I realize I'm going to get flamed for this, but I don't understand the point behind giving someone such a hard time when all he or she is doing is what the job entails. Some in here couch it in terms of protecting individual rights to privacy or preventing government intrusion, but I just don't see the checkpoint as some battlefield for that sort of thing. I've seen real battlefields and I've been with people who really lay it on the line. Perhaps this is some sort of fantasy certain "elite" travellers can role-play by giving someone earning $10 an hour such a hard time in a vicarious fight for freedom, democracy and the American Way. :rolleyes:

As I remember, many of those subject to Nurenberg trials, were merely following orders, or in other words, doing their jobs.

No flame, just explanations.

First, if he or she is insisting on seeing a DL, he or she isn't doing what the job entails, which is (according to every written source I've ever seen) asking for "government issued photo identification." A Library of Congress card is a government issued photo ID. So is a student ID from any public school.

For some people, it's part of a "what can I get away with" game. For others, it's a kind of protest pointing out how stupid the system is. For still others, there's a genuine paranoia that somebody is going to get too much of their personal information. There have been reports (although none lately that I'm aware of) of the TSA using personal info from DLs to mail fines to pax's homes simply because they were carrying a screwdriver or some other banned item.

Well, I suppose comparing the holocaust to a poorly trained ticket checker at an airport is a valid point, it still seems a little much...

Gee...in Australia they wouldn't take my Ohio DL
 

To sign up for a frequent gambler program at a hotel. I think having a ID that is in fact easy or somewhat easy to validate is even more important at a airport checkpoint.

boarding pass/id checker analogy
 

Ok, how about brigand? Highwayman? Troll next to the bridge? Blackmailer?

It is very simple from their perspective. You obey their rules (not the published ones) and you won't lose the use of your ticket.

Actually it sounds like a TSO except without a federally issued uniform. Same level of accountability.

Me thinks the flying public issues too much respect on the basis of fear rather than the trust that should be earned. It only makes it worse.

I disagree completely.

Unless an airline (read: private business) wishes to perform an ID check for revenue protection, no one should ever have to identify themselves to fly domestically.

Those responsible for mandating such un-American rules should be severely punished.

In most airports, the ticket checker reports to the airline that operates in that terminal or in the case of a terminal that several airlines use, they report to whichever airline volunteered or was voted to handle the tasks out of all the airlines. Example: at PHL terminals B,C and F, US Airways handles the ticket checkers because they are the only airline to use those terminals. At terminal D, United does it because they volunteered to or all the airlines took a vote and UA was the winner(or loser). If you have a problem with a ticket checker and they refuse to get you thier supervisor, go back to the ticket counter and ask for an airline supervisor for help. The TSA will not get invloved simply because they have no control over the ticket checkers and even though your ticket will be checked by TSA when you go through the checkpoint, the law says that the airline or thier designated representative has to check your BP and ID before you can enter the checkpoint. I know thier a pain to deal with at times but thems the rules.

[QUOTE=daw617]If he refused to call a supervisor, I confess I'd be sorely tempted to just ignore the ID checker, walk past him/her, and get in the line for TSA screening -- and see what he does. If he calls his supervisor, then I've got part of what I wanted.

Ok, that's probably optimistic,[QUOTE]

Actually, that's exactly the thing to do, particularly in Boston, where the ID checkers make such a big deal of anything and everything. The easiest solution is just to walk right past them. I've never been stopped.

This does, however, beg the question of why IDs are even needed. If it is for security purposes, then the TSA should be handling it, not to mention the fact that I have yet to see what security an ID provides. If it is for revenue protection, then passengers without an ID should not be subject to secondary screening.

As for Bart's question, which is a fair one, I think themicah has the right answer. If the request is for a government ID, then Doppy's ID should have been fine. I agree with you that there are bigger battles in the world, but Doppy was following the rules and the screener wasn't.

Mike

We're already in the frequent gambler program by flying.

Which TSAer will cop an attitude and/or deviate from SOP?

I'm sorry, but I have to respond honestly without sugar-coating. Yours is a very stupid response. I see absolutely no comparision between the display of your driver's license or any other form of identification and a government-directed program specifically designed to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

And you failed to respond why you justify being rude or condescending towards people doing their jobs...unless you want to argue your point that the contracted ticket reader is singling out Jews for extermination as part of a Homeland Security plot.

Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

Try again.

Have you tried to do this same thing with a police officer when he asks for your identification other than a traffic-related incident? Just asking. I want to see how far you want to carry your library card argument.

Fair enough. But the person at the checkpoint entrance is the lowest person on the totem pole. That individual has absolutely no authority to deviate from his or her instructions. A more productive form of protest would be to lobby Congress for a more reasonable policy rather than to pick on some poor schmuck doing a job.

As for TSA fines, there is a way to fight back. It's a matter of having a good lawyer. That's what the court system is for.

Again, making sarcastic remarks against the person checking IDs is as productive as pi**ing against the wind.

I believe the Nazis called it "Vaterland Security," but close enough. ;)

IDing what ID is identifiable
 

Au contrair pierre. Deputy Schmidt (Broward Sheriff's Office at FLL) says that only a driver's license is good enough. He did not accept my unexpired US passport as an ID. This occurred 28 July 2005. And this was a non-traffic related interview. Personally I think he was lying thru his teeth.

So now we have deputies deciding what kind of "government ID" is government enough. It is basically a "make as we go along and we don't have to worry about it".

But that's just the point. I had a run-in with an ID checker at DFW a year, or two, back. She would not accept my non-DL ID and I ended up just going past her.

Once through security I talked to an AAirline rep and asked what was wrong with my ID. "Nothing" was the answer, and when I explained what had happened, he made sure the ID checker was taken aside for an immediate re-training as to what her job was.