ID for flying (reservation, airlines, airports, 2009)

[mdlee3]

Ok I was sitting at home the other day before work and my dad called me and told me that before I book any more flights, I need to check with the license branch. I ask him why and he said because he was watching CNN and saw they were changing the ID rules for flying. Now my dad does tend to misunderstand a lot of things as he is hard of hearing and can't see so well either, but since he was so determined, I decided to search on the internet for anything on the subject. Not finding anything, I went to CNN.com and have come to the conclusion that he was talking about Indiana's Voter ID law. He still insists that it was about flying though so I decided to come here and ask.

Does anybody know about any plans to change the ID requirements for flying in the near future? My dad insists he heard something about an ID with a chip in it, which most new licenses here in Indiana have anyway, but mine doesn't and doesn't expire until 2012.

[Ellwood]

My spouse clocks 75K miles a year flying and he hasn't heard anything.

[Alaskan Mutt]

There is talk of requiring state IDs, such as a drivers license, to meet certain conditions in order to be considered acceptable to access screening checkpoints at airports. Several states are resisting this because of protection of privacy concerns. If these requirments get put into effect, then anyone using a state ID that does not meet these requirments will be subject to additional screening. Currently, it is my undestanding that you do not actually need an ID in order to fly. You do have to be willing to get quite intimate with the TSA however.

[moonshadow]

Well I'm not sure what the requirements are for Americans travelling within America but there has been changes with regard to Australians travelling to America. I got a notification from my Frequent Flyer Club last week.

Perhaps it has something to do with this? (Bear in mind this is what Australians now have to do to travel within the US but it's possible there's a similar requirement for Americans under this new program.)

Plan - Travel Advice - Travel to the USA

What is the Secure Flight Program?

On 28 October 2008, the United States of America (USA) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced the final rule for a program known as 'Secure Flight'.
Secure Flight enables pre-screening of passenger information against USA Federal Government watch lists, before the passenger arrives at the departure airport. Watch list matching already applies to all domestic and international passengers travelling on flights into, out of, within, or over the USA. The new rule aims to reduce the incidence of misidentifications. The objectives of the program are to:

• identify known and suspected terrorists;
• prevent individuals on the No Fly List (and in some circumstances, other watch lists maintained by the USA Federal Government) from boarding an aircraft to the USA;
• identify individuals on the Selectee List for enhanced screening to determine if they are permitted to board an aircraft;
• facilitate passenger air travel by allowing cleared passengers to continue with their travel to the USA; and
• protect individuals' privacy.

What information is required?

From 31 October 2009, international airlines are required to request and collect Secure Flight Passenger Data, and transmit it to the USA's Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a division of the DHS, which will be responsible for the matching process. This will require Qantas, Jetstar and other airlines, to collect and send the following information to the TSA:

• full name as it appears on the passenger's travel document;
• date of birth;
• gender; and
• redress number*, if available.

Perhaps this is what he means? It appears to also apply to flights taken within the US.

Hope that helps somewhat.

[hln917]

Nothing has changed with the ID requirement if you're traveling within the US. And if you don't have an ID, you will go thru extra security procedure with the TSA.

[rubytue]

What *has* changed is that the name you booked with must match yuor gov't ID.

Here is the link to the myth about needing a new ID.

And here is a full description of the rule.

Q. If the name printed on my boarding pass is different than what appears on my government ID, will I still be able to fly?

A. Boarding passes may not always display the exact name you provided when booking your travel. The name you provide when booking your travel is used to perform the watch list matching before a boarding pass is ever issued, so small differences should not impact your travel. Secure Flight is a behind-the-scenes process that TSA and airlines collaborate on to compare the information you provide against government watch lists. The additional data elements that you may be asked to provide, such as date of birth and gender, serve to better differentiate you from individuals on the government watch list.

You should ensure that the name provided when booking your travel matches the government ID that you will use when traveling. However, TSA has built some flexibility into the processes regarding passenger name accuracy. For the near future, small differences between the passenger�s ID and the passenger�s reservation information, such as the use of a middle initial instead of a full middle name or no middle name/initial at all, should not cause a problem for the passenger. Over time, passengers should strive to obtain consistency between the name on their ID and their travel information.

I bolded the part most people are concerned with. All my FF account have, over the past 6 months or so, asked me to update my account to match my gov't ID. Its one of those times I regeret giving myself two middle names LOL

[psychofan]

Yeah. No more using Bill/Dave/Jen/Lee/etc. on travel documentations (boarding pass) when your name appears as William/David/Jennifer/LeeAnn/etc on your drivers license or passport.

[Alaskan Mutt]

Originally Posted by psychofan

Yeah. No more using Bill/Dave/Jen/Lee/etc. on travel documentations (boarding pass) when your name appears as William/David/Jennifer/LeeAnn/etc on your drivers license or passport.

I still get to use Bill

[NeilVA]

The rule that the OP is talking about is the requirement for a passport for travel by land and sea between the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The govt has created a passport card that has chip in it for this use. Also states that border Mexico and Canada have created drivers licenses that are a hybrid of this card and the license so they can drive across the border and not need two cards. And for the worriers about personal info, the chip does not contain your info. It instead is RFID with a code that accesses a system that pulls your data from a system at he crossing site. The card also ships with a shield envelope to protect you/it from other snoopers and magnetics.

[mdlee3]

Originally Posted by NeilVA

The rule that the OP is talking about is the requirement for a passport for travel by land and sea between the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The govt has created a passport card that has chip in it for this use. Also states that border Mexico and Canada have created drivers licenses that are a hybrid of this card and the license so they can drive across the border and not need two cards. And for the worriers about personal info, the chip does not contain your info. It instead is RFID with a code that accesses a system that pulls your data from a system at he crossing site. The card also ships with a shield envelope to protect you/it from other snoopers and magnetics.

I knew about this requirement. I was just asking about this because my dad called me and said he heard something about a new requirement even to fly within the US. I was sure he was mistaken since I looked on every site I could think of and didn't see anything new. According to the TSA website, the last change made for that was in 2008 when they updated their "secure-flight" program. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing something or maybe I had just misunderstood something on the sites I went to.