If you have not gotten around to getting a REAL ID, it may cost you extra when you have to pass through a security checkpoint.
The Transportation Security Administration announced that it will be adding a $45 fee starting on Feb. 1 for people who do not have an ID that is compliant with current regulations, ABC News reported.
Passengers without a REAL ID will have to go through a biometric or biographic system to confirm their identity before they can pass the checkpoint, ABC News reported.
The ID check is good for 10 days once a person gets the green light, travel blog “The Points Guy” said.
Last week, the agency published a notice in the Federal Register a proposed fee of $18.
“This notice serves as a next step in the process in REAL ID compliance, which was signed into law more than 20 years ago and finally implemented by Secretary Noem as of May 2025,” a TSA spokesperson told CBS News, noting that the agency would soon provide additional guidance. “TSA is working with stakeholders and partners to ensure both security and efficiency at our checkpoints.”
The fee is meant to “fully recover TSA’s costs of providing the modernized alternative identity verification program—including the initial development and deployment of the program—to individuals who choose to participate."
It will pay for the technology, software, management, customer service and administrative costs, the agency said.
The fee is non-refundable and is payable when the person registers and requests alternative identity verifications. Some may have to pay the fee more than once and the number of times the new system may be used could be limited.
They may also be subject to additional screening.
It will also affect people who have lost their ID or left it at home, The Points Guy said.
But the new process and fee may still not allow someone to fly.
“Participation in the modernized alternative identity verification program is optional and does not guarantee an individual will be granted access to the sterile area of an airport,” the agency said in the proposal.
The REAL ID law was passed by Congress in 2005 but took 20 years to go into effect on May 7, after years of delays, CNN reported.
Other acceptable forms of ID in place of a REAL ID include a passport, an enhanced driver’s license/ID, or military ID.
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