Air NZ Domestic flights ID

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vexxxboy

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#315664 4-Aug-2024 14:30

My son is flying domestically for the first time with Air NZ and he is worried about ID and the fact all he has is a expired learners Drivers Licence and a Visa Debit card under his name. He will be checking in online and he has no Check in luggage. Will he be asked for Id at any time and if so will those two forms of ID be enough.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

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#3268057 4-Aug-2024 14:33

I've never been asked for ID after checking in online on AirNZ; so I wouldn't stress about it too much.

jrdobbs

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#3268058 4-Aug-2024 14:42

None of our kids have been asked for ID on a domestic flight with Air NZ. Our youngest recently got pulled aside for a bag search as they thought she had a suspicious item and was not asked for iD either.

Only time i can think it might have been required was during Covid.

Mehrts

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#3268080 4-Aug-2024 15:38

Never been asked for ID for any domestic flight. Even the ones between main centres where you go through the bag/body scan.

l43a2

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#3268081 4-Aug-2024 15:39

further to other comments here, never been asked for ID either.

Dingbatt

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#3268093 4-Aug-2024 16:30

AFAIK he will only be asked for ID if there is a suspicion he is trying to travel on someone else’s booking (ie trying to travel using Nana’s ticket may raise a few questions 😁).

Expired or not, I would have thought photo ID like the learner’s licence would be sufficient.

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Behodar

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#3268099 4-Aug-2024 16:50

Same here, never been asked for ID on a domestic flight. When you think about it, why should you be? You don't need one on a bus or train, so why should you need one on a plane?

vexxxboy

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#3268104 4-Aug-2024 17:10

Behodar:

Same here, never been asked for ID on a domestic flight. When you think about it, why should you be? You don't need one on a bus or train, so why should you need one on a plane?

he has been reading articles like this and getting quite worried

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/air-nz-travellers-to-require-photo-id/EYUXTLESOALVWPXQN6MBG5Z73I/

Common sense is not as common as you think.

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nova

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#3268155 4-Aug-2024 17:50

vexxxboy:

Behodar:

Same here, never been asked for ID on a domestic flight. When you think about it, why should you be? You don't need one on a bus or train, so why should you need one on a plane?

he has been reading articles like this and getting quite worried

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/air-nz-travellers-to-require-photo-id/EYUXTLESOALVWPXQN6MBG5Z73I/

When is that article from? It mentions Qantas, they don't fly domestically within NZ any more, I suspect it is quite an old article. There was a while in the mid 2000s when you did need to show ID at check-in with both Air NZ and Qantas. But I've travelled quite a lot domestically recently and have never seen anyone having their ID checked. But having said that, there was a recent-ish news article where someone got kicked off a flight for trying to travel using a booking for someone of the opposite gender. So technically they could do it, but in practice as long as you look like the age and gender of the passenger then it would be extremely unlikely for them to check.

edge

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#3268156 4-Aug-2024 18:01

The weird thing is that the AirNZ website still says that you "need" (my quotes) ID if you check in at the airport. https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/domestic-check-in

...... but, like most of the previous commenters, I can't remember when I was last asked for ID for domestic travel!

"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into."
— most commonly attributed to Jonathan Swift, author/theologian

Behodar

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#3268157 4-Aug-2024 18:02

nova:

When is that article from?

From doing a "view source" and looking at the JSON, it appears to be four years old.

nova

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#3268164 4-Aug-2024 18:48

Behodar:

nova:

When is that article from?

From doing a "view source" and looking at the JSON, it appears to be four years old.

Actually, it looks like it is 2003, which makes sense. There are two dates in the JSON: "datePublished":"2003-06-16T13:14:00Z","dateModified":"2020-09-18T02:26:32.829Z"

This is a follow-up article from a month later: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/id-required-on-domestic-flights/R5WS6UTI62RRBX5HPTZKOWF7VE/

And this might have been the article I was thinking of where someone got kicked off, and it actually took two people with the same name on the same flight for someone to get in trouble: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/489813/how-anyone-can-get-onto-a-plane-under-your-name . This article quotes the CAA saying that they don't require ID on flights, though I expect the airlines are still free to add in additional requirements over and above what the CAA require.

taneb1

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Mercury

#3268182 4-Aug-2024 20:06

I've only ever been asked for ID once and that was checking in at the counter, otherwise if your using the kiosks its all self service now days so no chance for them to ask you for ID.

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#3268200 4-Aug-2024 21:19

If your son is old enough, he should just sign up to be an airpoints member. It's free and then he can download the app to his phone. In the extremely unlikely event that someone asks him who he is, he can just flash the app's member details page at them. That (coupled with the expired licence) is ample proof in my opinion.

[EDIT: the AirNZ website says "anyone can join Airpoints and membership is free" - so no minimum age as far as I can tell]

floydbloke

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#3268239 5-Aug-2024 07:53

Behodar:

... When you think about it, why should you be? You don't need one on a bus or train, so why should you need one on a plane?

To prevent people buying up cheap fares and later selling them to someone else at a profit.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

KiwiSurfer

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#3269040 7-Aug-2024 13:47

Before the days of self service kiosks and smartphone apps, it used to be standard practice for the check in people to ask for some sort of identification -- but even then I often just used my airpoints card even though it's not photo id. I remember presenting ID at Air NZ and Qantas domestic check in in the 2000's. But ever since kiosks/apps have taken over (around late 2000s/early 2010s) the only time I've presented ID for a domestic flight has been when I've had to be rebooked manually, or when I've asked to cancel a flexi ticket, etc -- basically the <1% edge cases. These days rebookings are normally done automatically with the new booking showing in your app quickly and cancellations are usually able to be done online/in app.

I wouldn't worry at all. As long as he has some sort of ID that has his name on it, that will be perfectly fine. Thousands of people will have traveled across the NZ domestic air network today without having shown a current ID etc.

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