Sorry, you can't use your Costco membership card to get through TSA
TSA said a Costco membership card does not meet Real ID requirements, saying it will get you a cheap hot dog but won't get you on a flight.
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Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
- TSA said Costco cards are not valid as a Real ID for airport security.
- The agency posted on social media to tell people that Costco cards do not count as a Real ID.
- TSA said, "Unless your $1.50 hot dog has a passport, you're gonna need a REAL ID."
"Can't fly on hotdogs and hope."
That's according to the Transportation Security Administration, which recently posted on social media to let Americans know they cannot, in fact, use their Costco membership cards in place of a Real ID.
"We love hotdogs & rotisserie chickens as much as the next person but plz stop telling people their Costco card counts as a REAL ID because it absolutely does not," TSA said in an X post on June 4.
In a follow-up post on Instagram, the agency said a Costco Gold Star Membership card might get you a 48-pack of toilet paper and other goodies the warehouse retailer is known for, but "it won't get you through a TSA checkpoint."
"We get it, you're a bulk-buying boss, the executive of excess, the sultan of samples. But unless your $1.50 hot dog has a passport, you're gonna need a REAL ID or other acceptable form of ID to fly," the post said.
The posts from TSA, which is known to have a tongue-in-cheek social media presence, came after Real ID requirements were set to take effect in May.
Americans were scrambling ahead of the May 7 deadline to secure a Real ID, which the Department of Homeland Security had previously said would be required to fly domestically from that date. However, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that Americans would still be able to fly without a Real ID for the time being.
TSA's website currently says that travelers without a Real ID — or an alternative form of acceptable identification, like a passport — will be notified of their noncompliance and could be subject to additional screening at the airport.
As for other acceptable forms of identification? Costco cards didn't make the list.
