• Checking in? Don't forget your ID.airport 3 image by Lucy Cherniak from Fotolia.com
  
  Picture ID requirements for airline travel have grown steadily tighter since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Travelers are not only expected to produce identification, they're expected to produce the right kind of ID as specified by federal authorities. If you hope to get onto your plane with minimal hassle, know and follow the rules.
  
  

Age Requirements

• All domestic passengers age 18 and over must produce a photo ID at airport security checkpoints. Passengers under 18 don't need a picture ID for domestic travel, but adults traveling with them may be required to furnish proof of the children's ages, such as a birth certificate. Everyone, even infants, must have a passport for international travel.
  
  Travelers may also have to show a picture ID at airline check-in counters. However, airports with federally approved security plans can use automated check-in kiosks.
  
  

ID Features

• To be accepted for air travel, picture IDs must meet the requirements of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The ID must be issued by a federal or state agency; it must give the traveler's name, birth date and gender; it must have an expiration date but be unexpired; and it must have a "tamper-resistant feature" such as a hologram or printing visible only under ultraviolet light.
  
  

Accepted IDs

• Forms of picture ID specifically listed as acceptable by the TSA include a U.S. or foreign passport or passport card; a driver's license or general ID card issued by a state motor vehicles department; a card issued by one of the "trusted traveler" programs authorized by the Homeland Security Department; a U.S. military ID card; a permanent resident card (also known as a "green card") or border-crossing card; an airline employee ID card; or a Transportation Worker Identification Credential.
  
  

Non-Americans

• Non-Americans need a passport for airline travel in the United States. However, for Canadian citizens, a driver's license or general ID card issued by a provincial government is acceptable.
  
  

Alternatives

• Passengers who cannot produce an acceptable photo ID may still be able to pass through checkpoints and board their planes, but they will be subject to additional screening. This could include an extensive search of the traveler's person and belongings, as well as a review of whatever documents they do have, such as credit cards or work IDs. This waiver, however, is available only to people who have lost, forgotten or misplaced their ID. Travelers who merely refuse to show ID--as a protest, for example--are barred from passing through checkpoints.