A Big Change To Domestic Travel Rules Affecting New Yorkers

Sure, you don’t need a passport for domestic travel. If you’re flying anywhere within the United States, your driver’s license totally works...for now. According to the New York DMV, after October of 2020 your driver’s license will no longer get you on a plane to fly domestically. You’re going to need an Enhanced or REAL ID. I did some searching, and according to the New York DMV, both Enhanced and REAL ID’s are federally compliant, so they can get you access to certain federal buildings and security clearance for flights. After October, 2020, a basic NY license won’t. If you want to upgrade for travel purposes, it’s suggested that you do so in the next few years before October, 2020. According to News 10 abc, the cost is the same for the upgraded license, so there’s that.

15 years ago or so, my high school friends and I were taking last minute trips with our high school driver’s IDs to Montreal. That one crazy friend would call up and say ‘were going north’ and we’d go north! Those days are long gone since it was changed shortly after that, and an Enhanced ID was required to get in to Canada. No more crazy high school nights for a 17-18 year old. Not that I’m saying that’s OK, but hey, we had fun. Nowadays, it’s not even trips to Canada that are being effected, but traveling WITHIN the United States. Doesn’t getting a driver’s license and passing the requirements count for enough to be able to hop on a plane to the next state over? Apparently not as of 2020. What are your thoughts on this?