SD Stranded - Lost Her ID and Cannot Fly

Updated on March 13, 2013
A.V. asks from Silver Spring, MD
10 answers

My SD is 18. She was on a spring break trip and lost her license. The TSA will take other forms of ID, but the airline will not, unless it's government issued. So she might be able to get through security but not on the plane.

Any ideas? She was supposed to catch a flight today and I do not know if there is time for a police report, etc. I am not a seasoned enough traveler to know what to do here. I can fax them her ID but I don't know if they will accept it.

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So What Happened?

So I stop getting PMs about it:

She's fine. She was able to check in with a credit card we didn't realize she had. The TSA were mostly confused. She had her police report and the printed pictures of her other ID and got a pat down AND the scanner AND they sifted all her luggage. It probably helped that she wasn't flying out of an airport like Dulles but rather a smaller one.

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C.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Call the airline and ask if a faxed copy of her passport will work. If not, Fed Ex her passport to her ASAP. If you send it out today, she could probably catch a late flight tomorrow.

Good luck!

4 moms found this helpful

More Answers

L.A.

answers from Austin on

They will take a birth certificate and Social Security card, but she will need a Picture ID, like a current school ID..

She should be able to still get through TSA if she tells them she lost her DL card, while on her trip.. but she will have to be able to provide some verbal information that can be verified through their data base.. Like DL number.. Her home address.. maybe some other information

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K.A.

answers from Phoenix on

Have you asked the specific airline what the protocol is? I'm sure they deal with this quite frequently.

2 moms found this helpful

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

Call the airlines and see if they will accept a faxed copy of her id, maybe along with a copy of her birth certificate or some other secondary document.

2 moms found this helpful
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*.*.

answers from Philadelphia on

Is she flying internationally? I fly domestically weekly and I've never had to provide identification to the airline, only TSA. Check in can be done without it and then go through security. Or is the problem when she's trying to check bags?

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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

I have never had an airline request an ID unless I check a bag. You can check in at the kiosk without one. The only time I have needed one is through security so not sure what the challenge is if everything is settled with TSA. Can she just ship her luggage if it's too big to carry on?

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

Call the airline and ask them what to do. It's the airline you're dealing with. Deal with them directly.

I suggest that your daughter go to the airport with her copies and talk with a supervisor. It's that airport that has to accept whatever she has. Have her find out what she needs.

You have her passport. That is government issued ID. Where is she staying? Perhaps you could "same day delivery" it to her thru the US post office or one of the mail delivery companies.

I wonder if the airlines will accept copies but it's certainly worth a try.

My daughter went with her classmates to Washington D.C. We lived in AZ at the time. She forgot her "formal" wear which she had to have for a dinner. We sent it via the USPO and she received it the next day. It cost close to $20 but it was worth it.

However, again, I urge you to have her talk directly with the airlines to find out what they will and will not accept. Only they can tell her what she needs to meet their requirements.

As for the police report, I suggest that they may be able to FAX that to the airlines. Someone would have to pay the police for the report. Does she have a credit card with her. Or you or your husband may be able to do that over the phone.

2 moms found this helpful

J.P.

answers from Lakeland on

If she already has her ticket then she only needs her license to get through security. She should be able to check in on line (I am sure they all do that now) 24 hours before her flight. I have never had to show my license to get on the plane.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.C.

answers from Washington DC on

Does she have a student ID from school?

D.S.

answers from Norfolk on

Hi, AV:

Why isn't she the one to find out all the details instead of you?
Let her go to the DMV and get another set of id's.
Good luck.
D.

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