New Rules for Travel in 2020

Planning to fly after September 2020? Get your drivers license updated asap. The Real ID Act implementation takes place in October 2020. The Real ID Act requires all US airline passengers to use a federally-approved form of identification before passing through security. This means that state driver licenses will have to comply with the federal Real ID stipulations. State-issued driver licenses in compliance will have a star in the upper right corner. Passengers without licenses that are not Real ID-compliant will not be permitted to pass through TSA security checkpoints. However, passports and other approved federal ID will be accepted. The Real ID Act establishes security standards for driver's licenses and state-issued identification cards.

As the proliferation of pets designated as emotional support animals becomes increasingly controversial, more and more airlines are more stringently defining the definition of such animals, and some are doing away with the status all-together. The American Disability Act definition of a service animal is: “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Tasks performed can include…pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, or pressing an elevator button.” The organization Airlines for America is lobbying to make this definition the litmus test for animals flying open in airplane cabins, citing increase abuse of the current system and the potential danger it poses to airline employees and other passengers. Bottom line: Pets flying as emotional support animals may not make the service animal-definition cut this year. Make sure to check with your airline before arriving at the airport to board a flight.

In other travel and pet news: You can adopt TSA dogs who washed out of security dog school for being too friendly. The Transportation Security Administration’s Canine Adoption Program allows qualified humans to adopt puppies that were deemed to wiggly, outgoing, friendly and otherwise unsuited for security work. Potential owners must meet requirements such as not moving within a half-year of adoption, having a fenced yard, obeying local pet ordinances and other stipulations.

Southwest Airlines begins flights from Honolulu to Kuauai in 2020, as well as direct flights from California to Kuauai starting Jan. 21, 2020.This adds to Southwest Airlines’ Hawaiian options. Southwest began flights from California to Hawaii in 2019, with introductory prices starting at $99 for one-way flights.