REAL ID clears TSA for domestic trips, but it is not a passport. Knowing the difference prevents last-minute chaos at gates.

Travelers need a REAL ID or compliant identification to pass through TSA checkpoints. Here's what to know in 2026.

But that's what the federal government has accomplished with the REAL ID, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now ...

A fee will be in place for commercial airline travelers in North Carolina who don’t obtain a REAL ID by Feb. 1. The ...

Still want to travel without a REAL ID? You'll soon be charged a fee for that. The Transportation Security Administration announced Monday that passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID ...

As soon as January, the TSA wants to let air travelers without a REAL ID get through security by purchasing a biometric scan instead. Travelers without a REAL ID-compliant form of identification—such ...

Passengers and crew walk to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint while traveling at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, on November 26, 2025.

A summer season crackdown on fake ID use led to more than 300 summonses being issued and almost 350 fake ID cards being seized statewide, with dozens of each on Long Island, the New York State ...

If you haven’t gotten a Real ID, it may soon cost you even more to fly domestically. The Transportation Security Administration announced Dec. 1 that U.S. air travelers who do not have a Real ID or ...