Q: My daughter lost her driver's licence while visiting San Francisco and asked us to FedEx her passport to use for identification. We did, but what does one do in situations like this when the picture ID is lost during transit and you have nothing to show the Transportation Security Administration people except your boarding pass?
A: Travellers who don't have handy parents standing by to FedEx their travel documents, and even those who do, can rest easy: You can board your flight without ID, as long as TSA officials can verify your identity. "Establishing identification," says TSA spokesman Christopher White, "is as important as having a passenger go through a metal detector."
Formerly, travellers without ID had to undergo regular screening, a whole-body pat-down and a full luggage check before they were allowed to board their flights. But on June 21, the TSA's policy changed, White said, to focus on identity verification.
The new policy "increases safety for the travelling public," White explains. "If you're a bad guy, the last thing you want is to have your name called into a government operations centre, be interviewed by the police and have a behaviour-detection officer come and chat with you." He said it takes an average of six minutes to verify identity.
Here's how the new system works: If you lose your ID, you should arrive at the security checkpoint early and explain the situation to the officer at the document-checking station. You'll be asked to fill out a form including your full name and address, which officials will check against publicly available databases. If necessary, local police and TSA behaviour-detection officers will interview you, and you might have to undergo additional screening.
Can you help me locate an inexpensive mode of transportation for one person from the Buffalo, NY, airport to downtown Toronto this month?
Your cheapest bet is a bus. Specifically, Megabus (www.Megabus.com). The latest player in the cheapo-intercity-bus wars travels to Toronto from the Buffalo airport - about a three-hour trip - three times a day for $30 (Bt990) round trip. (Fares can be as low as $1 each way, but you must reserve far in advance to snag those.)
Greyhound (www.Greyhound.com) also has a service, but tickets are about $60 round trip, and you'll need to take a cab from the airport to the bus station. Amtrak (www.Amtrak.com) travels this route, too, for about $90 round trip.
