I'm to believe this is done for my safety, which is apparently worth $45
You can actually board a domestic flight without any ID at all, for example if you lost it before your trip. But you'll have to go through a manual identity verification process. That includes giving fingerprints and answering personal questions only you should know, like past addresses.
It takes around 30 minutes and if you don't answer correctly, you could be denied boarding. This process already existed before the Real ID requirement, but it used to be free. Now, you're forced to go through the same manual verification steps and pay $45 on top of it.
You're being treated the same as if you have no ID with you at all.
The last attempt I even had my report from the relevant CRA in front of me as a cheat-sheet, at their suggestion. They believed I’m me enough to hand me (a version of) my report and let me into my online account with them, but not enough to tell someone else that I’m me. Go figure.
(The trouble, I’m pretty sure, was that both times I encountered two “I have literally no idea what relevance any of the addresses you named have to me” answers and I think they only put one of those in each set. Even reading the sheet I never managed to figure out WTF they were talking about. One I got both times, which I suppose was the one I was supposed to know, didn’t even name a state I had lived or owned property in. But nothing about it on the report, so what do I dispute? Luckily I only needed it for a temporary rental and that ended up working out fine—it’s way easier to buy houses than rent one, I guess, which is pretty weird)
Cue notarized paperwork with witnesses sent certified mail. Verification code sent back via regular post.
Weeks later, we can do the power of attorney but one of us needs to fly out. Required two additional witness for that. Five signatures on the same document. Had to call for updates to find out if it was accepted.
Getting the forms for this was non-trivial. You had to ask for them to be mailed or emailed.
I presented a student ID and was escorted through the security line. My baggage was selected for additional screening and I received a pat down search.
I went through an identical procedure on the return flight, right down to the exact words the TSA agent spoke to me while conducting the pat down.
They had me answer a series of questions about past addresses etc, it wasn't just an extra pat down in my case. After answering all the questions correctly they allowed me to continue.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46019205
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2025/11/21/tsa-securit...
[2] http://archive.today/2025.11.21-221013/https://www.washingto...
They're flat out telling you it's not about safety. It's merely about forcing total compliance. Which is almost certainly why the price was raised.
The real question is, since this is apparently also required to enter any federal facility, can I pay the $45 fee to enter those location as well? If not, then it's obvious what they're doing here.