Who uses their passport for domestic travel?
I carry my passport for every trip, then leave it in my hotel. Thinking is that if I get robbed/lose my drivers license, I can still board the plane for the return trip home.
iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
31–40 of 41 posts
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#32The thing I don’t understand about using my phone for identity verification at TSA is that I also need my boarding pass at TSA, which is also on my phone. I can either hand them my drivers license and scan my boarding pass in parallel (fast), hand them a paper boarding pass and maybe use the digital drivers license assuming that airport can support that (waste of paper though), or I can do both on my phone and make the entire interaction take twice as long? What’s the point, genuinely?
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#33Who uses their passport for domestic travel?
I carry my passport for every trip, then leave it in my hotel. Thinking is that if I get robbed/lose my drivers license, I can still board the plane for the return trip home.
Passport card is made for you! They're not officially accepted for enough things in USA that losing it is a major stress, it doesn't have your address on the front, and big plus: foreign countries who want to see a "national id" (because they have one and think this is normal) who don't accept a passport will happily accept a passport card (source: my own experience living in South Asia)
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#34Let’s not normalise using your phone, containing all your secrets, as ID. And especially not interacting with it in front of unrestrained representatives of state authority. Just carry a bit of inert - as inert as possible - plastic instead
Does the TSA have any authority to even access your phone? Sure with suspicion they could refer you to the police or something where normal legal standards apply. But they aren't DHS/Customs staff who in the past could demand devices for unloading.
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#35This is exciting, and probably a subtle admission from Apple that states aren't playing ball with their Drivers ID in Wallet approach. Even Apple's home state California initially limited digital IDs to their bottom of the barrel, garbage grade ID app (seriously go look at "mDL California"/"CA DMV Wallet" app, even the splash image is pixelated garbage) before finally allowing IDs to be added to Wallet the Apple way.
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#36The thing I don’t understand about using my phone for identity verification at TSA is that I also need my boarding pass at TSA, which is also on my phone. I can either hand them my drivers license and scan my boarding pass in parallel (fast), hand them a paper boarding pass and maybe use the digital drivers license assuming that airport can support that (waste of paper though), or I can do both on my phone and make t…
At least with a physical ID document, you don’t also need to provide your boarding pass at many updated TSA checkpoints.
https://www.afar.com/magazine/no-need-to-show-tsa-your-board...
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
People who have a passport card (or book) but don't have another RealID (either because they never bothered, or because their state wanted to charge extra for it). Or, as happened to me once, whose driver's license is expired (only by a couple of days, but that's enough).
> either because they never bothered, or because their state wanted to charge extra for it Or because their state barely managed to rolled it out at all and since they already have a passport card it makes no huge difference now. Not arguing just annoyed at my state.
This particular item has struck me as mindlessly obnoxious on the part of the states. I live in Mississippi, which is neither wealthy nor a particularly well-run state (though some departments are efficient and effective, many are penny-wise and pound-foolish and covered in red tape as a result of the corruption that allows). I got a RealID without paying extra, and AFAICT without bringing anything special for a DL renewal. However, I moved between renewals, and very well may have brought some supporting documents for that that hit the criteria for RealID (my usual proof of ID for government stuff is my passport, because it proves citizenship and identity in one, plus a water bill to prove residence if that's needed).
But several years ago when the first really big push for RealID ("hey, we really mean it now") happened, I looked at my license and had the star. Tell your state legislators that even Mississippi can roll this out to the population without special fees or obnoxious requirements, so what's their problem?
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#38The thing I don’t understand about using my phone for identity verification at TSA is that I also need my boarding pass at TSA, which is also on my phone. I can either hand them my drivers license and scan my boarding pass in parallel (fast), hand them a paper boarding pass and maybe use the digital drivers license assuming that airport can support that (waste of paper though), or I can do both on my phone and make t…
At all of the airports I've been to in the last year or two I haven't needed a boarding pass to get through security. Just ID.
That being said every airport I've flown through for the last 2-ish years has had digital IDs or ID scanners so at smaller, or laggard, airports they may still be doing that.
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#39The thing I don’t understand about using my phone for identity verification at TSA is that I also need my boarding pass at TSA, which is also on my phone. I can either hand them my drivers license and scan my boarding pass in parallel (fast), hand them a paper boarding pass and maybe use the digital drivers license assuming that airport can support that (waste of paper though), or I can do both on my phone and make t…
At all of the airports I've been to in the last year or two I haven't needed a boarding pass to get through security. Just ID. That being said every airport I've flown through for the last 2-ish years has had digital IDs or ID scanners so at smaller, or laggard, airports they may still be doing that.
I flew out of PHX Sky Harbor back in February this year, and still needed my boarding pass through security. I’m glad to hear that’s slowly changing though, I’ll be glad when we catch up.
Re: iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
#40In other words Apple encourages you to hand-over your phone to the nice Immigration agent? Unlocked? What a cunning scheme..