Interesting People mailing list archives

more on : How to fly in the U.S. without ID


From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 13:46:43 -0400



Begin forwarded message:

From: Joel M Snyder <Joel.Snyder () Opus1 COM>
Date: October 7, 2006 1:10:28 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com, dewayne () warpspeed com, daw () cs berkeley edu, s.schear () comcast net, gnu () toad com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on : How to fly in the U.S. without ID



David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: October 7, 2006 11:39:36 AM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] re: How to fly in the U.S. without ID
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com
[Note: This comment comes from a reader of Farber's IP list. So I guess then the question is will this sage advice still work today? Anyone out there want to give it a try and report back? <g> DLH]

It works, and it doesn't work. There are folks who rarely, if ever, show ID when flying. And it won't work for international flights. But for domestic ones, you can get a surprising distance without showing a person any ID.

The airlines have stopped using a non-existent federal law as a cover- up for their desire to have people with ID, and they simply require it as a corporate rule. You can, of course, buy an e-Ticket, check in at home, and avoid talking to an airline person. In that case, you go straight to TSA without showing ID.

But that is a commercial transaction between you and the airlines and is really separate from the TSA/Federal Gov't part of things. If you can find an airline that will let you fly without ID or under an assumed name (VIPs do this not infrequently), you can get a boarding pass which is your 'ticket' to get into the terminal. I often get to the TSA lines without having shown ID to a person just because of the automation in place in airports.

But TSA is now separate from the airlines, and that's an entirely different gauntlet and rule set.

TSA doesn't seem to require ID. Which means that if you can get your boarding pass, you can go to the TSA station, declare "I do not have ID," and it's just as if you have SSSS (the "selectee" sign) stamped on your boarding pass. They treat you with extra care, but you are allowed into the boarding area.

I have a good friend who flies out of Las Vegas a lot at times when the lines are very very long. In LAS (as in most airports), they have a special line for selectees which is VERY short. Thus, he simply goes to the front of the line, declares he has no ID, and they handle him in a few moments (rather than the 20 to 40 minute line that everyone else endures).

jms


From: David Wagner <daw () cs berkeley edu>
Date: October 7, 2006 8:19:38 AM PDT
To: s.schear () comcast net, dewayne () warpspeed com
Cc: gnu () toad com
Subject: [IP] How to fly in the U.S. without ID
Actually, that essay is at least 5 or 6 years old and has nothing to
do with Gilmore's law suit.  It predates 9/11 and completely predates
John Gilmore's law suit.  I remember reading it back when I was
researching this stuff in, oh, 1999 or so.
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
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Joel M Snyder, 1404 East Lind Road, Tucson, AZ, 85719
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jms () Opus1 COM                http://www.opus1.com/jms


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