During my recent travels to Austin, I lost my ID the day before I was scheduled to fly home. It's amazing how losing one card from your wallet can add so much additional stress on a trip. By going through all the government hoops to fly home, I learned quite a bit about what to do in these situations and how to better prepare against this happening. Let's face it, losing an ID can happen to anyone, but I've found there are steps you can take to help protect yourself when traveling if you pack the right pieces of information.
I hope by sharing my experience, you'll get a little glimpse into what happens if you ever do lose your identification, and some tips for getting through the whole thing.
Note- this information is focused on domestic travel in the United States. Some of this information may still be useful if you are traveling in another country, but I cannot speak to that directly.
What Happened
I was traveling in Austin, Texas for work this week to attend our National Sales Meeting and be part of a huge convention that was happening. The convention kicked off on Wednesday night, and I flew out on Thursday. We were doing a huge reveal with the press on Wednesday and expected our booth to be packed - so they asked us all to not bring any bags or purses into the convention center so that we could conserve space.
I hadn't planned for that and didn't have a jacket with pockets.... just the back pockets of my jeans. I put my driver's license, credit card and room key in one pocket, and my phone in the other. Doing this made me a little nervous, but I decided to just be really careful to make sure nothing fell out of my pockets.
After the event, a group of us went back to the hotel to change and head out to dinner. I grabbed the cards from my pocket, threw it in my purse and was off. When at dinner, I realized that my ID wasn't in my purse. I figured it must have fallen out of my pocket when I changed pants, and it's just on the floor of my hotel room. I wasn't getting ID'd for drinks - so it wasn't a big deal.
Later that night when I got back to the hotel ... my ID was no where to be found. I tore the room apart and I started to realize it probably fell out of my pocket at the convention center. Great...there were only thousands of people bustling through there.
The next morning I walk over to the convention center - hopeful that someone turned it in. I spoke with registration, security and the cleaning staff - all to no avail. I gave each of them my cell phone number and asked they call me ASAP if anything turned up because I was flying out that afternoon.
At this point, I really started to get nervous! I read different things online about some people making it through without ID, and others getting refused. I ran into a pilot and flight attendant in the lobby of my hotel and asked them what they thought of my situation. They both said, "There is no way they will let you fly without ID". Great, thanks for the boost of confidence guys.
In this post, I will share my experience of what actually happened and what I learned from this entire experience. I share a few tips on ways to protect yourself while traveling that I discovered through this process.
Start with Filing a Police Report
I actually did not do this step, nor did they ask for it, but a TSA agent mentioned that it would have been a good idea. By filing a police report (and getting a physical copy to bring to the airport) it helps show the day and time that you lost your license, which helps back up your story. It also helps show them you don't have anything to hide.
A police report will in no way count as an additional form of ID, but it will help to substantiate your story. Filing a report is a good idea as well in case someone finds your ID and somehow uses it for illegal activities. That way, the police will have record of the incident and you will have some level of proof that the identity was stolen.
Gather any Physical Proof of Identity you Have
Look through your wallet to see what types of identity you have on hand and can use. For example, two credit cards with your name on it is much more convincing than just one. A health insurance card is a good option, even a costco card with your name and picture can be helpful. Have all of these pieces handy and ready to show the TSA officer.
They will NOT accept any proof of identity coming from your phone or devices. I tried to pull up my bank statements, and official pay stubs but they would not even look at it.
Get to the Airport Early
I would recommend getting to the airport an hour or two earlier than you would normally. Depending on how much proof of identity you were able to scrounge together, you may spend quite a while jumping through all of their security hoops.
Stay Calm and Collected
Even though you may feel nervous or annoyed at the situation inside, try your best to look calm on the outside. Unfortunately, these guys have the authority to restrict you from flying, and so you don't want to give them any reason to think you are acting nervous or suspicious.
The Process once you Get to the Airport
Get in the security line
Simply wait in the security line with everyone else and then tell them about your situation once it is your turn to show your boarding pass and ID. They will ask you to step aside and wait for a supervisor to come over and speak with you. Depending on how busy the airport is, this may take a while. I stood off to the side for about 20-25 minutes and the airport seemed pretty slow.
Tell them your story
Once the supervisor approaches you, they will ask you to explain what happened and to show them whatever pieces of identification you have. Keep the story straight to the point. There is no need to explain every single detail of where you looked for your missing ID. This would be a good time to show them the police report if you have one.
You will need to fill out and sign a form
Depending upon how much evidence you are able to provide, you may have to fill out and sign a form that lists your name and address confirming that you are who you say you are.
The security interview
This was my least favorite part of the entire experience. (well, it all kind of sucked). They make you hand over your phone so you can't look anything up while they ask you questions. The TSA supervisor got on the phone with a homeland security agent who could look up and verify my information as I answered. There were a few obvious questions, and then a few that were completely unexpected. I'm sure they cycle through a long list of questions, but here are the things they asked me:
- My date of birth
- One of my parent's full names
- That parents date of birth
- My previous address
- The full names of a few of my neighbors
Now, my date of birth, parents name and previous address was easy... but I stumbled on the other two. I could list the first names of a few of my neighbors, but I have no idea what their last names are. I don't know if that makes me a bad neighbor, but I could not answer them.
I also struggled with my mom's date of birth. I know her birthday, but the year she was born? Honestly, I don't even know exactly how old she is. It's not really information she throws around freely. This was the second question I was unable to answer and so I took a bit of a risk and decided to crack a joke. I figured if I can make them laugh, it would probably help my chances of getting through. When they pressed me to think of my mom's birth year, I just said, "I honestly don't know... please don't tell my mom!"
After that, the interview went a lot more smoothly and quickly. It is important to read the situation, as some people may not be open to a joke. Generally speaking though, it doesn't hurt to inject a little humor into the moment.
Go through a pat down and bag check
Even though this is not the first time I've had a pat down in an airport - they never cease to disgust me. The whole process feels invasive and inappropriate.
Let's think about this for a second too... I just spent 25 minutes talking with an agent to confirm my identity. If I was trying to smuggle anything through security, do you really think i'd show up without any ID and submit myself to additional screenings? I was just glad to have it over with.
They then proceeded to dump my entire bag to go through it. What a waste of good rolling and packing! I had to re-pack my entire bag and pray they didn't rough handle my laptop or anything else valuable.
Once this part is over though... you are home free. Just be sure to go into your local DMV to get a replacement license asap when you get home. It takes a few weeks to get the replacement, but they will give you a temporary one that will keep you from getting any tickets if pulled over. The fee to replace a license was $20 in my state.
Things to Think About Before you Travel
Consider traveling with two official forms of identification
I only grabbed my driver's license for ID because it was a domestic flight. If I had also packed my passport however, there would have been no issue - except the hassle of replacing the license when I got home. A passport card, nexxus card, military ID, or other official forms of identification could work in this situation.
If you travel with multiple forms of ID, be sure to store them in separate areas so that you do not lose both if something happens to one of your bags.
Pack multiple credit cards and other items from your wallet.
Part of my problem going through security, is that the only form if identification I had was ONE credit card. The TSA officers told me that if I had even had two cards, it would have been easier going through the screening process. A few examples of things you could bring would be a health insurance card, costco card, student ID, or library card. If you have enough of these non-official forms of identification, it can help provide evidence of who you are.
Travel with printed copies of your drivers license or passport
Even though a printed copy of your ID is not official, it is certainly better than not having anything. If you presented a copy of your license, several credit cards with your name and a few of the unofficial cards I listed above - you would be pretty set and probably could avoid the security interview and form.
Remember, they don't accept any proof from your phone or devices, and so a printed photocopy will be more impactful.
Conclusion
Even though this whole process was a big hassle, I certainly learned a lot about what to do in these types of situations. If I had read an article like this before flying, I probably could have avoided a lot of headache by flying with more pieces of information.
I hope this article has been insightful for you. Maybe it will even save you some headache in the future if you find yourself in a similar situation.
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