TSA security has many rules to follow before boarding a flight. Know them to make getting through security quick and easy.
What happens if passengers forget ID or lose it? Can they fly?
If you are a US citizen or resident traveling in the U.S. and your government-issued photo ID is lost or stolen—or worse, if you’re in a foreign country and your passport is lost or stolen— you don’t have to panic about going through TSA security. Your fate won’t be the same as Charlie’s in the Kingston Trio’s song, “The Man Who Never Returned.”
According to TSA,
Adult passengers (18 and over) are required to show a US federal or state-issued photo ID … in order to be allowed to go through the checkpoint and onto their flight.
Passengers who do not or cannot present an acceptable ID will have to provide information to the TSA security Officer performing Travel Document Checking duties in order to verify their identity. Passengers who are cleared through this process may be subject to additional screening. Passengers whose identity cannot be verified by TSA security may not be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint or onto an airplane.
How can you ensure, to the extent possible, you’ll be able to fly home, if your photo ID, and especially if all your IDs, are lost or stolen while traveling?
It takes preparation and common sense.
In this chapter, we’ll do the heavy lifting for you. We go over each and every rule plus offer helpful tips and tricks so that you can avoid being up by security.