It doesn't matter if you've been naughty or nice, the Transportation Security Administration might need to check your ID twice (or three or four times.) Some Florida IDs are not scanning they way they are suppose to.
On May 7, 2025, all U.S. travelers must have REAL IDs to board domestic flights and access certain facilities. Catherine Spillman got hers when she moved to Cape Coral, but it's never worked quite right.
"I have friends in the area, the same thing happens. And we all got our IDs roughly around the same time, which was late in 2022," Spillman said.
The problem is her REAL ID doesn't scan at airports all over the country.
"I've traveled to Minnesota, and I've traveled to Phoenix, and sure enough, they look at the ID, and they say, oh, Florida, we get this happen all the time,” Spillman said.
She first noticed the problem while traveling home for Thanksgiving.
"They (TSA agents) actually told me I needed to go back to the ticket agent. And this is after I spent probably about 30, 40 minutes online already at TSA on the busiest weekend to return home," Spillman said.
Spillman says the problem arises anytime she needs to get her ID scanned, like buying alcohol at the liquor store.
"You get to a certain point in life where you don't feel like you should have to worry about a scan from an ID, but, you know, it still happens,” Spillman said.
NBC2 reached out to the state. A spokesperson for the Florida Highway Safety and Moto Vehicles sent a statement saying, "While this issue is by no mean common, it has popped up from time to time and we are aware of the anomaly. If an individual experiences this issue, they can go to the closest DMV and their license will be scanned and reissued at no charge."
"That's awesome," Spillman said. "But we all know how busy the DMV is. We still have to take time out of our day to go. So we're being asked to go correct the problem ourselves actually, by taking the time to go do it.”
For now, Spillman said she will continue to bring her passport everywhere.
“And poor TSA, I mean, I really want them to do their job. I want them to actually take the time and make sure that they've got the right person coming through. So I can only imagine how it frustrated them, because they're not given the tools to do their job correctly as well." Spillman said.
NBC2 reached to TSA to ask how big of an issue this is for them.
"There is an issue with the state's production of some licenses and the state is replacing license for residents who are expecting some issues," TSA said.