Yesterday at LAX.

"ID and boarding pass please". I hand over my U.S. government employee ID (its always in my pocket).

"Do you have another ID"?

"What's wrong with my United States Government issued (after full background check) identification"?

"No expiration date".

"My ID does not expire because I am a permanant employee. As far as I know there is no rule that an identification must have an expiration date".

"Its a rule. Where's you driver's license"?

"Let me get this straight, you'll accept any driver's license that the average high school kid could knock off on his home computer but not a United States Government issued ID "?

"If it has an expiration date".


From the TSA website:
Proper Identification

If you have a paper ticket for a domestic flight, passengers age 18 and over must present one form of photo identification issued by a local state or federal government agency (e.g.: passport/drivers license/military ID), or two forms of non-photo identification, one of which must have been issued by a state or federal agency (e.g.: U.S. social security card). For an international flight, you will need to present a valid passport, visa, or any other required documentation. Passengers without proper ID may be denied boarding.

For e-tickets, you will need to show your photo identification and e-ticket receipt to receive your boarding pass.

There are four ways to obtain a boarding pass:

Go to your airline's ticket counter at the airport
Use curbside check-in
Use your airline's self-service ticket kiosk in the airport lobby
Print the boarding pass from your airline's website


Slightly off topic - apparently by these rules if you have an e ticket you must show your photo ID to the self service kiosk or to you home computer .

Sounds like you got an idiot. I never had trouble using my govie ID when I worked for them. Then again, most screeners wouldn't argue with a DoD ID either.

What agency was the ID from? I've seen a number of instances where non-TSA people couldn't recognize a valid government ID. In your situation, depending on the agency, the screener might not even realize it is part of the Federal government.

Superguy is right on. Since TSA screeners are a cross-section of the US population (even that is arguable), odds are that many can't tell you who their US Representatives and Senators are or name the 50 states. Recognizing a valid ID from an 'unknown' department might be a stretch.

The OP never said anything about TSA in this.

I'd rather not give particulars, but let's just say that it has the name of a dept. big enough to have a cabinet secretary and a couple of buildings in DC. Besides, it says "US Govt. Employee", it has a hologram, and clearly cost more to produce than a driver's license. And regarding driver's licenses, I don't believe that the fools doing the checking can probably even name (or spell) the 50 states, much less recognize a valid license from each.

On the plus side, the TSA clown at the metal detector did not order me to take my shoes off.

So... What eventually happened?

Wanting to get home more than I wanted to make a stand I showed the person my Virginia driver's license (which I do not routinely carry but had to open my locked bag to produce).

And the person was not a TSA. I assume she was some sort of sub-TSA contractor.

Yeah, what is this obsession with expiration dates on ID?

My wife has run into trouble with her non-driver's ID that has no date on it. What's she supposed to do??

What's really silly is a bank that wouldn't take it--so she comes back with her passport. That is only taken after grudging protest including her being told to get a driver's license. That from an idiot who had seen the non-driver's ID.

Hint: Someone who has a non-driver's ID should be presumed incapable of driving for some reason!

According to our government and the airlines, those fine folks checking IDs are just as part of the security process as shoe sniffers.

Nice...