Forget Your REAL ID? TSA Will Make You Pay $45 Starting Feb. 1

The Transportation Security Administration will begin charging travelers a $45 fee starting Feb. 1 if they arrive at airport security without a REAL ID or passport.

The fee is part of the next phase of REAL ID implementation and will fund a biometric or biographic verification process required before a traveler can enter a checkpoint, the agency told ABC News.

TSA originally proposed an $18 charge but raised the amount to support system modernization and ensure the cost falls on travelers rather than taxpayers.

Travelers going through airport security checkpoints without a REAL ID or passport will face a $45 fee starting Feb. 1, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.

Read more: https://t.co/2t6Wa2eFdV pic.twitter.com/08aPdpuSkM

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 1, 2025

Passengers without compliant ID must go to TSA.gov, complete an online identity verification, and show emailed confirmation to officers. The process may take 10 to 30 minutes, and clearance is not guaranteed.

Travelers lacking ID at the checkpoint will be pulled from the line to complete verification.

The fee covers up to 10 days of travel before it must be repaid. TSA says 94% of travelers already use acceptable ID.

Also read:

China Floods U.S. Arctic Waters, Triggering Sharp Homeland Security Warning

A new Department of Homeland Security report warns that China has operated an “unprecedented number” of military and research vessels in or near U.S. Arctic waters this year, prompting a stepped-up American response. DHS says the U.S. Coast Guard moved decisively to defend U.S. sovereignty as Chinese

tippinsightsTIPP Staff