need no stinking ID.

Sure enough, leaving it behind will buy you hassle. It will probably annoy those in line behind you as the bottleneck of security slows from crawl to standstill. And it means you're in for a thorough frisking and a greater likelihood that the possessions you've dragged along on your journey will be tested for traces of explosives.

But the Transportation Security Administration concedes you should still be able to board that plane.

Consider the travels of Phillip Mocek, a Seattle software developer. A few years ago he read about a court case challenging various U.S. travel rules and decided he didn't like the idea of having to prove his identity to board a jet.

"I object to what I see as the federal government making a requirement for me to travel around my own country," Mocek said. "So I started testing the system."

Two or three years ago — he can't recall exactly when he started — Mocek headed out on trips with his driver's license planted firmly out of view. ("I still carried it with me. My need to get places, if necessary, would have overridden my desire to flex my rights.")

And time and again, he got where he wanted to go. He'd arrive at an airport with his boarding pass already printed and head to the security check.

"I would say, 'I don't have any ID to show you.' I very clearly did not want to lie, but I did not want to anger somebody by saying, 'I don't want to show you my ID,"' Mocek said, conceding he was parsing words.

Each time he would be subject to extra clearance — "I understand that's the way it is now" — but he always got cleared to fly.

After a visit last month to see family, he went to Kansas City International Airport to catch his flight back to Seattle.

To his thinking, the questions from the private security detail at the facilities' far-flung gates seemed more intrusive than he'd experienced elsewhere. He thought that being sent back to the airline counter for another boarding pass was unnecessary. But in the end, with the usual extra frisking, he flew without pulling out his ID.

Still, he was particularly annoyed at signs at the airport declaring that a government ID was required to fly. So when he returned home, he logged on to the TSA Web site and posted a complaint.

Eventually, a TSA official wrote back.

"TSA requires travelers to produce a valid form of government-issued ID to verify that the name on the travel document matches the ID," the response said.

But then it went on in seeming contradiction: "If a traveler is unwilling or unable to produce a valid form of ID, the traveler is required to undergo additional screening at the checkpoint to gain access to the secured area of the airport."

So an ID is required, except that it's not.

"If you have an ID," TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said in an interview, "we highly encourage that you use that ID, because it speeds up the process not only for you but for anybody behind you in line."

But allowances are made for the ID-free, she said, "because we have to put something in place for people who are on a trip and lose their ID."

That said, the agency's specific policy remains officially secret.

Even without an ID, McCauley said, such passengers should not pose an extra security threat. Their names are still cross-checked against the federal no-fly list of potential terrorists. Their baggage, like every other passenger's, is electronically screened, and the travelers are searched more thoroughly than most people with ID.

Successfully flew after losing ID, SAN

Airport: San Diego (SAN)
Date: March 13, 2008
Reason given: Lost ID
Reference: Tim Ferriss
Result: Successful
Description:
My wallet was stolen at ETech in San Diego 3 hours before my flight was scheduled to leave for Austin, TX. Panic set in, as I had to be on a panel the following afternoon, but I learned of a few work-arounds.
Here’s what I did, first from the hotel:
1. I took the clever Brady Forrest’s advice and printed out a little-known (outside of techies) letter from the TSA, written to Senator John Warner, that outlines protocol for flying without ID. If the airport check-in staff or security stop you, this letter and requesting a supervisor is often enough to get you onboard.

2. I used my flight number and name to print out my boarding passes from the hotel kiosk. I wouldn’t be able to use them ultimately, but it would be helpful to prove identify.

3. I borrowed $100 from two friends for taxis, etc., and promised to immediately reimburse them through PayPal, which I could use as currency in place of my stolen credit cards and cash.

At the airport:
1. Told them very casually “Oh, by the way, I’m flying without ID today because my wallet was stolen.” They gave their condolences and marked my boarding pass for additional screening with “SSS” in bright red block letters. I checked one bag and never had to show the TSA letter.

2. Because you are now a bigger security risk, they put you in your own line! The key is to put as much in checked luggage as possible, as they will swab everything in your carry-on for explosive residue and do a quick pat down.

3. After clearing security in record time, I called the San Diego harbor police using 1-800-GOOG-411 on my cell to file a police report with an officer at the airport, which took about 10 minutes.

The officer then called up my CA driver’s license number and put it on a temporary ID card that I could use to drive (and also get served alcohol when used in combination with an old student picture ID from Berlin). Filing the police report is also important for filing claims with banks, credit cards, etc. to be reimbursed for any fraudulent charges.

I had the student ID in a second wallet where I put cards, memberships, etc. that I use infrequently, so I don’t clog up my ultra-slim wallet. This back-up wallet is stored in my backpack.

4. Used wi-fi at the terminal to cancel my cards and get replacements overnighted to a friend’s place in Austin.

The End Result — Faster without ID!

I cleared security in 5 minutes, where it took others AHEAD of me in line with ID 15-20 minutes.

I was upset that that my FlyClear biometric card had been stolen, expecting to be delayed, but perhaps the cheaper solution and equally effective time saver is to “lose” your license, or simply keep it in the wallet and tell them you’re traveling without ID.

I’ll be testing this on my return trip as well.

Just another reminder to question what you “have to” do. Oftentimes the forbidden opposite is the best solution.

Successfully flew without ID, but with intense search at ISP

Airport: Long Island Islip MacArthur (ISP)
Date: March 3, 2008
Reason given: Want to fly without ID, as a selectee
Reference: personal
Airline: Southwest
Result: Successful
Description: ISP is a small airport. When I told the ID checking TSA agent that I wanted to fly without ID as a selectee. He had directed me into a little gated area, then had to leave his post while everyone else waited and go get someone to help me. The man who took me really wasn't sure what to do, and asked me a few questions while looking at my carryon. Finally, the manager came over and asked me questions about why I wanted to fly without ID, in a rather adversarial tone. I told him that I believed it was my right to fly without my ID being checked by the federal government, and suddenly his tone changed and he seemed okay with it.
However, I then received the most horrendous SSSS search I have ever been through. Agents started yelling "selectee!" My various items were marked with red tape. Each item (carryon, backpack, camera, laptop) was investigated by a different agent, in the most tedious process I have seen. I was patted down and wanded by an agent in an extensive process. The wand picked up a gum wrapper in my pocket, and also my wallet. The agent insisted on putting my wallet through the metal detector. I told him that I wasn't comfortable being separated from my wallet, he walked away with it telling me to watch him while he walked back through the metal detector and put it through. I waited for the rest of my items to be screened, and then gathered them and went on my way.
This is by far the most extensive search and intense questioning I have been subjected to when traveling without ID.

Successfully flew without ID, No extra screening, Laguardia, Jan 17

Airport: LaGuardia (LGA)
Date: January 17, 2008
Reason given: none
Reference: Grant
Airline: ?
Result: Successful
Description: My girlfriend hasn't had a valid ID for a few months now. ... she's been using various forms of expired ID to get into bars and onto planes across the country. ...Passing through security at LaGuardia yesterday, she was prepared for the same questions. Instead however, in blatant disregard for protocol she just got waved through by the security officer. Nobody asked for ID. Anywhere.

Successfully flew without ID, Washington Reagan, January 9

Airport: Washington National (DCA)
Date: January 9, 2008
Reason given: Lost ID
Reference: Ricardo
Airline: American
Result: Successful
Description: Incredibly, the [American Airlines] lady handed me a boarding pass, and my UVA ID, and told me that I would be subjected to "special screening" at security....I approached the guy who checks ID's with trepidation, handing him my boarding pass and UVA ID. "Don't you have a government-issued ID?" he asked, with a marked note of incredulity in his voice.
"No, just this" I answered sheepishly, pointing at my pathetic little university ID. I thought of mentioning the fact that UVA is a state agency, and that my UVA ID is therefore, technically speaking, a government-issued photo ID, but then I thought that it's best not to argue with TSA.
"Well, you've been selected by the airline for special screening," he added, pointing me into the security line. I nodded, and approached the line, taking off my shoes and taking out my laptop . . . The person at the metal detector looked at my boarding pass and told me that I'd been selected for special screening. She sent me to stand in this glass corridor with a door at the end. The man at the x-ray machine gathered my stuff and came to get me. ...
They took me to that special area they have to run my bags through the "will-it-blow-up" test, and to pat me down. That was it. They weren't even mean! I was treated nicely, and told to have a good flight. Now I'm sitting at the gate, completely indistinguishable from the other passengers, the ones who brought their government-issued photo ID. Nobody knows!!! No one is staring! The woman across from me has a styrofoam cup that she could hurl at me, but she's not even thinking about it. I'm typing on my laptop, and looking forward to my aisle seat.

Successfully flew without ID, Gulfport, January, 2008

Airport: Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport (GPT)
Date: January, 2008
Reason given: Lost ID
Reference: Chris Connor
Airline: AirTran
Result: Successful
Description: My return trip was uneventful, but I can say that TSA in Gulfport was very thorough. As they went through all of my pants pockets, hat, jacket, shoes, and every lens, camera, and pocket on my camera bag I began to hope that they were going to find my license! It was not to be, but I did find out that the TSA screener was a photography buff and liked my equipment.

Successfully flew without ID, Dallas/Fort Worth, January, 2008

Airport: Dallas/Ft Worth (DFW)
ID Offered: None
Date: January, 2008
Reason given: Lost ID
Reference: Chris Connor
Airline: AirTran
Result: Successful
Description: I explained my situation to the Air Tran agent and she told me that it was possible to travel without ID, but I would be subjected to a more thorough check from TSA. Going through the DFW Airport TSA security checkpoint took a little longer, but they were very understanding and helpful. They provided me with a few phone numbers to call just in case my license was found or returned. While I was waiting on my flight, I made all of the necessary phone calls to the numbers the provided, but the license was still lost.

Succesfully flew without ID, San Francisco, December 19, 2007

Airline: United
Airport: San Francisco
ID Offered: None
Date: December 19, 2007
Reference: Personal
Reason given: Want to be a selectee
Result: Successful
Description: In the security line, I told the TSA agent that I want to fly as a selectee. She mumbled "you forgot your ID" and I responded "I want to fly as a selectee." She handed me off to another agent who scribbled "SSSS" on my boarding pass and directed me to a line for selectees, which shared a metal detector with a regular line. The only difference is that bins in our line were brown instead of grey. I let several people go ahead of me, since I had plenty of time before my flight and they were running late. The line was moving slowly but everything was orderly and pleasant. My items were swab tested (before I even caught up to them) and I asked for a manual pat down instead of going through a puff machine. No information was recorded, and no one asked to see my boarding pass after the initial agent directed me to the selectee line. This has been one of the best experiences flying without ID. This may be due to the fact that these agents at San Francisco are not actually TSA agents, but from a private firm. Their uniforms display labels of both the TSA and the private firm.

Portland, Expired ID, Successful, November 2007

Airline: ?
Airport: Portland
ID Offered: Expired driver's license
Date: November, 2007
Reference: Rachel
Reason given: Expired
Result: Successful
Description:The TSA gave me shit because my drivers license had expired. I forgot about this and if I'd remembered could have brought my passport. And I have a current license, but lost my wallet and then used my old expired license figuring I will go back to the DMV soon, and then haven't had time, and then forgot I had to do it. Soooo... it was super dumb, because an expired drivers license is still perfectly valid ID. The only reason it expires is to make you go back to the DMV to check your vision and if you are still competent to drive, or something. It's not like the ID-ness of it expires! There is your photo! Still very you-like! But the TSA is too dumb to realize that. And so put me down as having NO ID. Which also is no big deal and just means you go in a different line, which as a crippled person I do anyway, and they frisk you extra (which they do anyway since I'm crippled, naturally) and search my bag by hand.

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, August 2007, Successful after changing airlines

Airline: Multiple
Airport: St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (STT),
ID Offered: None
Date: August, 2007
Reference: Andy
Reason given: Fly as a selectee/without ID
Result: Successful, after changing airlines and giving fingerprints
Description:
On my return trip I experienced I bit of a delay due to the ignorance of some of the personnel at the air line check-in counters. I tried some friendly arguing with them as best I knew how, mostly in the form of simple questions, but in the end I found that such an approach was not very fruitful as I am not likely to be able to teach anyone anything they didn't already know and because I also found that both TSA and the US Customs personnel claimed, as I understood them, that they were not allowed to provide any info or orders to any of the airline personnel. By my dialogue with various parties, including also the local airport police officers, I was able, eventually, to gather that the most likely solution to such ignorance is to simply go to another airline ticket counter and buy another ticket from them. I did so both in St Thomas (STT) and in West Palm Beach (PBI) and both times I was able to promptly get the required boarding passes without any further trouble.

Additionally, before I learned to go to the next air line ticket counter for alternate travel, I learned that I could go through the US Customs at St Thomas prior to getting my boarding pass, thereby breaking the false presumptions of the airline personnel that the US Customs would not allow me to pass. By so doing I was routed to the Customs supervisory officer who courteously handled the situation by fingerprinting me, and by so doing recognizing me, by my God given identifiers – not by a Government ID - as having the rights of traveling within the 50 states of the union.

LAX to Virgin Islands, Successful, August 2007

Airline: ??
Airport: LAX
ID Offered: None
Date: August, 2007
Reference: Andy
Reason given: Fly as a selectee/without ID
Result: Successful
Description:
During the latter half of August this year (2007) I traveled from Los Angeles (LAX) to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (STT) and back without using any government issued IDs, passports, or indeed any identification documents issued by man.

When asked for my IDs I simply answered: "I am traveling without IDs today." I was then promptly and without further comments issued a special boardingpass with an "SSSS" code which was highlighted in yellow and/or circled, after which I was able to proceed onto my plane without further trouble. However, I was urged to make certain that I got the TSA stamp upon the boarding passes while going through the TSA security check. Said stamp was obtained without any further initiative from my side. Because of my traveling without IDs I did get an extra careful security check including also my bags. (There were no further security checks when transferring between planes of the same airline at other airports.)

Southwest, Philadelphia, Successful, 9/31/07

Airline: Southwest
Airport: Philadelphia
ID Offered: None
Date: 9/31/07
Reference: Personal
Reason given: Fly as a selectee/without ID
Result: Successful
Description: As at Midway, Southwest handled my request to fly without ID as a selectee quickly and without a single word. However, this time, instead of stamping and writing on my boarding pass, the agent printed a new boarding pass with "SSSS" printed on it. I noticed upon getting up to security that TSA is now checking all IDs (on my return to Midway, I noticed the same there. See my post about this). I pointed the "SSSS" out to the TSA lady, and she wrote "No ID" a bit bigger on the pass and sent me down the same line as everyone else (this is different than at Midway; also she didn't write anything down). I put my things into the XRay scanner, and the TSA dude looked at my boarding pass and sent me just to the side, where I was quickly patted down (no puffer here); they transferred my bag and about 30 seconds later the explosives test was done and I was sent on my way via a very nice TSA agent. Took maybe one minute more than my traveling companion.

Southwest, Midway, 9/28/07, Successful

Airline: Southwest
Airport: Chicago Midway
ID Offered: none
Date: September 28, 2007
Reference: personal
Reason given: Asked to fly without ID/as a selectee
Result: Successful
Description: Upon asking to fly without ID as a selectee, the southwest agent immediately typed some information, took out a stamp and stamped something on my boarding pass (which I had printed at home), then took out a pen and wrote "no ID" and some numbers over the stamp. I said "thank you" and went on my way. It was over in less than 30 seconds, and was no hassle at all.
I got in the line and showed it to the ID checker. That person directed me to a TSA woman, who then wrote a bunch of information from the boarding pass onto a form, including, I think, my name and confirmation number, and flight information. She then escorted me to a separate screening area where I waited for them to fix the puffer machine. After several minutes, I went through the puffer machine. A few minutes later, they finished explosive testing my single bag, and I was on my way. I was a few minutes behind my travel companion.

Southwest, Burbank, August 2007, Successful

Airline: Southwest
Airport: Burbank, CA
ID Offered: ?
Date: August 7, 2007
Reference: Colleen Cason
Reason given: Forgot ID
Result: Successful
Description: Kitty LaPolla, an 82-year-old Camarillo resident, didn't have to show any stinkin' badges when she went through security at Burbank Airport on Aug. 7. At check-in, the gregarious great-grandmother discovered she had left her wallet with her driver's license at home. The Southwest Airlines ticket agent offered several suggestions on how LaPolla might get her ID to the airport in time to make her flight. None of those flew. No one has a key to her apartment except the manager, and it was too early to reach him. LaPolla can probably talk the chicken off the bone. This lady, who was in fact the 1998 Camarillo Chamber of Commerce's Senior of the Year, has survived cancer and the loss of her son in the Vietnam War. She started college at age 62 and became a reserve deputy sheriff in Imperial County at 65. For years, she served as a teacher's aide at El Rancho Structured School in Camarillo. "Basically I'm feisty as hell," she shared. This strong woman's primary weakness is playing the penny slots, which is why she wanted to visit a friend in Arkansas. The two planned a road trip to casinos up and down the Mississippi River. So the ticket agent had a dilemma. Delay and inconvenience a little, old lady or play hard ball on the ID issue. She relented, scrawling "NO ID" on her boarding pass and sent LaPolla on her way. The agent followed the rules, according to Paula Berg, spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines. "There are circumstances where we make allowances, such as passengers whose purses or wallets are stolen on their way to the airport," Berg said.. Contrary to what most of us believe, TSA rules state passengers can travel without ID if they agree to have their carry-on bags searched. LaPolla did just that. Or as she puts it, "I had to go through all that bologna."

Continental, Philadelphia, January 2007, Successful

Airline: Continental
Airport: Philadelphia
ID Offered: Library of Congress photo ID
Date: January, 2007
Reference: Chris Soghoian
Reason given: Lost ID
Result: Successful
Description:I flew from Philly back to Indianpolis today on Continental, and again got to try out the no ID experience (putting me up to a grand total of 5 flights without any ID at all, and 1 flight with my student ID).

I used the easy check-in machine at the airport to print out my boarding pass (by punching in my confirmation code - no credit card/ID necessary). I then told the Continental employee behind the counter that I had lost my ID at a bar the night before, and that I wasn't going to be able to produce any ID. One key question she (and her supervisor) seemed to find important was if this was my outgoing, or return flight. It seems they're more willing to be a bit flexible if you're 'stranded' somewhere.

Like last time, I told them I had read in the New York times that you can fly without ID if you get a special "SSSS" boarding pass. They didn't seem to be too happy to know that I knew their secret SSSS code...

I had handed over my boarding pass to them, and as she read me the rules, it seemed clear that she wasn't going to give it back to me without any ID. In the end, I handed over my Library of Congress 'reader' photo ID, and she wrote "SSS" (her mistake, not mine) on the boarding pass in ink.

Once I got to the TSA checkpoint, I told them I didn't have a single piece of ID - which worked just fine. Sure, I got checked, but I didn't have to show them anything at all, other than the marked boarding pass.

American, January 2007, San Francisco, Successful

Airline: American
Airport: San Francisco (SFO)
ID Offered: Credit card, Co-Op membership
Date: January, 2007
Reference: Chris Soghoian
Reason given: Choice
Result: Successful
Description: When I flew back from San Francisco this morning, it was my first attempt ever to fly on American Airlines without ID.
Every single time I've attempted to fly without ID, i've been able to successfully avoid showing TSA a single piece of ID - the tricky part is trying to get your boarding pass and check a bag without showing anything to the airline.

American demanded 'some' form of ID. I didnt' want to argue too much, so I whipped out a credit card and my Bloomingfoods Organic Food Co-Op membership card, gave it to the agent, and then she printed me out a special SSSS boarding pass - AA is high tech, and doesn't seem to resort to sharpie pens.

The fun started once I got to the TSA checkpoint. [more...]

Delta, March 2007, Successful

Airline: Delta
Airport: ??
ID Offered: None
Date: March, 2007
Reference: syzygy
Reason given: Choice
Result: Successful, after airline resistance.
Description: Since the flight out was rather smooth through security, I didn’t expect much of a problem on my return flight. Flying Delta this time, the agent at the desk did not want to let me check my bags. She kept insisting that it was federal law for me to show ID and that she can’t let me check bags without it. After arguing with her for about 10 minutes, I demanded to see the supervisor. She left for a minute and, when she came back, printed my tickets and took my checked bags. When handing me my tickets (with SSSS boldly printed), she claimed the only reason they were letting me fly was because this was my returning flight. If that was true, getting on a plane would be as easy as claiming you were returning home. Other than that, getting through security was easy. Again, they bumped me to the front of an, admittedly short, line, and did similar procedures as my first flight. The TSA agent was very nice, did a quick frisk, and a quick look through my bag. He did not swab everything in my bag this time, doing only the zippers on the bag, my cell phone, my shoes, and my laptop.