Travel Industry Struggles With Sluggish Adoption of Real ID Driver’s Licenses
Skift Take
The bliss of finally being able to travel is making people oblivious to the Real ID requirement, which has been extended twice, and is now just around the corner. For travel advisors, it simply adds more to the pile of potential things that can go wrong.
The Department of Homeland Security last year announced an extension of the Real ID deadline to May 3 2023, but travelers are still scrambling to understand what they need to accomplish by next year while travel agencies are feeling the pressure, too.
“There is a huge lack of Real ID awareness amongst the general public,” said Erica Carr, founder of travel agency bookitbox Travel. “A very small portion of our travelers are aware of the need for Real ID to travel domestically post-May 3, 2023 and I have not seen an increase in awareness as of recently.”
The Real ID Act, passed in 2005, “establishes minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibits certain federal agencies from accepting for certain purpose’s drivers license and identification cards ”, as written on the Homeland Security website.
At first glance, a Real ID license, which can be obtained at motor vehicles agencies in states, looks very similar to
