Left my Driver's License on plane.. now what?

Hello,

I'm hoping that someone here might be able to provide advice for a panicked
traveler... This last Saturday (Dec 13), I flew to Kentucky from California
in order to spend the holidays with my family. Today, while out shopping
with my sister, I realized that my driver's license--my only valid photo
id-- had not made it back into my wallet. I usually drop it down in my
laptop case or backpack during travel, so I really wasn't concerned at
first. When I got back to my parents and went through my stuff, I couldn't
find it. I got to thinking about it, and I'm certain the dl was left
probably in the seatback pocket on the plane I was on from LA to Nashville.
I called Southwest, and the license has not been turned into them--well, at
least not at Nashville. They said if it where found, it would be sent back
to the address on it, which is in California, so if it has been found, I'm
still out of luck right now.

I called the California DMV, and they are going to send me a temporary
license, which means I'll be able to drive once it gets here, but it doesn't
have a photo, so it won't get me through the TSA checkpoint. I have a
social security card and school photo ID, and my mom has an official copy of
my birth certificate, but we're not sure these will work either. My sister
suggested getting a passport, but I'd have to have expedited service to get
it here before January 3 when I go back, and my mother threw a fit over the
price, even though I'd be paying for it.

I've done some looking around on the TSA website, but still haven't found an
answer as to what will get me through and what won't. In one part, they say
if you have a paper ticket, you can get through with two forms of non-photo
id, so long as one is government issue. I'm going to be flying back on a
Southwest Reward ticket, so I'm not sure if that would count as a paper
ticket or not. (I'm thinking it would not count).

We checked into seeing if I could get a Kentucky State ID card (not dl), but
since I have a driver's license in another state, they said I could not be
issued a card.

Has this happened to anyone else? What are my options? Any suggestions?

Please reply to the group. I use a fake e-mail on usenet to try to cut down
on spam.

Thanks in Advance,
DRB

DRB wrote:

I called the California DMV, and they are going to send me a temporary
license, which means I'll be able to drive once it gets here, but it doesn't
have a photo, so it won't get me through the TSA checkpoint.

At the end of October, I traveled with a friend who does not drive - and
at the airport, he discovered that his wife had dropped _her_ expired
passport into his briefcase instead of his current one. He had no photo
ID either.

The checkin agent issued a boarding pass and handwrote something on it
to indicate that he was supposed to get the full check at security.
Which he got. He was thoroughly wanded and his carryons were
hand-searched. And he got on the plane. This was in Boston.

His wife fedexed his passport to the hotel and the return flight did not
include any extra wanding.

The ID requirement seems to be meant to satisfy the airline (not the
TSA) that you are the person to whom the ticket was sold. The TSA
should be interested only in whether you are a threat - regardless of
the quality of your ID.

Sample size = 1.

The ID requirement seems to be meant to satisfy
the airline (not the TSA) that you are the person
to whom the ticket was sold.

Yes, on the several flights I've taken during the last year
the people at the security checkpoint have never asked to
see my ID; they just ask to see my ticket (since only people
with tickets are permitted past the security checkpoint).
But the airlines have always wanted to see proper ID before
I board.


The TSA should be interested only in whether you are a
threat - regardless of the quality of your ID.

My guess is that lack of proper ID --if they requested one --
is one of the things that would raise a red flag as far as the
security people were concerned. But as a practical matter I
don't think that's likely to happen as long as you have
sufficient ID to satisify the airline.

James

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Remove "NOSPAM" from my address when sending me e-mail.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 02:34:25 GMT in rec.travel.usa-canada, "DRB"
wrote:

Has this happened to anyone else? What are my options? Any suggestions?

go NOW to the airport from which you will be departing, and talk
to the airline ticket agents that you will have to see then.
they can advise you and perhaps put something in your computer
reservation file to indicate that your photo ID was lost.

(Dennis P. Harris) wrote in message . ..
On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 02:34:25 GMT in rec.travel.usa-canada, "DRB"
wrote:

Has this happened to anyone else? What are my options? Any suggestions?

go NOW to the airport from which you will be departing, and talk
to the airline ticket agents that you will have to see then.
they can advise you and perhaps put something in your computer
reservation file to indicate that your photo ID was lost.

I was in virtually the exact situation in Manhattan. I went to Grand
Central days before my return, where Delta had a ticket desk.
20 minutes of discussion and some faxes of documents from home had
them typing in a small monologue about my travails which allowed
me through the system on my travel day. It will take longer at each
step as you re-explain to some extent, but they do have some procedures.
If you have ANYTHING with your photo + name on it, get it or a faxed
copy. An old passport, a company ID, a credit card, a school ID, ANYTHING
will get you through.

The lesson I learned was that one should have some small ziplock back
with "emergency ID" in it separate from the rest. A passport is a good
one, even traveling domestically (internationally, put the DL in
the ziplock and carry the passport). Slip in an extra credit card,
and a couple hundred bucks too. Duct tape it to the bottom of your
suit case or something.

RHess wrote:

DRB wrote:

I called the California DMV, and they are going to send me a temporary

license, which means I'll be able to drive once it gets here, but it doesn't
have a photo, so it won't get me through the TSA checkpoint.


At the end of October, I traveled with a friend who does not drive - and
at the airport, he discovered that his wife had dropped _her_ expired
passport into his briefcase instead of his current one. He had no photo
ID either.

Expired passports should work okay (after all, you hardly would have
changed your identity since you got it). I specifically asked about
this, since at one point I had to fly (on United, I think) when my
current passport was in the Vietnamese embassy waiting for a visa, and
said it was no problem.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
If you won't be better tomorrow than you are today, what
need have you for tomorrow? --Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav

On 12/15/2003 9:34 PM DRB performed amanuensis:

Hello,

I'm hoping that someone here might be able to provide advice for a panicked
traveler... This last Saturday (Dec 13), I flew to Kentucky from California
in order to spend the holidays with my family. Today, while out shopping
with my sister, I realized that my driver's license--my only valid photo
id-- had not made it back into my wallet. I usually drop it down in my
laptop case or backpack during travel, so I really wasn't concerned at
first. When I got back to my parents and went through my stuff, I couldn't
find it. I got to thinking about it, and I'm certain the dl was left
probably in the seatback pocket on the plane I was on from LA to Nashville.
I called Southwest, and the license has not been turned into them--well, at
least not at Nashville. They said if it where found, it would be sent back
to the address on it, which is in California, so if it has been found, I'm
still out of luck right now.

I called the California DMV, and they are going to send me a temporary
license, which means I'll be able to drive once it gets here, but it doesn't
have a photo, so it won't get me through the TSA checkpoint. I have a
social security card and school photo ID, and my mom has an official copy of
my birth certificate, but we're not sure these will work either. My sister
suggested getting a passport, but I'd have to have expedited service to get
it here before January 3 when I go back, and my mother threw a fit over the
price, even though I'd be paying for it.

I've done some looking around on the TSA website, but still haven't found an
answer as to what will get me through and what won't. In one part, they say
if you have a paper ticket, you can get through with two forms of non-photo
id, so long as one is government issue. I'm going to be flying back on a
Southwest Reward ticket, so I'm not sure if that would count as a paper
ticket or not. (I'm thinking it would not count).

We checked into seeing if I could get a Kentucky State ID card (not dl), but
since I have a driver's license in another state, they said I could not be
issued a card.

Has this happened to anyone else? What are my options? Any suggestions?

Please reply to the group. I use a fake e-mail on usenet to try to cut down
on spam.

Thanks in Advance,
DRB




On a trip to Cancun Mexico, I lost my Photo ID driver's licence. I got
through Immigration with my certified birth certificate and a $20.00
"processing fee". On the return trip I was repatriated with my Birth
Certificate, my BJ's Wholesale Store photo ID. US Immigration asked me
questions like: "In what hospital were you born?" , "What is your zip
code?", "What is your mother's maiden name?" and "Where did you go to
school?" This was before 9/11.

--
________
To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

"me" wrote in message
m...
(Dennis P. Harris) wrote in message
. ..
On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 02:34:25 GMT in rec.travel.usa-canada, "DRB"
wrote:

Has this happened to anyone else? What are my options? Any
suggestions?

go NOW to the airport from which you will be departing, and talk
to the airline ticket agents that you will have to see then.
they can advise you and perhaps put something in your computer
reservation file to indicate that your photo ID was lost.

I was in virtually the exact situation in Manhattan. I went to Grand
Central days before my return, where Delta had a ticket desk.
20 minutes of discussion and some faxes of documents from home had
them typing in a small monologue about my travails which allowed
me through the system on my travel day. It will take longer at each
step as you re-explain to some extent, but they do have some procedures.
If you have ANYTHING with your photo + name on it, get it or a faxed
copy. An old passport, a company ID, a credit card, a school ID, ANYTHING
will get you through.

The lesson I learned was that one should have some small ziplock back
with "emergency ID" in it separate from the rest. A passport is a good
one, even traveling domestically (internationally, put the DL in
the ziplock and carry the passport). Slip in an extra credit card,
and a couple hundred bucks too. Duct tape it to the bottom of your
suit case or something.

Thanks for the advice. My mother called the local courthouse again, which
does DL and ID cards since there is no DMV around here in the little rural
KY area. She explained the situation in-depth to them and they said that
they would make an exception to their "if you have a dl issued somewhere
out-of-state, we won't issue an ID card" rule. I suppose one of the
advantges to growing up in a small area is that if you spent the first 22
years of your life here, they'll still take care of you.

Once I get back to California, I'm going to get a passport--I've never
gotten one since I've never needed to go out the country yet, and I was just
going to wait until I did. I may also check and see if they'll issue an ID
Card in addition to a new DL.

Thanks again,
DRB

"Evelyn C. Leeper" wrote:

Expired passports should work okay (after all, you hardly would have
changed your identity since you got it). I specifically asked about
this, since at one point I had to fly (on United, I think) when my
current passport was in the Vietnamese embassy waiting for a visa, and
said it was no problem.

This must be one of those things that varies by airport/agent. My
friend was specifically told that an expired passport was NOT a valid
photo ID.

(Ok, and the passport he had was his wife's expired passport, but that's
another issue.)

Of course, the simplest way to fix a missing ID is to find a local
16-year-old and ask him where he gets his phony IDs, and get one. Which
is why the photo ID requirement is such a crock.

"DRB" wrote in message .com...
[snip]
I may also check and see if they'll issue an ID
Card in addition to a new DL.


Come back and let us know. I've been toying with the same
thing. I don't really see why the state should mind (presuming
I'm willing to pay for it) issueing me either a duplicate DL
or at least the same ID's they issue for folks that can't drive.