PSA - Traveling without a gov't issued photo ID

Lost my TX DL but not my wallet one week before I needed to get on a plane. Don't have a passport, and my company's travel agent is reminding me if I don't get through security to be sure to call to cancel my flight before push-back. I really needed to make this meeting, so I'm sweating bullets and wondering how long of a drive it is to San Fran. TSA ended up getting me through security with only a 5 - 10 minute wait each time.

I had with me:

Credit Cards with name only
Insurance cards (health and car)
Birth Certificate (this is what seemed to give the supers the most comfort)
building security badge with my name and photo

When I got to the TSA screener that matches ID with the boarding pass, they each would pass me off to their supervisor. Showed all my stuff to the super and only one of the three (I had three flights last week) made me go through the extended screening.

What would have made this go a little smoother were the following, in order of preference:

passport (no reason why I shouldn't have one)
credit card with my photo on it
membership card with my photo (e.g., Costco, Sea World annual pass)

The only thing that got screwed up on this trip was my ability to rent a car. You're not taking their $30K asset off their property w/o a drivers license. So getting an extra, just-in-case drivers license is also on the list of things to do in the next few weeks.

 

I flew back from vegas 4 weeks ago with zero documentation. no wallet. not credit cards, no pictures, nothing.

 

used a student ID one time on a round trip flight, no gripe either way.

 

Your voter registration card is legally enough to get you through security also.

 

yeah, it's actually not that big of deal. I left my driver's license and credit card in a bar in Vegas and they let me go without any photo ID. They just put me through secondary screening. The gate agent said if they didn't let people fly out of Vegas who had lost their DL, there would be hundreds of stranded travelers every Sunday.

 

^

No.

 

I've done it twice returning to Houston from Denver. No big deal. I had a few credit cards on me, but I don't even think they asked. All they did was send me through the extra screening process where they wave a metal detector all around you (didn't I just walk through one?) and pat you down (plastic gun or knife?) and they rifle through your carry on a bit.

I flew to McAllen once without my drivers license. I used a passport to get on the plane, but I had to take a taxi to the DPS office and get a new drivers license before I could pick up my rent car.

Bernard

 

I recommend getting a passport and keeping it at home until you need to travel.