Are you ready for REAL ID? Nebraskans will soon need one to fly

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — You will need a REAL ID by May 7 to board a domestic flight in the United States.

The Transportation Security Administration will begin enforcing the rule, which is intended to increase flying safety by making it more difficult for criminals to forge an ID.

But plenty of people are unaware of the new rule that’s about to go into effect.

“I think it’s a little strange that I haven’t heard about it,” said Cindy Skov of Lincoln. “I have traveled, I do travel sometimes.”

A Nebraska REAL ID will have a gold star in the top right-hand corner.

The state has been issuing these IDs since 2013, so most people should have one.

But the TSA said around 20% of people who have flown recently don’t have an ID that’s up to date.

Channel 8 asked people in the Haymarket if they knew about the rule.

Skov was surprised when she checked her ID and found the star in the corner.

“I didn’t even notice it was on there,” she said. “And I didn’t know that I needed it to get on an airplane or anything like that. Didn’t know anything about it.”

A Channel 8 reporter talked to around 20 people on Monday, and around half of them were learning about a REAL ID for the first time.

But Lisa Lewis said she heard about the rule a couple of years ago, and she checked her license for the star.

“I did not have it then, but when I renewed it the next year, it was on there,” she said.

Lewis said she brought it up in her office recently, and many of her co-workers were unaware of the rule.

If you show up to the airport without a REAL ID, the TSA said you could face delays and additional screening, where you will have to present evidence to confirm your identity.

If they can’t confirm that information, you will not be allowed past security.

Another alternative is a valid passport.

The TSA recommends that people without a REAL ID arrive at the airport at least three hours ahead of their flight.