Flying with expired license
 

My license expired last week and I have a flight tomorrow. I need to know if I can fly or not. I lost my wallet very recently which had my birth certificate and Social Security card in it so I can not go to the DMV and get another one (as well as the fact that im in Ohio and my ID is Massachusetts) What can I do?

You can fly. Just leave extra time since it's won't be accepted as a primary form of ID.

You lost your wallet that your birth certificate (that usually has things like your mother's maiden name on it) and your Social Security card? :eek: I would be locking down my credit reports yesterday. You are very vulnerable to identity theft right now. When you get those documents replaced, you do not want to keep them in your wallet.

Yes, you will be able to fly. Just allow for some extra time for TSA to perform their magic identity check on you.

No problems, you can use your license up to a year expired without any worries. They may point out to you that it is expired, but that is all. You will not need any extra time or item to get through. The will be no identity check.

Agreed! Never carry around your SSN or BC. Were you in the process of doing something that required those?

Also, can you get a replacement license online? assuming someone you know still lives at the address in MA and can forward the letter to you this would be your easiest solution when you get around to renewing.

still not required to show ID to fly
 

You are not required to prove that you are licensed to drive in order to travel as a passenger on a commercial airline in the united states. You are not required to provide any credentials. Although TSA keeps most of the rules it requires passengers to follow secret, the policy seems to be that if you willfully refuse to show your papers, you will be barred from flying, but if you claim that they were misplaced or stolen and and cooperate with an interrogation intended to determine your identity, you will likely be allowed to fly.

For more on this, see the following FT threads:

• TSA SOP re: airport ID requirements provided to IDP via FOIA request
• Starting June 21: Refuse to Show ID, No Entry to Sterile Area
• Actually, it looks like you can still fly without ID
• TSA blog addresses the new airport ID rule
• TSA says new airport ID rule is not about control
• No ID - Reports from the Field
• Forget ID after 6/21: expect invasive ?s including political affiliation
• Are you kidding me: No ID
• What is the ID Policy?

You carry your birth certificate and Social Security card in your wallet but apparently not your drivers license. Strange.

Why do they even look at the expiration date?


My license is set to expire at the end of next month. Since the end of June, about every other time I go through security the TSO checking my ID says "Your ID expires soon, you should take care of that." or something to this effect, while holding my ID waiting for me to acknowledge.

I have resisted the urge to respond rudely, because maybe (just maybe) they think they are doing me a favor.

They believe they are doing you a favor. In some states, they do not bother to send you a notice that your license is about to expire, until such time as they kind of sort of randomly decide you're OK to get your license renewed through the mail. This has caused me for instance not to notice that my license has expired. Who remembers something that only happens once every four years? If someone looking at my license doesn't say anything about my license being expired, I could have a problem. I'd rather that person be a bartender or the TSA officer, than a police officer at a traffic stop. Give me a chance to fix it before it becomes an issue.

The TSA officer may or may not care that it is expired. I would go early in case you got one who did care, so that you will have time to go jump through the hoops. Bring a book to read so if you don't need to hoop jump, well, the extra time is not wasted, you can get caught up on your reading. That's what I would do if I could not find my ID/had expired ID. People get their ID lost/stolen in their travels all the time, and yet they are allowed to fly and not left stranded forever, so try not to stress it too much. Just leave that extra time.

I've flown with an expired license but don't recommend it.
 

I've flown with an license once. That was back when I wasn't driving and was using my license solely as an ID and had not realized it had expired until they told me at the airport. Flying out of LGA was not a problem, but returning from ORD was a huge hassle. They let me fly but flagged me and searched every item of luggage. They must have spent a good 30 minutes searching my luggage, and I was almost late for my flight as a result. This was back in 2001.