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Comment by GavinMcG | Hacker News Reader

To be fair, the TSA website does say that "If your identity cannot be verified, you will not be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint."

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

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And at the bottom of the page:

"In the event you arrive at the airport without proper ID, because it is lost or at home, you may still be allowed to fly."

Every time I've done it, they ask me a few questions and I get a pat-down which is no big deal anyway since I never go through their scanner anyway.

I almost had to do this because of a problem with my newly-renewed license. I was told (by the TSA) to arrive several hours early with as much documentation as I could expecting to fill out a lot of paperwork and be interviewed. In the end I got my license situation resolved in time, but it sounded like a huge deal and I'm curious about more details of your experience has been having actually done it..

Can you go end to end (buy ticket, get boarding pass, pass security, and get on the plane) without ever giving ID?

Yep. The airline will almost certainly want you to have the credit card used to purchase the ticket to verify that you're "authorized" to claim the ticket, and the TSA will give you the third degree at the checkpoint, but -because the airlines are common carriers- you cannot be required to present ID to fly.

Yes. I did this yesterday. It takes a little longer at the TSA checkpoint, that's about it (sample size=1).

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