If you use your driver’s license as your main form of identification to board a commercial flight, it now has to be REAL ID compliant. But if you haven’t gotten your REAL ID yet, there’s no need to worry. Matt Boudreaux with the Office of Motor Vehicles says you have alternatives at the TSA checkpoint.
“TSA would accept a passport, a TWIC card, a military ID, if you didn’t have a driver’s license or ID card with that star on it indicating your REAL ID compliance,” Boudreaux said.
Boudreaux says while a driver’s license without the gold star in the upper right-hand corner will no longer be enough to seamlessly get through TSA, you can use it for just about everything else.
“You can drive with it, you can go buy alcohol with it if you’re over 21. Nothing changes on that,” Boudreaux said.
Boudreaux says certain federal offices will also require REAL IDs.
“The Department of Homeland Security is just recommending residents to contact federal buildings before you visit, just to see if they require a certain document or a form of identification before you visit,” Boudreaux said.
Boudreaux says for the time being, you can actually still get through TSA with a driver’s license that’s not REAL ID compliant; you’ll be subjected to a lot more scrutiny.
