A what-if question about photo id

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I'm extremely over-cautious with regard to what we carry in the parks. Our wallets usually spend the whole vacation in the room safe. Most everything we need to do can be done with the room key. On the days when I know we'll be going to Downtown Disney, I'll carry my Disney Visa to get the discount. I also carry a credit card, of course, when we go off-site to Sea World or Universal.

I wanted to leave our driver's licenses in the safe too, but soon found there were too many times when an ID is required. We had a scare this trip with loosing a room key. (We think I left it sitting on the counter after making a purchase. Fortunately, we discovered it was missing within a few hours and there were no charges on it.) The room key was quick and painless to replace. I shudder to think, though, what would have happened if it was my driver's license that had been lost.

Has anyone ever lost their one and only government-issued photo ID while on vacation? How did you get home? Is there a TSA procedure at the airport for someone who has lost their ID while traveling, or are you just plumb out of luck?

 

[salmoneous]

Seen this happen to a few folks, including my Dad. It's actually not a TSA procedure, but your airlines. Basically, you get together all the ID you do have and talk to your airline. You do whatever you can to convince them you are who you are, then they give you a pass to get through TSA. Gigantic PITA and you need to get to the airport at least a couple hours earlier than you planned, but - eventually - you do get on the plane.

 

[Kae]

You could take a passport, also.

Kae

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

We had this happen in reverse, it was VERY stressful. We live in Cincinnati, but were flying out of Columbus (about 90 minutes) to WDW. We got to the Columbus airport and my mom realizes her drivers license is at home! We talked to the TSA and they told us exactly what salmoneous said, get all your ID's together and they would "review" them. My mom had a gym membership (with photo), a badge from her work, and her social security card. They let her through, but they asked us where we were flying to. When we said Orlando they said if at all possible to get the ID mailed to us at WDW because the TSA in Orlando is very strict. My grandpa mailed my mom's license down and we got home fine, but it was not a fun experience. It was especailly stressful since we were in Columbus and there was no way we could go back to Cincinnati to get the license and not miss the flight. Check and double-check that you have your ID before leaving for the airport!