Flying without a Real ID? You may owe $45 — or more — starting Feb. 1

Travelers, be warned: Starting Feb. 1, you may need to pay a fee of $45 or more for going through airport security checkpoints without a Real ID or another acceptable travel document.

“That’s not nothing,” John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy group, said of the fee. “If you ever needed a reason to get a Real ID-compliant ID, now’s the time.”

The Real ID card is an upgraded driver’s license or state identification card that officials say carries more stringent security and helps prevent fraudulent identification. It is state-issued and marked with a star.

The federal government began requiring travelers to have a Real ID — or another document like a U.S. passport or passport card — to board a domestic flight, or enter certain federal facilities or nuclear power plants as of May 7, 2025.

However, Feb. 1 marks the first time the Transportation Security Administration will impose a fee to enforce the rule.

Travelers ages 18 and older without an acceptable travel document will need to pay $45 to use an optional alternative identity verification system — called TSA ConfirmID — to fly.

Roughly 6% of travelers don’t have a REAL ID or other acceptable form of identification, the TSA said in December when it announced the fee.

“This is really an enforcement mechanism,” said Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet. “It’s a real penalty for travelers who arrive unprepared.”

Verification in the ConfirmID system is valid for a 10-day travel period, according to the TSA.

Passing through a TSA checkpoint outside that 10-day period would require paying the TSA ConfirmID fee again, an agency spokesperson said in an email. In that scenario, a traveler on a longer trip could pay $90 total.

“If you go to Honolulu for two weeks, you may have to pay on the way back, too,” Breyault said. “If it wasn’t bad enough to be nickel-and-dimed by the airlines, now you’re getting nickel-and-dimed by the TSA.”

Travelers without an acceptable ID can complete the ConfirmID process before arriving at the airport.

They can visit tsa.gov/ConfirmID, and then show their pay.gov receipt — a printout or screenshot — and any government-issued ID to the airport TSA officer, the agency said.

Travelers can also pay the fee on-site. But TSA recommends that travelers pay the fee online before travel. Failure to do so may result in delays and missed flights, the TSA said.

“It is important that airline travelers plan ahead to ensure they have an acceptable form of ID to avoid these additional delays, as the process can take up to 30 minutes,” according to the TSA.

Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005. The law set minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Breyault said he understands why the government would choose to impose a fee: It’s a good way to motivate people to comply with the Real ID requirement, he said.

However, the burden will fall hardest on low- to moderate-income travelers and families with older children, he said. A family of four, for example, might pay more than $200 to fly, assuming the children are at least 18 years old and the trip is longer, Breyault said.

TSA doesn’t require children under 18 to provide identification when traveling within the U.S., even if they are traveling alone, the agency said. Each airline sets its own ID requirements, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Breyault’s advice to consumers: “Well in advance of your trip, make sure to get a Real ID-compliant ID from your [department of motor vehicles], and if you don’t have it, make sure you have one of the other acceptable forms of ID.”

Real ID costs vary by state. In New Jersey, it costs $35 to get a Real ID, for example.

TSA estimates travelers will use the ConfirmID program about 10.6 million times over the next five years.

The $45 fee will generate about $476 million in revenue, meant to offset administrative costs during that time, the agency said in a report issued Dec. 2.

Adam Stahl, a senior official performing the duties of deputy TSA administrator, said in recent press release that the fee would ensure “non-compliant travelers, not taxpayers, cover the cost of processing travelers without acceptable IDs.”

In a Nov. 13 report, the TSA initially estimated travelers would need to pay an $18 fee — less than half the final rate — to cover administrative expenses.

Asked for comment on the fees, a TSA spokesperson didn’t specify why the estimate changed in a matter of weeks.

The TSA plans to reevaluate its fee structure every two years “to account for evolving conditions and rates of compliance,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail.