Forget Your ID? TSA's $18 Backup Fee Awaits You
Published Date: 11/20/2025
Notice
Summary
Starting November 20, 2025, TSA is rolling out a new way to verify your identity if you forget your ID at the airport. If you want to use this backup option, you’ll pay an $18 fee, but it’s totally optional and doesn’t guarantee you’ll get through security. This change helps TSA cover costs while giving travelers a modern safety net.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Automated system replaces call center
TSA is replacing its prior call-center identity checks with a modernized, technology-enabled system that uses biographic and/or biometric information. TSA expects the new system to streamline steps, reduce time to verify identities, and substantially increase the number of individuals for whom alternative identity verification can be provided.
$18 fee for identity checks
Starting November 20, 2025, if you present at a TSA checkpoint without an acceptable ID and choose to use TSA's modernized alternative identity verification, you must pay a non-refundable $18 fee per person. The fee is charged at registration/when you request the service, may be collected by third parties, and TSA will not refund the fee even if your identity is not verified or you are not allowed into the sterile area.
Optional backup identity option
TSA is offering an optional, technology-enabled identity verification program that may let travelers without an acceptable ID access the sterile area if TSA can establish identity. Participation is voluntary, does not guarantee access to the sterile area, and individuals who use it may still face additional screening or delays.
Repeat uses and potential limits
TSA expects some people may use and pay for the program more than once; the fee is $18 per person per 10-day use. TSA may limit how many times an individual may use the program in certain scenarios if the person repeatedly fails to present an acceptable ID.
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