Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.
The updated ID has been required since May, but passengers without it have so far been allowed to clear security with additional screening and a warning. The Department of Homeland Security says 94% of passengers are already compliant and that the new fee is intended to encourage travelers to obtain the ID.
REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that meets enhanced requirements mandated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
THIS. Fun fact: Arizona IDs don’t have (or didn’t use to have) expiration dates or just say something stupid like “EXPIRES 01/01/2075”. I can’t blame anyone who isn’t from Arizona for looking at an exp date 50 years in the future and believing it’s fake.
that actually reminds me of a buddy of mine that moved to Canada from Arizona. He kept using his Arizona ID for awhile and whenever we’d go to a bar (we were in our early 20s at the time) he’d always get grief because of his Arizona Drivers License. they’d be all “this expires in 2060? this has to be fake” and every time he’d have to explain to them how Arizona drivers licenses work. got to the point where he just had to switch for an Ontario one just to save him the hassle. He even said if he was in another state in the US they’d still give him a hard time over it.