more on : How to fly in the U.S. without ID

Begin forwarded message:

From: Joel M Snyder <[email protected]>
Date: October 7, 2006 1:10:28 PM EDT
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],  
[email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Re: [IP] more on : How to fly in the U.S. without ID



David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
> From: Dewayne Hendricks <[email protected]>
> Date: October 7, 2006 11:39:36 AM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <[email protected]>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] re: How to fly in the U.S. without ID
> Reply-To: [email protected]
> [Note:  This comment comes from a reader of Farber's IP list.  So I  
> guess then the question is will this sage advice still work today?   
> Anyone out there want to give it a try and report back?  <g>  DLH]

It works, and it doesn't work.  There are folks who rarely, if ever,  
show ID when flying.  And it won't work for international flights.   
But for domestic ones, you can get a surprising distance without  
showing a person any ID.

The airlines have stopped using a non-existent federal law as a cover- 
up for their desire to have people with ID, and they simply require  
it as a corporate rule.  You can, of course, buy an e-Ticket, check  
in at home, and avoid talking to an airline person.  In that case,  
you go straight to TSA without showing ID.

But that is a commercial transaction between you and the airlines and  
is really separate from the TSA/Federal Gov't part of things.  If you  
can find an airline that will let you fly without ID or under an  
assumed name (VIPs do this not infrequently), you can get a boarding  
pass which is your 'ticket' to get into the terminal.   I often get  
to the TSA lines without having shown ID to a person just because of  
the automation in place in airports.

But TSA is now separate from the airlines, and that's an entirely  
different gauntlet and rule set.

TSA doesn't seem to require ID.  Which means that if you can get your  
boarding pass, you can go to the TSA station, declare "I do not have  
ID," and it's just as if you have SSSS (the "selectee" sign) stamped  
on your boarding pass.  They treat you with extra care, but you are  
allowed into the boarding area.

I have a good friend who flies out of Las Vegas a lot at times when  
the lines are very very long.  In LAS (as in most airports), they  
have a special line for selectees which is VERY short.  Thus, he  
simply goes to the front of the line, declares he has no ID, and they  
handle him in a few moments (rather than the 20 to 40 minute line  
that everyone else endures).

jms


> From: David Wagner <[email protected]>
> Date: October 7, 2006 8:19:38 AM PDT
> To: [email protected], [email protected]
> Cc: [email protected]
> Subject: [IP] How to fly in the U.S. without ID
> Actually, that essay is at least 5 or 6 years old and has nothing to
> do with Gilmore's law suit.  It predates 9/11 and completely predates
> John Gilmore's law suit.  I remember reading it back when I was
> researching this stuff in, oh, 1999 or so.
> Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
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-- 
Joel M Snyder, 1404 East Lind Road, Tucson, AZ, 85719
Senior Partner, Opus One       Phone: +1 520 324 0494
[email protected]                http://www.opus1.com/jms