# Boarding planes- can an expired ID work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boarding-planes-can-an-expired-id-work/357037 "2006-05-16T23:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boarding-planes-can-an-expired-id-work/357037/21 "2006-05-17T20:49:25Z")
Apparently, according to TSA testimony in a recent court case, you can travel without showing ID at all… > [@](#): > > The one ray of light from the court was its confirmation that the secret law “requires that airline passengers either present identification or be subjected to a more extensive search”. This would be a surprise to anyone who reads a TSA checkpoint sign or TSA’s own website, all of which claim that ID is “required”. It is now clear that air passengers are NOT required to present identification; instead, they can opt to be searched, as a “selectee”. [Gilmore v. Gonzales](http://papersplease.org/gilmore/decision.html) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boarding-planes-can-an-expired-id-work/357037/22 "2006-05-17T23:09:23Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Ya know there is this service called [FedEx](http://www.fedex.com/us/) , that will bring it to you tomorrow. Lots cheaper than missing your flight. [/QUOTE] You would think that would work. If it comes down to that, I likely will be on the phone begging them to send me my passport. But I have little reason to trust they’d be reasonable, rational and punctual about it. That may work, but I’d rather not count on it. I have my expired ID, birth certificate, social security card, a photocopy of my passport, a photo credit card and a receipt for my new ID. It seems like this should be enough should, for some reason, my new ID not show up on time. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boarding-planes-can-an-expired-id-work/357037/23 "2006-05-17T23:27:24Z")
That’s really wierd… The last time I got a new license, I think it was handed to me at the window. I thought it was the same for IDs. It’s a gamble… Is your passport at a passport office? Is that why you don’t think “they” will ship it to you? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boarding-planes-can-an-expired-id-work/357037/24 "2006-05-17T23:48:16Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Is your passport at a passport office? Is that why you don’t think “they” will ship it to you? [/QUOTE] No, my passport is with the Peace Corps, getting transformed in to an official US government travel passport and festooned with Cameroonian visas. Looking back, I should have opted for the “in person” renewal that would have allowed me to keep my passport in my grubby little hands, but time was short for getting my paperwork done and that would have delayed me signifigantly. They may be willing to send it to me, but no doubt they will make it hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boarding-planes-can-an-expired-id-work/357037.md?page=1)