TSA Now Charging $45 For Identity Crisis At Security Checkpoint
KEY POINTS
- â˘Starting February 1, 2025, the TSA will charge $45 to travelers at airport security if they lack a REAL ID or other acceptable ID.
- â˘The TSA Confirm.ID system, designed to verify identity biometrically, will cover a 10-day travel period with this fee.
- â˘Though the programâs details are scarce, travelers arriving without prior online payment can pay at designated kiosks near checkpoints.
- â˘The REAL ID Act was passed in 2005 but only began enforcement for airport security in May 2025, with 94% compliance reported.
On February 1, 2025, TSA decided airport security needed a deluxe upgrade: charge $45 for travelers lacking the elusive REAL ID, which has taken 20 years to roll out since Congress's 2005 thunderbolt of legislation. This new TSA Confirm.ID system, shrouded in mystery, promises to verify your identity with fancy biometric kiosks, although how remains vague enough to make you wonder if coin-operated fingerprint scanners are next. If you procrastinated getting a REAL IDâfeatured with a star inside a circle, apparently a fashion statementâprepare for a ten-day travel pass to tolerate this new $45 fee or awkwardly scramble to pay it at a marked checkpoint kiosk conveniently placed to maximize your delay. Previously, TSA flirted with an $18 fee for a faster biometric system, but now theyâre going full budget airline and gouging in style. The TSA assures us 94% of flyers have their REAL IDs, so the rest of you are prizes theyâre finally cashing in onâbecause nothing says âwelcome aboardâ like a government-sponsored shakedown.
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Congrats, if you forgot your REAL ID, TSA now charges you $45 for the privilege of humiliation and delay. Next up: vending machines selling dignity. We're all just terrible drivers of our own travel plans.
Pay $45 at the airport if you bring no REAL ID. Next they'll charge for breathing on planes.
REAL ID took 20 years to launch, and TSA wants $45 for your identity crisis on February 1. Sounds like a new tax on maybe-misspelling your name.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/1/2025 | Author: Taylor Rains,Kelsey Vlamis
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