Traveling without a Real ID is now going to cost travelers.
As of Feb. 1, passengers without one will be required to pay a $45 fee in order to fly from U.S. airports, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.
Travelers will be able to pay the fee, valid for a 10-day period, before they arrive at the airport. Details about online payment or what screening is entailed in this alternative identity verification process, called TSA Confirm.ID, were not yet available.
In May, after years of delay, the government began requiring Real IDs, which are federally compliant state-issued driver’s licenses, learner’s permits or nondriver IDs, at airports. Government officials said that the change was meant to enhance security and create a consistent standard for state-issued documentation.
But authorities did not impose any penalties for not having a Real ID, and people flying without Real ID-compliant documents were allowed to travel with additional screening, which, according to the TSA website, included collecting current addresses.
“The current alternative identity verification process is time and resource intensive, limiting the number of individuals for whom TSA can provide the service,” the agency said in a notice filed in the Federal Register last month. “Requiring a fee for the modernized alternative identity verification program will ensure that the cost to administer this program is recovered from the users who benefit from it.”
The verification process for non-Real IDs will differ airport to airport, the TSA said.
More than 94% of passengers are using a Real ID or another acceptable form of identification like a passport, the TSA said.
The fee is a notable increase from the $18 payment the TSA was recently considering. In the document filed in the Federal Register, the agency said the new fee system would “address government-incurred costs” and that it expected some travelers to pay the fee more than once.
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