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ATTN Terrorists: Please have your Costco cards up to date. We wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.
CBS SF
Gov’t-Issued Identification Not Needed To Pass Through TSA Security
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Showing a government-issued identification at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint is a practice most travelers consider part of the flying experience. However, it is not mandated by federal law.
A KPIX 5 investigation reveals that passengers can pass through security checkpoints using a broad range of documentation including utility bills, prescriptions, credit cards, and even Costco membership cards – a fact that surprises veteran travelers.
“I mean I’m about as vanilla as can be and I am being patted down,” commented Patrice Culligan who was catching her flight from SFO to Washington D.C. and has been the subject of rigorous security measures even after she had provided government identification at the security checkpoint.
“Its about validating who you are so if it’s a library card or a Costco card or a school ID, they are all not forms of government identification, but at least it is something that is printed with your name on it,” said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez.
Melendez adds those who do not have government ID should expect a secondary screening, which could include swab tests and inspection of their carry-on baggage.
A KPIX 5 undercover producer tested this security system, arriving at the San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland airports without official documentation. In every case, the producer was allowed to pass through security using a student ID and personal credit cards and was not subject to a secondary screening before gaining entrance to the terminal.
At the San Francisco and Oakland airports, the producer was asked by TSA agents whether she had a Costco card that she could show them.
When the producer went to the Oakland airport for a second time without a wallet or any form of documentation at all, she was brought to the side of the security line to answer additional questions but less than twenty minutes later, she was allowed to proceed to her flight.
Poonces
February 9th, 2013
Idiocracy. Show me your Costco card, I love you.
Shiny, let's go be bad guys
February 9th, 2013
And to think, when I enter the US, I require a valid passport or my Nexus card. They will not accept my drivers license as proof of identification!!
And we share the largest undefended (and safest) border!
Shiny, let's go be bad guys
February 9th, 2013
Next time I think I will try the crayon picture my 8 year daughter drew of me that says daddy….it looks kinda like me in a Dali sort of way
John Cooper
February 9th, 2013
You can pass through security with no ID at all. Several years ago my family and I flew to Alaska. While there, my son lost his wallet (and almost his life) when the jeep he was riding in became submerged in an icy river. We were obviously concerned about how he was going to get through security to fly home, but it turned out to be no big deal. On the day of the return flight, the airline counter first marked his boarding pass with the dreaded SSSS when he couldn’t produce his ID. Then, he had to fill out a short TSA form and they did a criminal record check using his social security number. Then he got the full patdown and was cleared to board.
Boobie the Rocket Dog
February 9th, 2013
How about a motor-voter ID marked “DEM?”
Do they take Costco cards because Costco is owned by liberals? My SAM’S card won’t do?
How about my FL driver’s license dated 1992 with a 20 y/o picture of me (and validations stuck to the back)?
bitterclinger
February 9th, 2013
Hear this, Achmed and Abdul? Don’t forget your Costco card. Keep it in your turban.
Brian in BC
February 9th, 2013
Shiny, what’s even funnier is when you go to renew your Canadian Passport, you have to show your driver’s license, as your passport alone isn’t considered good enough to confirm identity…BY THE PEOPLE WHO ISSUED IT TO YOU?????
thirdtwin
February 9th, 2013
TSA spokesman Nico Melendez…hmmmm.
Poonces
February 9th, 2013
Costco cards. Because all terrorists shop at Sam’s Club.
Shiny, let's go be bad guys
February 9th, 2013
Brian,
Yeah ain’t that the truth!! That’s EXACTLY what happened when I renewed mine three years ago!!
Friggin bureaucrats!!