# I boarded a domestic (Australia) flight without showing ID to anyone. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027 "2015-01-05T11:47:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/1 "2015-01-05T11:47:38Z")
It’s a short trip, no luggage to check, so I did what any sane person does: check in online, print the boarding pass at home, head straight to security. This was at the Sydney airport. No one checked my ID at security. A woman directed me into a queue, they put my bags through the scanner, I walked through the metal detector. I actually got pulled aside for a chemical swab test. Test completed, I proceed to my gate, I board the plane. At no point did anyone ask to see any sort of photo ID. Is this normal for domestic travel in Australia, or was someone seriously slacking off from their job today? I’ve never not had my ID checked before in any country, but almost all my prior air travel has been either domestic within the US, or international. (And I’m not particularly concerned about it, because I know that security is a multi-tiered process, there’s further safeguards, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/2 "2015-01-05T11:54:15Z")
That is normal. You can do the whole the thing without interacting with anybody other than the flight attendant. Check in online, automatic baggage check in at the airport, show the boarding pass to the flight attendant and on you go. There’s nothing really stopping you from giving someone your ticket if you wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/3 "2015-01-05T12:00:08Z")
Its normal in Australia. people have pointed out the risks… eg [http://www.aic.gov.au/media\_library/conferences/2010-isoc/presentations/plumb.pdf](http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/conferences/2010-isoc/presentations/plumb.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/4 "2015-01-05T12:01:44Z")
You linked to a 28-page pdf. Not overly helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/5 "2015-01-05T12:22:34Z")
Perhaps random ID checks at some point would be enough to mitigate the risks without slowing the process down too much. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/6 "2015-01-05T12:46:10Z")
Huh, good to know that it wasn’t just a fluke, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/7 "2015-01-05T12:57:03Z")
Great username/thread title combo. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/8 "2015-01-05T15:39:48Z")
> [@BOOM](#): > > You linked to a 28-page pdf. > > Not overly helpful. It explains how you can travel under any name you like beginning on page 13. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/9 "2015-01-05T15:46:12Z")
Australian here. Actually I don’t believe this is normal, I’ve always shown ID either when checking in or when boarding at the gate, they’ve checked my ID against the boarding pass. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/10 "2015-01-05T20:20:33Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Australian here. Actually I don’t believe this is normal, I’ve always shown ID either when checking in or when boarding at the gate, they’ve checked my ID against the boarding pass. Which airline? I fly regularly with Qantas and Virgin and never had an ID check. Are you offering your ID to check, or are they asking for it? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/11 "2015-01-05T22:05:57Z")
Same thing happened to me the last time I flew from Ireland to England. Nobody verified who I was. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/12 "2015-01-05T22:37:37Z")
Well, who were you? How do you know you were _you_, eh? Maybe it was somebody else on that plane. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/13 "2015-01-05T23:21:29Z")
yes it is a normal experience, americans seem to expect the whole world has their insane security system for the airports. I was shocked in reverse the first time I flew in the us domestically ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/14 "2015-01-05T23:29:26Z")
I don’t really see what the “risks” are for flying without showing ID. Anywhere you can get to on a domestic flight, you can get to by hopping into a car, or a bus, or a train. Crooks wanting to, eg, avoid police surveillance would presumably suck up the slight inconvenience, if they had reason to do so. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/15 "2015-01-05T23:36:06Z")
I had the same thing happen with a domestic flight within Germany. Not sure if that was a fluke or standard operating procedure. And once my passport was stolen on the highway between Madrid and Barcelona. The next day I had to fly back to Madrid and I managed to convince the airline to let me fly with my company ID, which anyone with a laminator could have made. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/16 "2015-01-06T00:45:55Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I don’t really see what the “risks” are for flying without showing ID. > > Anywhere you can get to on a domestic flight, you can get to by hopping into a car, or a bus, or a train. > > Crooks wanting to, eg, avoid police surveillance would presumably suck up the slight inconvenience, if they had reason to do so. The main risk would be that someone who was banned from flying (for causing a disturbance on a flight for example) can get their friends to buy a ticket for them allowing them to be disturbing again. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/17 "2015-01-06T02:22:34Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, who were you? How do you know you were _you_, eh? Maybe it was somebody else on that plane. I don’t even know any more. I just know that not so long ago they were sometimes really particular in UK airports about whether you were the actual ticketholder. Took photos of you checking in and then checked the photo against you and your ticket. Happened me in Aberdeen airport. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/18 "2015-01-06T09:49:36Z")
Checks have been relaxed. There are random checks. Before 9/11, Australian airlines were doing identity checks to prevent people buying cheap tickets and transfering the ticket to someone else. The internet has changed their pricing structure and dealer network, and as the security checks have been relaxed, they haven’t maintained their old pricing checks. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/19 "2015-01-06T10:24:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It explains how you can travel under any name you like beginning on page 13. You can also fly under any name you want with American style ID checks. Book a ticket online under an assumed name, print out a copy of your boarding pass with your assumed name and another copy with your real name, modified using photoshop or another editing tool. At security, show them your real ID and the boarding pass with your real name. Then, throw away that boarding pass and board the plane with the boarding pass with your assumed name. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027/20 "2015-01-06T11:35:15Z")
If it were me, I’d still be back behind security, throwing away my hair gel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-boarded-a-domestic-australia-flight-without-showing-id-to-anyone/709027.md?page=2)