Your Costco Membership Card Isn’t Accepted By The TSA

As we all know, Costco is communist and therefore anti-American, but for some reason, Americans still love it. Maybe it’s all the shelves filled with food that you can buy at fair prices or something. I don’t know. The TV and mattress I got from Costco have been pretty great so far, too. That said, people do get some wild ideas about Costco in their heads, and I’m not just talking about the communism allegations. Apparently, an erroneous report that has since been corrected, told its readers they could use their Costco membership card to get through the security line at the airport, something the Transportation Security Administration would really prefer you don’t try, SFGate reports.

That said, there is just enough truth there that you can understand where the rumor comes from. If you forgot your license, the TSA can use other methods to verify your identity, which could end up being a lifesaver in an emergency. But it isn’t nearly as simple as flashing your Costco card and breezing on through. 

“Essentially, what the process they’re describing is … let’s say you lost your ID and only had a Costco card in your pocket. That would help establish a baseline identity for you. The TSA officer would use that as a starting point to confirm your identity, but they would still have to go through our identity verification process.”

I mean, the TSA will give you a hard time over state-issued IDs that aren’t Real ID compliant, and Costco ID cards are far less secure. In the hypothetical situation where you showed up at the airport with nothing but your Costco card, the spokesperson told SFGate that it would be better than nothing, but they would still pull you out of the regular security line to go through a pretty involved identity verification process. You’ll have to answer all sorts of questions about yourself, including where you lived previously, and while the TSA may still let you through, don’t expect that to happen quickly. Unless you showed up super early, the delays involved could easily mean still missing your flight. 

“We don’t want to oversell this as an option,” the spokesperson told SFGate. 

Depending on the airport, you may also simply be able to get through security using the TSA’s facial ID scanners, which certainly has its own problems, but if you don’t have your driver’s license or passport for whatever reason, making your flight may end up being worth it, at least compared to flashing your Costco card, which you still had with you in this scenario, for some reason, and praying the TSA lets you through. It’s just a much better idea to stick with TSA approved forms of ID, which you can check out here.