FYI re NEXUS & RAC

[CarrieR]

Hoping I can avoid someone significant frustration at the end of their vacation - FYI RAC *does not* accept Nexus as a valid photo ID.

After an unfortunate incident where I lost my driver's license at security a couple of years ago (rendering me unable to get my rental car at my destination,) I use Nexus for my travel needs as much as possible. My license stays securely tucked in my bag.

I presented in this morning and was told that RAC does not accept NEXUS as valid photo ID. I pushed it a little bit - "But it's valid for the TSA?" and she said the airports may accept it, but they (RAC) are run by the airlines and they're way stricter. (She did later say she'd asked the same question, because it didn't make sense to her either.)

No big deal, except the annoyance of having to dig my license out. But it could have been quite problematic if I hadn't had my license with me at all!

Kind of ironic though, since my NEXUS was *way* harder to get than my license!

 

[bumbershoot]

"Walt Disney World Resort Guests must present a valid government-issued I.D. for domestic travel or a valid passport for international travel..."

Since nexus is a valid govt issued ID I would write to them and remind them of that. Heck, they (ETA: the NEXUS people) said that once I let them scan my BC (the WA office didn't have access to my CA bc) my card can stand in if I lose my passport. That's some serious ID.

As for losing your license at a checkpoint, how did that happen? Yikes.

 

[CarrieR]

I... uh... am a perpetual loser of things.

Normally I hold my license and boarding pass in my hand and walk through the metal detector. I had a TSA agent insist it had to be in a bin... In the chaos I stuck it loose in the bin (my error, for sure) and then got distracted, I guess - grabbed everything out of the bin and went on my merry way. Realized a few minutes later I didn't have it - looked thru bins & on floor but it was gone. The bin was definitely empty so guessing it got lodged inside the machine somehow - they found it days later and mailed it back to me.

Anyways, if Nexus had been all I had then I would have stayed firm, but after arguing my case for a moment it wasn't worth it (since I had my license in my backpack.) It wasn't a "what's this" issue - the agent seemed to recognize what Nexus was - just a refusal to accept it.

It's basically a "mini passport" - I don't have a passport and got it for precheck and travel to/from Canada. I was vetted waaaaay more for Nexus than my DL.

Good to know it's "officially" allowed. Thought others might want to know for the future.

 

[bumbershoot]

Normally I hold my license and boarding pass in my hand and walk through the metal detector. I had a TSA agent insist it had to be in a bin... In the chaos I stuck it loose in the bin (my error, for sure) and then got distracted

Aha. FWIW, once the TSA person at the airport looks at my ID and pass I put them 100% away. You don't need them anymore (until you show the boarding pass at the gate) so you might as well just put 'em away.


A TSA agent called me back once b/c I had done the same thing, though, putting it in the bin and forgetting it. Thank goodness he noticed it!

 

[CarrieR]

Needless to say, I've developed some new habits. But sometimes my ADD acts up and yeah... why are my keys in the butter dish in the freezer?!

 

[sandam1]

I suspect that that particular person just did not understand the concept of the NEXUS card. It's happened to me before.

A number of years ago, I was flying to/from Baltimore. I had just renewed my driver's license, but hadn't received the new license yet so I had my old (expired) license as well as the paperwork from the DMV for the renewal. Instead of fumbling with everything, I figured that I would use my NEXUS card as identification. No problem on the outbound flight, but the TSA agent in Baltimore had NO idea what the NEXUS card was. He kept questioning whether it was valid for travel. Finally, I pulled out my expired driver's license, gave it to him, and he was happy with that. It was frustrating to say the least and I did make a complaint to the TSA when I got home (noting the person's name and the approximate time).

I would be interested to find out if this was a one-time issue as the NEXUS is most decidedly a valid government ID.

 

[CarrieR]

She did seem to know exactly what it is. After she'd checked my bag, I apologized for arguing my point and told her I was just confused b/c it was a valid ID. Her response was basically, "I know. That's what I told them, too."

Now the Southwest girl for my outbound bag check - yeah. Totally mystified.