Real ID 10/2020 Deadline: Best ID to Carry? DL? GE? Passport?
 

In October 2020, Real ID compliant identification must be shown at airports in the US. What is the best to carry?

a. driver's license - small, no additional costs (disclaimer: some states are just starting to or haven't yet issued Real ID compliant driver's licenses. This may cause people to have non-compliant ID unless they get a new driver's license or, if in NY/VT/MI/MN/WA, get a more expensive enhanced driver's license.
drawback - don't lose it or you can't rent a car on a trip

a2. in a few states, an enhanced DL or yet to be (or just recently) issued new DL is needed. - small
drawback - additional costs, especially if current DL is not expiring now. Also need to not lose if renting a car.

b. passport - big, if you lose it, you can still use your driver's license to rent a car. Large size may cause wear and damage to your passport.

c. passport card - additional cost but small, don't need to rent a car so lost is not a problem with car rental companies

d. Global Entry, Sentri, or Nexus - small, don't need to rent a car so lost is not a problem
drawback - is currently unfamiliar at some airports. I tried and the screener had to close the lane and ask a supervisor if the card was acceptable.

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I can't figure out what to do. I think it's
1st choice. use your DL if Real ID compliant
2nd choice. use your Global Entry, Sentri, or Nexus if don't have Real ID compliant DL
3rd choice: use passport
4th choice: if DL is not Real ID compliant, buy a new DL that is (or in a few states, buy the Real ID compliant DL)
5th choice: buy a passport card

For me, as much redundancy as possible would be good. I have a passport, passport card and DL. I would likely get an enhanced license if it were offered, and of course if I needed GE or somethings similar, I would get it. I would also try to stagger the passport and passport card applications to ensure a valid passport when one or the other expires, instead of having both expire on the same date.

I keep my passport card and DL in my wallet, and my passport is at home. With an enhanced DL, I'm not sure whether I'd carry the passport card. I show the passport card everywhere I can at the moment.

Passport card. It doesn't list your address which could be used by TSA employees to target your home.

Is this really still happening much? The only id I ever use at the airport is my Nexus card, and I've never had anyone (from check-in agents to TSA) question it being a valid id.

Dollars to donuts DHS blinks.

Another vote here for the passport card. It's usefulness is not limited to transiting TSA checkpoints; I am not a frequent traveler as most FTers are, but I have found my passport card very useful in a number of other situations where I need a second form of photo ID - it's issued by the federal government, and is RealID compliant, so it's acceptable to all sorts of government agencies and private companies. And as several others have mentioned above, it doesn't have your home address on it, which is a plus to me. It's also wallet-size, and laminated as tough as a DL, so it'll take a beating and won't dissolve if it gets wet.

In order, my usual progression is:

PIV-II badge
Passport Card
GE card
DL

Unless I'm traveling overseas, then it's the Passport Book.

This presumes that there ever comes a day when a non-compliant DL really is unacceptable for travel (let's just pretend), I would still travel with the DL because I always carry it. I also have a passport book, passport card, and GE card. I travel with the passport card and have the passport book (& GE as backup) for international.

It is always good to have a secondary piece of IDand the passport card only costs $25 above the passport book fee.

But, this is nothing to worry about yet.

I have no intention of getting REAL ID, since I don't like the feds sticking their nose into local matters like driver's licenses. The rationale behind the REAL ID Act (9/11 terrorists having multiple IDs from different states) is also long irrelevant.

I will use my passport book when traveling internationally and passport card or GE card when traveling domestically.

This is assuming that the deadline doesn't get extended again, for the 8th time or whatever they are on. October 1, 2020 is the month before a presidential and congressional election. I doubt the administration will want to upset the public at that time. Chaos at airports got Trump to end the shutdown, so I doubt he will want chaos at airports right before he is up for re-election.

I assume TSA will still allow people to board without acceptable ID after going through extra screening and identity verification through credit databases, just as they do today, so that should address the constitutional issues.

I signed up for a 3 month trial CLEAR (free!) membership. I was flying on DL JFK-ZRH (out of T4 which has clear). Once I cleared CLEAR:) I bypassed the TSA P/C agent and went straight to the security line. So CLEAR (though expensive if you don't have any discounts) is another option..

TSA has taken copies of my DL three times: once when they confiscated my nitroglycerine pills and I protested and it ended up with a suit coming out and ordering copies of my ID and BP for a 'report'.

The second time, I was following the advice of a TSO who posted on here. I had a copy of her PM with me. It went badly, they took the copy of her PM and copies of my BP and DL.

The last time, a TSO hurt me badly during a blue-gloved hands-on exercise and I cried out involuntarily. Without going into it, I asked for the police to come and witness the second full-body exercise to protect myself. My bags were out of sight, of course. I turned around just in time to see another TSO putting my BP and ID back in my bag and holding the copies he had just made in his hand. No one said anything about a 'report' on that occasion, but I'm sure there was one because I asked for the police.

(note: I always lock my BP and ID in my carry-on post-ID check now. If anyone is opening my bag for any reason, they're going to have to deal with a lock. It's the only way I can guarantee they'll do it in front of me).

I don't like anyone having my personal information unless I choose to give it to them. There's no doubt in my mind that if I had been using a passport or passport card, that is the document they would have copied. Proof of home address isn't required to fly - yet.

Does anyone know if the NEXUS cards are RealID compliant?