Vacationers who try and fly with out a Actual ID or passport could possibly be topic to a brand new airport safety screening program that carries an $18 charge.
On Thursday the TSA introduced another choice for vacationers who’ve but to get their Actual ID or are flying with out their passport: the modernized various identity-verification program.
The proposed program will use a brand new biometric kiosk system to confirm identification earlier than the traveler is permitted to cross via the TSA checkpoint, in line with a discover posted on the Federal Register.
This feature doesn’t assure a person shall be granted entry past the checkpoint and into the airport. To deal with the prices related to this system, the TSA would require contributors to pay an $18 charge, which permits them to cross via airport safety checkpoints for 10 days.
Biometrics makes use of bodily traits to confirm identification. The TSA already makes use of such strategies for verifying digital IDs and for facial comparability.
Vacationers who bear this system screening could also be topic to further screening or expertise delays.
It’s unclear if and when the brand new system and accompanying $18 charge shall be carried out. The TSA didn’t reply to The Instances’ request for remark by the point of publication.
“This discover serves as a subsequent step within the course of in REAL ID compliance, which was signed into regulation greater than 20 years in the past and at last carried out by Secretary [Kristi] Noem as of Might 2025,” the TSA stated in a press release. “TSA is working with stakeholders and companions to make sure each safety and effectivity at our checkpoints. Further steerage shall be introduced within the coming days.”
The most recent program comes six months after the TSA lastly started implementing its Actual ID deadline, with combined outcomes. Since Might 7, vacationers who plan to board a home flight are required to point out the federally compliant Actual ID or one other accepted type of identification akin to a passport to cross via airport safety.
