TuxTom

She sent in the form with her old passport in August and our international trip isn't until March so hopefully no issues there.

Centurion

I 100% disagree about not bringing the old ID. Not only would I bring it would be the only ID I would use. Use the Id that matches the reservation. The comments about it being illegal should be disregarded. You can go the other route and complicate matters if you enjoy talking and anxiety while On vacation

MSPeconomist

When wife got the new driver's license, did the authorities invalidate the old one by cutting off a corner or punching a hole through it? If it's clearly marked as invalid, I would think that showing it would just raise more questions.

My state seems to cut off the corner and give you a carbon copy of a form (good for 30-60 days, b ut there were some bad processing lags during COVID-19 and people had to go back to the DMV office to get the carbon revalidated) when a license is renewed. They don't attempt to collect the old one when you renew. I can't recall the procedure if you renew by mail, but obviously they can't cut off the corner if you don't present the old license in person. In fact. AFAIK you normally can't renew by mail (or by dropping off and picking up an envelope the next day), but there was an exception for a while during COVID-19.

diburning

The Real ID requirement hasn't gone into effect yet as they keep pushing it back. Under the current rules, you don't even need ID to go through TSA as long as you can prove your identity to the TSA's satisfaction. I'm sure the showing the old DL along with the marriage certificate will be enough to satisfy the TSA. Just arrive a half hour early so that if they do need to perform this process, that you're not going to miss your flight.

flyerCO

Just for reference from US DOT FLY RIGHTS webpage. Bring your current valid ID and marriage certificate or court order.

Dont simply present old ID if still have it.

flyerCO

I want to be clear. TSA isn't going to arrest them or have them charged for why they're considering this.

However TSA is likely to cause them much grief if they attempt to do it this way. After all there's a reason TSA verifies ID in first place. They don't want people getting around TSAs systems by simply using ID in old name.

BTW, someone mentioned renewal by mail. AFAIK name changes can't be done online/snail mail in any state. Simple renewal is fine, but change of name isn't.

Using the old ID to travel under old name with no mention of new name is a problem. It may still be the same person, but purposefully traveling under a different name is issue.

escape4

I am glad to hear that it worked out. If I was an agent, I would be less concerned about the OP's situation (ticket in the old name + proof of old name on old ID + proof of the name change bridging the gap between the two) than your situation where the ticket was in the future name but which had not been done and they would have no official confirmation that it would ever be done in the future. I don't know how the checking of passengers against "do not fly" lists or various other issues work but in your situation the ticket was in the name of someone who did not "exist" yet in the system, so to speak. To make matters worse, it was an international flight.

Anyway, good thing that some dose of common sense prevailed.

indufan

Many states have been renewing online for years. They have just conceded it is the honor system to only have one driver's license. I carried two for years and it still save me once. Yes, it was still illegal. In my particular state, we just renew in person every other time (gotta take a vision test) but that adds up to 12 years.

brosnan6

(Tried searching for this as I imagine this isn't an uncommon stiatuion but annoying enough the FT search engine doesn't allow you to use the word "name" in the search query so a search for "name change" returns nothing!)

We finally started the process to legally change my wife's name after naturalization and marriage because we needed a passport for international travel, but I am unclear how to handle previously booked domestic DL tickets. She just got her passport under the new married name but her DL account is still under maiden name (which I assume is straight forward enough to update by sending them the marriage certificate). But what about existing domestic travel booked under the maiden name AFTER the DL account is updated (meaning the names won't match so I would think no elite benefits or mileage earning) -- will they update the name on her ticket at the same time as the account update? At the moment her state drivers license is still under the maiden name but by the time the next trip comes around in Nov the drivers license will have been reissued under the married name as well.

For what it's worth, she still has her Canadian passport under her maiden name (meaning we would have at least some ID matching the ticket and her account if needed) in case it's just easier to leave everything as-is and wait until after the trip to update her DL account

emma dog

She'll need to carry her marriage certificate or whatever other legal document that connects the ticket name with her legal name on whatever identification she uses. DL won't change the name on the tickets and it isn't that big of a deal as long as she is prepared to show the information to the TSA and airline folks if asked.

brosnan6

That's helpful, thanks. Would you also say it makes sense to wait to change the name on DL account until that trip is completed so there are no issues with name mismatch and elite benefits?

Zorak

Meta: when FT search tells you a particular word is too short or common to be included as a search term, you can put it in quotation marks like "name" to force it to search for that word.

An alternative strategy is to do a Google search for something like

which turned up this recent thread (with similar advice to what you've received here) plus some older ones

Spouse traveling under maiden name following name change

(not a criticism, just a "by the way" to help future searching )

emma dog

It doesn't really matter. It will be OK.

brosnan6

Thanks. DL's technology must be far better than Alaska's because it's they made it sound like everything will break and we will be kicked out of our preferred seats the moment her account name doesn't match the ticket. I wouldn't think that would be the case but at the same time I don't want to test it just before a long flight with no other available good seats

Schmoops

I have a related question. I got married earlier this year, and changed my name in June, and received an updated drivers license. I have not yet updated my passport (or Global Entry).

I have not yet updated my SkyMiles account with my married name (though I have the necessary paperwork to do so). Since my name change, I have booked and flown tickets using my maiden name, and with TSA I use my Global Entry card (and as a back up, I have my license with a copy of marriage certificate) with no issues.

My hesitation on updating my SkyMiles account is because I have a $2k ticket credit that I haven't used yet that is in my maiden name. Anyone have experience with this? Using a ticket credit issued with your maiden name, and then being used for a new flight in the future with married name?