TSA Is Begging Travelers to Stop Trying to Use Their Costco Cards as ID

Apparently, this needs to be said: your Costco membership card may grant you access to maybe the best hot dog you’ll ever eat, but it will not get you through airport security. It is not a valid ID. Just because your picture is on it does not mean you can whip it out in any place that requires official identification.

This comes directly from the Transportation Security Administration, better known as the lovely people at the TSA who make traveling a much bigger pain in the ass than it should be. But on some subjects, they do make a good point. Like this one, in which they had to put out a plea on social media, practically begging people to stop spreading the rumor that a Costco membership card is just as good as a government-issued ID.   

As of May 7th, you need a Real ID or another acceptable form of identification for domestic flights. A mugshot printed on the back of the card that grants access to the place where buying a pack of chicken thighs requires you to buy a lifetime’s worth of chicken thighs is not the same thing as a Real ID.

A Real ID, for those of you who are woefully behind on US identification standards, is basically the same thing as your old driver’s license or identification card, just with a few added security measures. The telltale sign of a Real ID is a little golden star in the top right corner, along with a few other neat features that make it more difficult to illegally replicate.

Real ID is not some newfangled idea suddenly thrust upon us by one of our more recent governmental regimes. It’s an idea that was originally set in motion way back in 2005 that inexplicably took 20 years to come to fruition. That’s four different presidential administrations—two Republicans, two Democrats—all putting in minimal effort to enact a new type of ID that isn’t that much different from the old type.

The rumor is not new. It resurfaces every once in a while, likely thanks to a combination of poorly researched clickbait articles and online influencers who can give a rat’s ass about the distinction between the truth and a lie when the views are all the same.

A TSA spokesperson, Lorie Dankers, confirmed that presenting a Costco card as primary ID just creates delays. While it might be a starting point if you’ve genuinely lost all other forms of identification, it kicks off a much more extensive identity verification process, which nobody wants when they’re trying to catch a flight.

By all means, continue to carry your Costco membership card everywhere and anywhere. You can use it when you’re visiting a different state to fuel up on some cheap gas or one of Costco’s bomb-ass pizzas. But when you need to travel, the TSA will only accept your Real ID or some kind of officially sanctioned equivalent.