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Did you lose or forget your ID when traveling? You could still board a flight out of KCI

Tammy Ljungblad/tljungblad@kcstar.com

You’re finally ready to go on that dream vacation. The bags are packed and the boarding pass is downloaded. You head to the new KCI.

As you check your bags with the agent, you feel around your pockets and can’t find your ID. You dig through your carry-on, and your passport isn’t there either.

You panic, worried that your dream trip might turn into a nightmare. What was supposed to be a smooth flight could be ruined because of one tiny slip-up.

Or, maybe there’s another way.

It turns out that it’s possible to still get to your flight even without an ID, you will just have to go through a few extra steps.

Transportation Security Administration said that if you arrive at the airport without proper identification, such as a driver’s license or passport, you may still be allowed to fly.

Here are a few recommendations on what you should do if you left your ID behind and what you can expect when flying out of KCI.

HOW CAN I BOARD MY FLIGHT WITHOUT AN ID?

First things first, stay calm. Lorie Danker, a TSA spokesperson, said you should tell a TSA officer at KCI when you check in. Once you tell them that you don’t have your ID, this will start an alternate process to verify your identity.

The process involves only you and the officer, and they’ll ask for any available information you have about yourself.

She said travelers who don’t have an ID should bring any item with their name on it. For example, this can be a credit card, an employee badge or a business card.

She said that anything that has your name on it is a head start in the verification process.

TSA will then ask you questions and use publicly available databases to verify your identity. She couldn’t say what questions or databases TSA uses for safety and security reasons.

“If you’re legit, you have no problems,” Dankers said.

She said you won’t be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint if your identity can’t be verified.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I DO?

If you know you lost your ID before heading towards the airport, she recommends that you arrive around 45 minutes to an hour before you would normally show up to check in.

The security checkpoint could be busy, and it could take some time for a TSA officer to be available to conduct the identity verification process. It will be especially busy this Memorial Day weekend, as Kansas City Aviation Department’s deputy director Justin Meyer told The Star that KCI’s expecting over 20,000 daily outbound passengers Thursday and Friday.

This process only applies to travelers ages 18 and older. Kids 17 and under only have to show their boarding pass and don’t need to show a form of identification.