No longer using passport as ID for TSA - here's why
Dec 4, 2009, 3:12 pm
#61
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I recently talked to a friend from Amsterdam who's Dutch passport wasn't accepted as proof of age when he tried to buy alcohol in Kansas.
Dec 4, 2009, 4:30 pm
#62
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: TIP,PDX
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The other day I was supervising the TDC and noticed that one of the officers was doing the "thumb through the pages." I then realized that he was doing something legit to a passport that requires this and it appears to the untrained eye that it is being nosey and it is not.
im curious as to what you saw which made you think it was legit
Dec 4, 2009, 4:30 pm
#63
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: TIP,PDX
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The other day I was supervising the TDC and noticed that one of the officers was doing the "thumb through the pages." I then realized that he was doing something legit to a passport that requires this and it appears to the untrained eye that it is being nosey and it is not.
im curious as to what you saw which made you think it was legit
Nov 23, 2010, 6:35 pm
#64
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: LGA/JFK
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Nov 23, 2010, 6:52 pm
#65
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 326
Related to passports: I got a new passport over the summer and used it for the first time a few weeks ago.
I handed my boarding card and passport to the TSA ID checker, who glanced at it and said "Your passport is not valid." and was then silent.
My heart skipped a beat, imagining my trip I planned so diligently for going up in smoke.
Obviously startled I replied "Why is it not valid?" and she said "It's not signed...."
I took it from her, grabbed a pen from my bag and stepped aside to sign it, and all was well.
A fair oversight on my part, and my fault - but couldn't she simply tell me that without the moment of drama? I can't see what pleasure anyone would get out of making someone think their trip would not happen - even if for a second.
I handed my boarding card and passport to the TSA ID checker, who glanced at it and said "Your passport is not valid." and was then silent.
My heart skipped a beat, imagining my trip I planned so diligently for going up in smoke.
Obviously startled I replied "Why is it not valid?" and she said "It's not signed...."
I took it from her, grabbed a pen from my bag and stepped aside to sign it, and all was well.
A fair oversight on my part, and my fault - but couldn't she simply tell me that without the moment of drama? I can't see what pleasure anyone would get out of making someone think their trip would not happen - even if for a second.
Nov 23, 2010, 7:32 pm
#66
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SE Asia
Posts: 647
Me too, but we all know he won't answer the question.
There is absolutely nothing 'legit' about a TDC thumbing through a passport. Verify the pax identity and move on. That's the TDC's job, nothing more.
Get over yourself.
Nov 23, 2010, 7:35 pm
#67
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 5,051
Related to passports: I got a new passport over the summer and used it for the first time a few weeks ago.
I handed my boarding card and passport to the TSA ID checker, who glanced at it and said "Your passport is not valid." and was then silent.
My heart skipped a beat, imagining my trip I planned so diligently for going up in smoke.
Obviously startled I replied "Why is it not valid?" and she said "It's not signed...."
I took it from her, grabbed a pen from my bag and stepped aside to sign it, and all was well.
A fair oversight on my part, and my fault - but couldn't she simply tell me that without the moment of drama? I can't see what pleasure anyone would get out of making someone think their trip would not happen - even if for a second.
I handed my boarding card and passport to the TSA ID checker, who glanced at it and said "Your passport is not valid." and was then silent.
My heart skipped a beat, imagining my trip I planned so diligently for going up in smoke.
Obviously startled I replied "Why is it not valid?" and she said "It's not signed...."
I took it from her, grabbed a pen from my bag and stepped aside to sign it, and all was well.
A fair oversight on my part, and my fault - but couldn't she simply tell me that without the moment of drama? I can't see what pleasure anyone would get out of making someone think their trip would not happen - even if for a second.
Nov 23, 2010, 9:28 pm
#68
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On my driver's license, the signature occurs before the card is produced. That seems more forgery proof. The idea that a security guard would stand there watching you sign it on the spot makes me want to laugh. How do they know the signature ITSELF is valid? I really think this passport format is TOTALLY obsolete. I wonder how many more decades before someone decides to make it less easy to counterfeit.
Nov 23, 2010, 9:33 pm
#69
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One of the many reasons that I use a passport card-- no pages for them to flip through 
Nov 23, 2010, 11:28 pm
#70
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Programs: Delta DM, Continental PE
Posts: 230
I usually carry around my passport card as backup ID when travelling. When I'm on an international itinerary, my passport book and drivers license are secured and I use the card as ID. It is a double edged sword. Ran into a TSO who has no clue passport cards existed. Even when I told him it's a valid piece of ID, he still had to get a supervisor. Guess he needs remedial training.
At the very least I didn't expect this response --
"an FAA ID? That doesn't mean anything to me"
SR
Nov 25, 2010, 9:09 am
#71
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 326
The idea that a security guard would stand there watching you sign it on the spot makes me want to laugh. How do they know the signature ITSELF is valid?
Nov 25, 2010, 9:15 am
#72
Join Date: Feb 2006
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I posted here a while back that I showed an FAA ID to a TSA agent. Not only is it a valid federally issued ID, but it also indicates a federal security clearance and allows for certain access to the secure area without a boarding pass.
At the very least I didn't expect this response --
"an FAA ID? That doesn't mean anything to me"
SR
At the very least I didn't expect this response --
"an FAA ID? That doesn't mean anything to me"
SR
Nov 25, 2010, 9:24 am
#73
Join Date: Jan 2008
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I have never had a TSA person look beyond the photo page of my passport nor has it ever been rejected as ID and I almost always use the Passort rather than any other ID. Sometimes they comment on the multiplicity of pages, but that's it.
Does anybody actually refuse one as ID? Until this thread I had never heard of that. 'Course buying booze in Kansas may itself be a suspicious act...
Does anybody actually refuse one as ID? Until this thread I had never heard of that. 'Course buying booze in Kansas may itself be a suspicious act...
Nov 28, 2010, 2:20 am
#74
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Programs: Delta DM, Continental PE
Posts: 230
No, the idiot would not let me through with an FAA ID.
I went to the Starbucks across the hall and got a latte (while you -- the american taxpayer -- were paying me $90 an hour) . About 45 minutes later the Delta ticket counter manager came over to TSA yelling, "Have you seen the FAA guy? Flight 123 is still at the gate waiting on him."
I walked over and said "That would be me, he wouldn't let me in".
I got in after that.
I'm pretty sure it was the same guy I had to educate about the mythical $10K "limit".
BTW, you guys don't have to worry about Air Traffic Control. We don't allow TSA in our facilities without an escort.
SR
I went to the Starbucks across the hall and got a latte (while you -- the american taxpayer -- were paying me $90 an hour) . About 45 minutes later the Delta ticket counter manager came over to TSA yelling, "Have you seen the FAA guy? Flight 123 is still at the gate waiting on him."
I walked over and said "That would be me, he wouldn't let me in".
I got in after that.
I'm pretty sure it was the same guy I had to educate about the mythical $10K "limit".
BTW, you guys don't have to worry about Air Traffic Control. We don't allow TSA in our facilities without an escort.
SR
Last edited by srilm; Nov 28, 2010 at 3:18 am
Nov 28, 2010, 7:47 am
#75
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Personally, I'd be happier if you didn't let them in at all! What legitimate purpose could TSA possibly have in the control tower or the radar installations? 