Mark your 2020 calendars!

     It's not what you're thinking. This isn't about the election, which will be on November 3rd. This is about something happening several weeks sooner that will impact every American's ability to travel by air. 
     On October 1, 2020, the REAL ID deadline will hit. 

You've seen these signs at airports. Are you ready?

      Most Americans aren't ready. The U.S. Travel Association conducted a study recently that found nearly 3/4 of Americans are unprepared for the deadline. What exactly will happen to someone who doesn't have a REAL ID as of that date?
       Nothing, unless that American intends to board a commercial airliner of any size. But if that person wants to fly, doesn't have a passport and doesn't have a REAL ID, he or she won't be getting on that plane.
    

What's the Real ID all about, anyway?

    Back in 2005, President Bush signed the REAL ID Act into law, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security to phase in a program that will tighten identification of air travelers. Basically, state-issued driver's licenses or identification cards will have to show they are REAL ID-compliant, or the bearer won't be allowed past security at the airport. 
     Here's what a REAL ID-compliant Wisconsin driver's license looks like:

See the star in the upper right-hand corner? That means Mr. Sample will
be able to board an airliner after September 30, 2020. 

    And here's one that isn't ready:

Jennifer will be out of luck, and probably quite angry, if
she tries to use this starting October 1, 2020. 

    The study by the USTA found more than half of Americans (57%) didn't even know about the upcoming deadline, now less than a year away. A valid U.S. passport can be used, even if the traveler is not flying out of the country, but nearly 40% of Americans don't have any form of ID that will be acceptable. That equates to nearly 100 million Americans who will not be allowed to board a domestic flight as of October 1, 2020. 

     The economic impact could be serious. If REAL ID standards are fully enforced on that day, at least 78,500 air travelers would be turned away at airport security. That would cost the U.S. economy over $40 million in lost travel-related spending. In the first week, those numbers go way up, to more than half a million travelers turned away and nearly $300 million in economic activity lost.

What will happen if I forget?

     What if you don't have a REAL ID driver's license or identification card, and you fly from Minneapolis to New York on September 25, 2020, with a return flight scheduled for October 2? You would get to the Big Apple, but couldn't get home. What about children who are too young for a driver's license or state ID card? They travel with adults, of course, usually parents or grandparents, but if the adult of the traveling party doesn't have a REAL ID, the kids don't get to go, either. 

     If your state-issued driver's license or ID card is due to expire before October 1, 2020, you can then request to have your new card made REAL ID compliant. Chances are the person at the DMV will advise you to do it. Take their advice. If your card isn't due to expire till after the deadline, you won't be able to fly with it, so renew early. 

     Remember, if you don't have a REAL ID-compliant card as of that date, leave your passport at home and try to get through airport security, you'll be turned away, and it won't be TSA's fault. So check your card now, look for that star, and if it's not there, put a trip to your nearest DMV office on your calendar.