Expired Drivers License
 

Can you still travel within the US mainland with a month old expired Drivers License?

Confused - are you driving with an expired license, then no. Are you a US citizen using it for ID - then it does not matter since no one is required to carry ID.

Are you from out of US - then your passport would be your ID.

Only exception I know of is if your screen name refers to your being a NY Yankees fan - in that case, you would not be allowed to travel within Massachusetts, with or without license.

LOL, I am a Chicago Cubs fan. Yeah, there are still a lot of us out there.

I don't travel much (also don't drive at all as I live in NYC)so both my passport (8 months expired) and my Drivers License (1 month) are expired and I have to fly to Florida tomorrow morning. I will bring both but they're expired...will that be a big problem? What else shall I bring?

Call and ask the specific airline you are flying, what they require for ID.

Will do, thanks y'all.

Actually, I wasn't allowed through airport security because my photo id was an expired driver's license. I had just gotten my new one and handed the lady the wrong one, and she wouldn't accept it. After I dug around and found the new one, she let me go through.

I've traveled with an expired license recently and you can do it.

When you check in with the airline tell them your license is expired (many times the people who check your bag just glance at the name on the license and miss the fact that it's expired). They'll flag you for an extra security search which is really no big deal.

Iwould also bring expired passport - I think that is OK for domestic travel - but check TSA/airline website.

We actually found out that there is no federal law requiring ID to travel domestically - but as mentioned above, it will require additional security checks. In our son's case (when he lost his ID) it involved them calling over local police to check him out.

TSA does not check your ID when you go through security. You'll pass through a "checker" hired by either the airport authority of the airline running that terminal.

Matching the names on the ID and boarding pass, and making sure your face kind of resembles the picture is enough hard work for these minimum wage earners. I would be extremely surprised if any of them will notice the ID has expired.

I was stopped at security when I showed an expired drivers license at LAX. Luckily I had the new one with me and I had accidentally grabbed the wrong one. I am not sure what they would have done if I did not have another ID, but it appears others have had that experience.

Here in Florida we used to have a rather short lived drivers license that expired and then they sent you a sticker to put on the back to update it. More than once in airport security I was abruptly told "this is expired" before I could tell them to turn it over. I'd hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't had the update on the back.

I renewed my drivers license online and the DMV never sent me a new one. Luckily I printed out the renewal paper and stuck it in my wallet.

Every single time I fly I get my drivers license handed back to me as not proper ID and I have to give them the paper that states my license is valid.

The security at LGA didn't want to let me fly on that and called the SCHD.

Since the OPs flight was this morning - maybe we'll soon know if he made it.

(I've had a co-worker miss an important meeting because he had an expired DL and couldn't board the plane)

GoTravel, I know it takes a bit of time, but wouldn't it be worth it to call Motor Vehicles or stop by and get a new copy?

My bday is 12.28 and I flew out of Florida on 1.3, my license was expired on 12.28, I had to call a supervisor, it took 45min, they let me fly, but it was not easy.

Pretty crazy, lol.
M

Yes, you are correct Patrick. I need to go by and get my new drivers license.

I was just so excited about being able to do this online and skip taking a vacation day, spending the entire day in line, yadda, yadda.

I'm going to call and see if they'll send it to me.

I just did a roundtrip between JFK and San Francisco, and the date of my license expiration was checked both times!

GoT, I went to an out of the way DMV location on a Saturday on the way home from a business trip. In and out in a flash.

Maybe it's worth a "day trip" somewhere you want to visit and stop and get a new license at the time.

Whatever you do, don't get stopped for a speeding tix with an expired license. You'll spend the night in jail (or so I was told by an authority on the subject) :-)

Whether or not you will go to jail for an expired license depends on in which jurisdiction you are stopped. There are quite a number of states where driving on an expired license is an arrestable offense. There are others where a first offense is an infraction and not arrestable. Even in places where it is arrestable, you may or may not be arrested depending on the agencies policies and how the officer handles such situations. In any event, you are at risk and should get a new license. In all states, driving on a suspended or revoked license is arrestable and anyone who does and is stopped is likely to wind up in handcuffs.

Other impacts you may not have considered, if you drive on an expired license:
1. Your auto insurance is probably void.
2. You will likely not be able to rent a car.

Uh... you *must* travel with valid i.d. If your DL is expired, it is *not* valid. A few years ago my husband tried to travel with an expired DL and they would NOT even check him in!

You don't need any ID to check-in. Basically all US airlines have online check-in for domestic flights, which requires nothing.

As for going through security, again, there is no law requiring one to have a valid driver's license or ID. If you don't have one though, and is stopped, then you need to go through the airline, then secondary screening, etc.

But it can be done. Many people who lose their documents when traveling have been able to board flights without a picture ID. You just have to go to the airport early and expect lots of hassle, if you get stopped by the person guarding the security line (who, again, is not TSA).

rkkwan, that is where I've been stopped, at security.

The airports I've been stopped at:

CLT
ORD
LGA
EWR
IAD
BOS
PHL
MYR
CHS

To say they would let me through with an expired DL is not true. If I had not have had a peice of paper stating my license was valid, I would not have been able to board.

My Father is elderly and his DL is expired. They still take his DL expired- with photo at banks, public facilities etc. and nearly everywhere else. He is too handicapped to go get another Picture ID at DMV. Do you mean that he would not be able to fly? I don't think so. I think they would accept other picture ID's and/or proofs or they would be liable for non-compliance with handicap or other exemption laws. Lots of people do not drive and can not get State facility DMV ID for various reasons.

If this is the case in practice, it certainly is not universally followed.

Expired DL and passports are still valid forms of identification. (That's why they send your expired passport back to you) However the TSA does not appear to know this when checking people at airports.

But you don't need identification to fly domestically; you'll just flagged for a super-thorough security check, so allow extra time.

GoTravel - I didn't say you won't be stopped, though I'm surprised those ID-checkers at your airports are so good.

But the point, as verified by others, is that it's still possible to fly without an non-expired picture ID. Just not as easy, and one needs to go through a lot more hassle.