My friend was mugged tonight and had his wallet taken from him. Fortunately, he's doing well and very little was lost. He filed a police report, notified his credit card companies, etc. Anyways, he's flying out on Southwest this weekend and I thought it would be great to point him to FlyerTalk to indicate what he should be prepared for at the airport if he shows up without any ID.

I know there have been many threads on this in the past -- I remember reading a few of them. In fact, I even tried searching for them but I couldn't find anything under the keyword identification and searching for a two letter word doesn't work.

So I would appreciate it if someone could point me to one of the older threads regarding flying without ID. I've also used the word identification in the title as opposed to ID so other people can search for this thread and actually find it!

If your friend has a passport he should take that as identification. Absent that call the airline for suggestions on what to do.

Here is one thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...hlight=gilmore

Search "Gilmore" in this forum and you will find plenty.

Basically, your friend will just need to be subjected to SSSS (secondary screening) as far as the TSA is concerned.

Indeed...it is my standard practice to fly without ID. If he is flying Southwest and especially if not checking baggage, it's best if he checks in at a kiosk. Then simply proceed to the security checkpoint, and depending on the airport, the ID screener will mark his BP with SSSS or send him back to the airline.