ORLANDO, Fla. — Beginning Wednesday, May 7, U.S. domestic travelers will need a REAL ID to board a domestic flight.

Congress passed the requirement back in 2005 as a way to step up air travel safety after 9/11, by requiring more stringent verification of passengers.

What You Need To Know

  • Beginning Wednesday, May 7, U.S. domestic travelers will need a REAL ID to board a domestic flight

  • Many Florida resident driver’s licenses are already REAL IDs – the state began issuing them in 2010.  A Florida driver’s license is REAL ID compliant if it has a gold star in the upper righthand corner of the license

  • To get a REAL ID, you must go to a Florida DMV office with these main items: a government-issued proof of your name and date of birth, your social security card, and two documents that show proof of your primary Florida address

  • The Florida DMV website shows the cost of the REAL ID is $48 plus a processing fee

Many Florida resident driver’s licenses are already REAL IDs – the state began issuing them in 2010.

A Florida driver’s license is REAL ID compliant if it has a gold star in the upper righthand corner of the license. But the deadline could have some air travelers scrambling to be compliant. Other states did not begin issuing REAL IDs until more recently.

Harriot Roberts has 57 years of experience booking travel, including 48 with her own travel agency she shares with her husband - Let’s Travel.

“I just talked with this man a minute ago and he’s going, ‘Oh my God, I don’t have a star on my driver’s license’ and ... he said I think I’ll take my passport to go where I’m going,” said Roberts.

A U.S. passport is not required to travel domestically. But now, if you don’t have a REAL ID, a passport will work instead.

If you don’t have either, there’s no guarantee you’ll get through security, or at least in time to make your flight.

“You’re going to get some additional screening at the checkpoint, and they’re going to have to do some additional identity verification at the checkpoint,” said Mark Howell, a regional spokesperson for the Transportation and Safety Administration. “So that could slow you down quite a bit.”

“I don’t know that they’re going to board them, and that’s what’s going to be very upsetting,” said Roberts. “And there’s going to be a lot of screaming and gnashing of teeth and ranting and raving Wednesday at the airport.”

To get a REAL ID, you must go to a Florida DMV office with these items:

  • A government-issued proof of your name and date of birth - like a birth certificate, passport or other government issued identification.

  • Your social security card and two documents that show proof of your primary Florida address – like a utility bill or W-2 tax form (a current license that’s not a REAL ID can’t be used as a proof of residence).

“I’m saying to you - have you looked at your driver’s license today? Do it, because if you haven’t, then you need to get in line if you don’t have a passport,” said Roberts.

The Florida DMV website shows the cost of the REAL ID is $48 plus a processing fee.