Ok I forgot to renew my driver’s license and it’s about 5 months expired. My company recently started flying me to Houston for a project we’re involved in and airport security is requiring photo id. I flew last week with no problems except having to wait on the tarmac for a couple hours cause of that moron in Atlanta. This week, 1 guy brought to my attention the fact that my license had expired. oops. He let me on but advised me that some others would not accept my license as id because it was expired. I kinda think this guy being’s a bit of a napoleon since my license was checked by several other people at various points and no one else ever mentioned it. For those of you who haven’t flown recently, you’re required to show id to go through security, then again to get your boarding pass and again to finally to board the plane. I called Delta customer service to get clarification on this issue but they didn’t seem very knowledgable about their own policies. I starting reading the notices to determine what was acceptable forms of id because surely not everyone has a driver’s license. It seems I can use 2 forms of non photo id as long as 1 of them was issue by a state, local or federal gov’t or I can have a photo id such as adriver’s license but the notices don’t mention anything about whether the license must be current. I still think an expired license must be acceptable as long as it hasn’t been expired for an unreasonable length of time (maybe 2 years?)
My question is this: Is an expired driver’s license considered acceptable for id purposes? Can some point me to a site? Thanks.
Just about everything I found on Google uses the words current or valid when referring to a driver’s license being used for airport ID. Interestingly, for domestic travel, an expired passport can be used for photo ID for up to a year after its expiration.
I can’t see why anyone would have to accept it. If a document has expired, it is no longer valid for any purpose. If the law says it is valid for a set period beyond expiration, then that’s the law. For example the law often says to enter a country your passport must be good for at least six months after the date of entry even if you will only be in the country for a day. It may also say a driver’s license is valid for a set period beyond expiration date, which makes the effective expiration date a different one from the nominal expiration date. But in the absence of any law prioviding otherwise, an expired document is not valid. You can say it is silly but why wouldn’t it be just as valid for driving? They make you renew it for several reasons and one of them is that people change in appearance and they want you to have a current photo. Or where do you set the limit? Would you accept a driver’s license expired 30 years ago? 10 years? 3 years? 1 year? If they wanted it to expire a year later they would have made that the expiration date.
Here, at least, an expired driver’s license or passport is fine for most situations where you simply have to establish who you are - bank account, social security etc. While passports are generally regarded as enough ID on their own, more and more places are demanding supplementary ID in addition to a other forms of photo ID.
The exception is things like hiring carpet cleaners, where they demand a current license on the reasoning that it will show your current address (even though most people don’t bother changing the address until their license is up for renewal anyway).
I work at a store that sells cancer sticks and we cannot accept expired drivers licenses because they might have had an older brother or sister whose license expered and gave it to their younger (and hopefully somewhat idenitical) brother or sister to purchase things that they cannot. I have seen this a few times while working, because I will ask them for their birthdate, and they can’t tell me or say the wrong date.
Everywhere I have worked it always said we must have a “VALID” driver’s licence.
If it is expired something is probably up. I have found it is usually people who have too many tickets and somehow didn’t surrender the licence. A day or two expired I can see but at least everywhere I worked if I had taken an expired DL and it was a shopper I would’ve gotten disaplined.
Remember it isn’ just YOU going thru checkpoints. These screeners are getting screened by their bosses. And especially now I find it hard to believe anyone wouldn’t know to have valid ID. Like the guy who ran down the escalator the wrong way in Atlanta. C’mon with everyone so edgy did he think that would be OK?
IIRC In Ontario an expired G2 license is valid for ID purposes only. But I guess this applies mostly to getting into bars than onto a plane. My understanding is that your G license is mailed to you, so for a time you might have the other one. Or you could use both. I really dont know the details, I just remember seeing my ex housemate’s G2 with a little sticker saying “Valid for ID purposes only”.