TSA Announces You Can Travel Without a Passport for $18
Forget Real ID — all you need is Andrew Jackson!
Published 3 weeks ago in Facepalm
Everyone agrees that traveling sucks nowadays. There are many reasons — understaffing, endless delays and the planes themselves repeatedly falling out of the sky.
However, one detail rises above the others as the primary reason going to the airport sucks: security theater. Thankfully, the TSA now says you don’t have to deal with that — so long as you have like $20.
According to CNN, travelers without a passport or real ID will be fined $18, then be allowed to travel regardless. Read that another way, and you can get around the requirement for ID at the airport for the low, low price of just $18!
Of course, they have other ways of verifying your identity. Instead of handing over your ID, you’ll just pay the fine and walk through a “biometric kiosk,” which automatically approves you based on available biometric data. So, this was an option the whole time and you’re still having us carry around plastic cards? Why??
The TSA has figured out that some people will inevitably try this “hack” and warned that those doing so could experience delays and/or be rejected from entry outright. But if you still haven’t gotten your Real ID yet, don’t worry — all you need to travel is the ability to pay minor bribes. Sorry, “fees.” Very different, you see!