ID in America/Getting Served!
Hi
I'm off to America in March (San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York)
I'm 27 and hubby is 29, but he looks a tad younger than he is and I look A LOT younger than I am. I still get IDd a lot in the UK, and I've been reading online and been told by people that America is very strict with serving people??!
So I thought fair enough, I always have my licence with me anyway...however I've now read that some place don't even accept valid driving licences if foreign and will ONLY accept passports?! Is this right? Does it depend on state?
I'm off to America in March (San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York)
I'm 27 and hubby is 29, but he looks a tad younger than he is and I look A LOT younger than I am. I still get IDd a lot in the UK, and I've been reading online and been told by people that America is very strict with serving people??!
So I thought fair enough, I always have my licence with me anyway...however I've now read that some place don't even accept valid driving licences if foreign and will ONLY accept passports?! Is this right? Does it depend on state?
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Comments
Definitely take your passport out, just keep it safe.
Enjoy.. sounds like a nice trip you have planned. America is a great country, especially the food.
I was too. No passport (or aged ID) no drink. Seems daft but takes the ambiguity out of it I suppose. So long as you have your passport you should be fine, if you need a drink while you're there.
Best to carry it elsewhere too. Wife and I went to get on a train - only three stops / 10 odd miles. They wouldn't let her on as she didn't have sufficient ID.
It's very "touristy" but I carried mine in a bum bag (fanny pack!) round my waist rather than risk carrying it in a shoulder bag.
My UK driving licence, which I keep in my wallet, has always been accepted.
Someone once told me Mexico was the same with ID, but its clearly not!
I am 35, wife is 30, we were over in the states for three weeks, just got back.
Some places will ID everyone, even 80 year olds walking into a bar get ID'ed.
I had passport and driving licence on me. Some places such as Bars in Boston will not accept a driving licence. Only a passport, I believe there are laws on what ID is acceptable in some states.
You are more likely to get asked for ID in Big Cities and Airports. We did a massive road trip Only times I was IDed was Airport stop over on the way to the start of my trip, a tasting tour of a brewery and a bar in Boston. All three places they had a 100% ID policy.
I think you may be required to have your passport on you at all times in the USA. Even the locals are required to carry ID at all times!
I was 48, almost 49, and my husband is considerably older, with plenty of hair, albeit salt and pepper.
The barmaid, around 30 - 33, said, "Can I see some I.D. m'am?"
I laughed and said, "That's cheered me up!"
She said, deadpan, "I'm not kidding m'am, everyone has to show I.D., it doesn't matter if your husband is a Civil War veteran, I'm still going to have to see some I.D."
Pretty sure the civil liberties nuts in the US would have a field day if that were suggested! There may be a de facto requirement to carry your driving license if you're wanting to buy booze, but (unlike some other countries) nobody's entitled to stop you in the street and demand to see your papers.
of my acquaintance back to Binghamton, upstate New York, where they were at college.
At the time I was in my late 30's, maybe 40, the ladies were around 22 - 23.
We stopped off in a bar at Scranton Pa., not far before the Pennsylvania/New York state line.
We sat at a table and I ordered 2 glasses of wine and a shot of Jim Beam.
The server said, "Can I see some ID for the ladies?"
I said, "That's okay, they're with me."
He came back with, "They may be your daughters sir, but I have to see ID."
OUCH!
That is simply not true.
OP, I've had friends from the UK out to visit who are in their 30s and 40s who have been refused alcohol using a UK driving licence as proof of ID. It was a passport or nothing.