No longer using passport as ID for TSA - here's why
#16
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Northern Nevada
Programs: DL,EK
Posts: 1,652
Same. I have visas and/or stamps from Yemen, Oman, UAE (including a residence permit), Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Sudan... all that Arabic writing almost always leads to questions. For some reason the Bahrain one always gets asked about. No idea why.
#17
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Duluth! You Betcha!
Programs: Northwest Platinum (Sigh), all others as well......
Posts: 34
TWIC
This is why I always use my TWIC card.
No address, no DL number, no passport number, just a name and phots.
Still, only about half of the smurfs know what a TWIC is.
It's a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, and it's issued by DHS!
No address, no DL number, no passport number, just a name and phots.
Still, only about half of the smurfs know what a TWIC is.
It's a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, and it's issued by DHS!
#18
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: Alaska MVPG 100K, IHG Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,704
I am not a US citizen so I do not have a US passport. At one time when I was passing through the TSA checkpoint in SEA showing my foreign passport as my ID, I was told my foreign passport is NOT a valid ID and asked if I had a driver's license. I asked her why the foreign passport was not a valid ID, and she ignored me and just asked again if I had a driver's license. I was in a rush to get through for the plane (was in horrible traffic) so I didn't press further. That got me thinking though - if I was allowed into the country through immigration with my foreign passport, why was the same book not accepted to just go through the TSA checkpoint when I was LEAVING the country on an international itinerary? That is just non-sense - probably just a self-empowered federal employee.
Since then, I have had no problem using my foreign passport again through the TSA.
Since then, I have had no problem using my foreign passport again through the TSA.
#19
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,004
#20
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Greater DC
Programs: UA plus
Posts: 12,943
This is why I got the passport card, I've been pleased to use it in lieu of the passport or drivers license, and so far have not had any pushback by TSOs, the Bank or wherever it's been used. Pulling it in and out of the little envelope to shield the chip is a PITA however.
#22
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 1,439
still no requirement to show ID; cross-reference related FT posts
See also the following FlyerTalk threads:
- 2008-04-08: Article:No ID needed to board plane
- 2008-05-01: new info from TSA re: airlines requesting ID
- 2008-05-01: does the law/courts say ID is not required to...
- 2008-06-06: Starting June 21: Refuse to Show ID, No Entry to Sterile Area
- 2008-06-09: Actually, it looks like you can still fly without ID
- 2008-06-11: TSA blog addresses the new airport ID rule
- 2008-06-20: TSA says new airport ID rule is not about control
- 2008-06-22: No ID - Reports from the Field
- 2008-06-23: Forget ID after 6/21: expect invasive ?s including political affiliation
- 2008-11-19: Are you kidding me: No ID
- 2009-05-01: What is the ID Policy?
- 2009-05-27: TSA SOP re: airport ID requirements provided to IDP via FOIA request
- 2009-07-20: Flying with expired license
- 2009-07-28: Do kids with seats (age 2-10) need ID?
- 2009-08-04: Expired Drivers licence + Temporary One -Can I fly?
- 2009-08-10: Has anyone had a problem without photo ID at the gate of Jetblue at JFK and MCO?
- 2009-11-16: Flyer “Processed” (Arrested?) in NM After Declining to Show ID Flyer “Processed” (Arrested?) in NM After Declining to Show ID
#23
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Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
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I wonder what they'd do when presented with a national ID card issued by a foreign government?
#24
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
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This is OT but are you sure the Swiss will let you in?
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/coun...itzerland.html
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/coun...itzerland.html
#25
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Greater DC
Programs: UA plus
Posts: 12,943
Wirelessly posted (goingaway's phone: BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.231 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)
No, I am US Citizen with US passport. I don't have anything problems from Swiss Passport Control. I will show the passport and I will tell him where I am stay and visit to see my brother. That I will tell him that I am stay in Switzerland for 1 week.
Before the Swiss will let you in or the airline will allow you on the plane, they require not only a valid passport but one with at least X amount of time still remaining before it expires. You need to check the rules for your points of entry, I think it may require 6 months left before expiration in order to be permitted in - the airline will deny you boarding if you don't have a passport valid for at least that period of time
Originally Posted by N830MH
This is OT but are you sure the Swiss will let you in?
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/coun...itzerland.html
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/coun...itzerland.html
#26
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Northern Nevada
Programs: DL,EK
Posts: 1,652
I am not a US citizen so I do not have a US passport. At one time when I was passing through the TSA checkpoint in SEA showing my foreign passport as my ID, I was told my foreign passport is NOT a valid ID and asked if I had a driver's license. I asked her why the foreign passport was not a valid ID, and she ignored me and just asked again if I had a driver's license. I was in a rush to get through for the plane (was in horrible traffic) so I didn't press further. That got me thinking though - if I was allowed into the country through immigration with my foreign passport, why was the same book not accepted to just go through the TSA checkpoint when I was LEAVING the country on an international itinerary? That is just non-sense - probably just a self-empowered federal employee.
Since then, I have had no problem using my foreign passport again through the TSA.
Since then, I have had no problem using my foreign passport again through the TSA.
#27
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 381
"99% of my travel is international. Because I have to present my passport when I check in, I use it as my ID with TSA. I keep my passport in a leather case. Now I know that the immigration people require you to remove your passport from the case so that they can run it throuogh the scanner. But TSA does not scan the passport.
The most recent ID check by TSA resulted in the ID checker requesting that I remove my passport from the case. You can still see my name and photo just fine when the passport is in the case. When she asked me to remove it, I said really, no one else has ever requested this before. I was curious why. No response - just asked me again to remove it, I complied even though it is a pain because I keep my yellow immunization card and Bulgarian work permit and residency card behind the passport in the case so that all this information is in one place when I need it and I have to keep an eye on all those things. Then after verifying the passport against the boarding pass, she proceeded to flip through the 70-something pages of my passport, which happens to be full of visas and residence permits and lots of stamps. I have no idea why she was looking at my passport like that - there was no need.
I have decided that I will now use the minimum required ID for TSA because I am sick and tired of people nosing into my personal business (in the guise of security) for no valid reason."
The most recent ID check by TSA resulted in the ID checker requesting that I remove my passport from the case. You can still see my name and photo just fine when the passport is in the case. When she asked me to remove it, I said really, no one else has ever requested this before. I was curious why. No response - just asked me again to remove it, I complied even though it is a pain because I keep my yellow immunization card and Bulgarian work permit and residency card behind the passport in the case so that all this information is in one place when I need it and I have to keep an eye on all those things. Then after verifying the passport against the boarding pass, she proceeded to flip through the 70-something pages of my passport, which happens to be full of visas and residence permits and lots of stamps. I have no idea why she was looking at my passport like that - there was no need.
I have decided that I will now use the minimum required ID for TSA because I am sick and tired of people nosing into my personal business (in the guise of security) for no valid reason."
#28
Join Date: May 2003
Location: GEG
Programs: Motel 6 Club Avoir Le Cafard
Posts: 5,027
Nearly all federal security guards, in nearly all federal agencies, buildings, and military bases, will demand to touch your ID (out of any case that it might be in) as part of their Standard Operating Procedure to check your ID for bogosity.
#29
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Wirelessly posted (goingaway's phone: BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.231 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)
Before the Swiss will let you in or the airline will allow you on the plane, they require not only a valid passport but one with at least X amount of time still remaining before it expires. You need to check the rules for your points of entry, I think it may require 6 months left before expiration in order to be permitted in - the airline will deny you boarding if you don't have a passport valid for at least that period of time
Before the Swiss will let you in or the airline will allow you on the plane, they require not only a valid passport but one with at least X amount of time still remaining before it expires. You need to check the rules for your points of entry, I think it may require 6 months left before expiration in order to be permitted in - the airline will deny you boarding if you don't have a passport valid for at least that period of time
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Happily living in Frenaros Cyprus having escaped the near-death experience called Sofia Bulgaria
Programs: Etihad Guest Gold, DL FO and 1MM, and a bunch of others at a low level
Posts: 2,053
It just occurred to me that I have a second passport "An official passport" issued when I was working on official USG business. This passport is smaller than the monster passport with all the extra pages sewn in so there is not much to snoop through. Technically, this offical passport can be used only when on official US gov business and I comply with that usage requirement. However, there is nothing from stopping me from using this official passport (it is brown) for TSA ID check. Maybe this will get me some respect.
Do you think my Bulgarian work permit or residency card will pass the ID check? They both have my name, date of birth, an photo on them/
Do you think my Bulgarian work permit or residency card will pass the ID check? They both have my name, date of birth, an photo on them/