- Travelers without a Real ID will have to start paying a fee on Feb. 1, 2026.
- TSA reports over 94% compliance for Real ID among travelers.
- TSA Confirm ID process offers alternative verification for non-Real ID travelers.
Earlier this year, the Transportation Security Administration started requiring flyers to have a Real ID-compliant form of identification, but soon those traveling without one will face a fee.
On Monday, TSA announced that passengers without a Real ID will be required to pay a $45 fee in order to fly from U.S. airports. This announcement comes right on the heels of a record-breaking Thanksgiving travel week.
The new fee will start being issued on Feb. 1, 2026, according to The New York Times. The fee is part of a new verification process for people without Real IDs.
What is Real ID?
Real IDs are federally compliant state-issued driver’s licenses, learner’s permits or nondriver IDs, per CBS News. Passports, permanent resident cards and other identity documents are also considered Real ID-compliant. TSA started requiring these forms of identification in May.
According to The New York Times, government officials said the implementation of Real ID was meant to enhance security and create a consistent standard for state-issued documentation.
Before now, authorities did not impose any penalties for not having a Real ID; these people were allowed to travel with additional screening.
“The current alternative identity verification process is time and resource intensive, limiting the number of individuals for whom T.S.A. can provide the service,” the agency said in a notice filed in the Federal Register last month. “Requiring a fee for the modernized alternative identity verification program will ensure that the cost to administer this program is recovered from the users who benefit from it.”
TSA reported that over 94% of passengers are already using a Real ID or another acceptable form of identification, per The New York Times.
What is the new verification system?
The new verification process with the $45 fee is called TSA Confirm ID.
Passengers without Real IDs “will be referred to the optional TSA Confirm ID process for identity verification upon TSA check-in and prior to entering the security line,” the TSA said, per CBS.
Though passengers will be able to travel without Real ID, TSA is still encouraging passengers without Real IDs to update their IDs and get one.
According to CBS, the new fee is designed to ensure that travelers, not taxpayers, are covering the cost of the advanced verification system.
Travelers will have the option to pay the fee before they arrive at the airport and the verification will be valid for a 10-day period, per The New York Times. Details about online payment or what screening will be involved in this alternative identity verification process have not yet been released.
The exact details of the new verification process will vary from airport to airport.
TSA screened a record number of people over Thanksgiving
Last week, over Thanksgiving, a record number of people traveled through airports for the holiday.
On Monday, TSA posted on X saying that on Sunday, it screened 3,133,924 individuals, the highest number in the agency’s history. Now all the top 10 busiest days for TSA are above 3 million.