Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
Note that compared to other countries (and conditional on socioeconomic status, education, income, age, etc.), relatively few USA citizens have passports.
TSA is required to accept nondriver state ID cards (essentially licenses to drink but also used for check cashing, hotel check in, voting where photo ID is required, etc.), passport cards, GE cards, probably NEXIS/SENTRY too, and IIRC military ID. They should also accept government employee ID cards as they're government issued photo ID, but this is likely to cause delays at most checkpoints.
I always travel with my passport and use it as ID because my driver's license contains my home address. I don't think it's a good idea to show my home address to random TSA minimum wage employees who are aware that I will be away from home. For that matter, it's not necessarily wise to show one's home address to some random bartender or store clerk IMO.
Here's the exact list off of the TSA website:
Acceptable IDs for screening purposes include:
U.S. passport
U.S. passport card
DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
U.S. military ID (active duty or retired military and their dependents, and DoD civilians)
Permanent resident card
Border crossing card
DHS-designated enhanced driver's license
Driver's licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent) for the sole purpose of identification
Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID
HSPD-12 PIV card
Airline or airport-issued ID (if issued under a TSA-approved security plan)
Foreign government-issued passport
Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Note: a weapon permit is not an acceptable form of identification.
I'll have to say I've had trouble....well at least minor issues.....even using some of the supposedly approved forms of ID. For instance, I had a retired military ID, figured it was good, and used it a couple of times without issue. Then all of a sudden I had two or three TSOs questioned it to the point a supervisor had to step in and clear me. Finally one of them explains that my ID didn't have an expiration date....it isn't like I'm going to become unretired anytime soon.....so the military wasn't putting one on the old style ID cards. Now that's been fixed as the new retired ID is actually a non-chipped CAC with an expiration date on it. The other form I had trouble with was my concealed weapons permit. Those are now listed as specifically not acceptable but I don't think it was always that way or at least the first few times I used it the TSO was clueless and let it go. Got it and I don't use it any more but funny thing is at least in Texas those are harder to get than a drivers license with a lot more background checks, etc. The third form is my GE card. Yes, they'll accept it but they're not for whatever reason fond of them....guess they don't have much information on them. Doesn't help that, and I think it was reported here on another thread, that at least one TSO didn't recognize it as a US issued ID. I actually don't use it often, in fact only tried after I got it just to see if the GE card would work, and the last time I pulled it out for a TSO actually muttered "ugh" under his breath.
