0:00

Today is Saturday, March 29th. After

0:02

years of delays, the real ID deadline

0:04

is finally approaching. Starting May 7th, 2025,

0:06

you will need a real ID or

0:09

valid passport to fly within the US.

0:11

With just over one month to go,

0:13

we're making sure you have everything you

0:16

need to know to be travel ready.

0:18

And while we're on the topic of

0:20

travel, we're also diving into this year's

0:22

top travel trends, including expert tips to

0:25

find affordable, unforgettable destinations. Later in the

0:27

show, you'll hear from Katie Nastro, spokesperson

0:29

for the travel app going, known for

0:32

helping people save 40 to 90% on

0:34

flights. But first, California DMV spokesperson Chris

0:36

Orrock joins us to break down what

0:38

real ID is, who needs it, and

0:40

how to get yours before the clock

0:42

runs out. Welcome, welcome

0:45

to The Newsworthy Special Edition Saturday when

0:47

we sit down with a different expert

0:49

or celebrity every Saturday to talk about

0:51

something in the news. Don't forget to

0:53

tune in every Monday through Friday for

0:56

our regular episodes where we provide all

0:58

the day's news in 10 minutes. I'm

1:00

Erica Mandy, it's now time for

1:02

today's Special Edition Saturday. Chris Orrock,

1:04

thank you so much for joining us here

1:06

on The Newsworthy. My pleasure. So first I

1:08

just want to briefly remind everyone,

1:10

what... the real ID is and why

1:13

it was created in the first place.

1:15

Can you give us that rundown? Yeah,

1:17

the federal ID comes out of

1:19

the September 11th plane crashes. The

1:22

federal government decided that they wanted

1:24

to have a ID that met

1:26

certain specifications as far as proof

1:28

of who the person was and

1:31

where they lived. So in 2005,

1:33

the Real ID Act was passed

1:35

and signed into law, which required

1:37

each state. to put together a

1:40

form of a real ID, which

1:42

is a federally compliant identification. In

1:44

order to get a real ID

1:46

in the state of California, you have

1:48

to show a proof of who you

1:51

are. So it could be a birth

1:53

certificate, a passport, something that is a

1:55

government document proving who you are, and

1:57

then you have to show two forms

1:59

of. you live. So maybe that's

2:01

a utility bill or a cable bill,

2:04

an insurance bill that comes to your

2:06

name that is the same name on

2:08

your federal identifying document to the address

2:10

you say you live at. And obviously

2:13

every state's going to be different. Every

2:15

other state has a different way, but

2:17

they all require the same documents in

2:20

order to have a real ID. So

2:22

you talked about this coming out of

2:24

the September 11th attacks that the Real

2:26

ID Act was passed in 2005 and

2:29

my understanding is that the original deadline

2:31

for this was way back in 2008,

2:33

right? But there's been several delays where

2:35

here we are in 2025 and it's

2:38

likely finally going to go into effect.

2:40

So can you just briefly tell us

2:42

what happened, why we were so delayed?

2:45

One of the main reasons got delayed

2:47

a couple times was because of the

2:49

COVID pandemic. with the offices closing down

2:51

for a period of time, people were

2:54

not able to come in and finalize

2:56

their application. But other delays happen because

2:58

just allowing each state to properly prepare

3:00

for the real ID costs some delay

3:03

in the implementation. But we don't see

3:05

any more delays. May 7th, 2025 is

3:07

the date that the federal government will

3:09

start enforcing the real ID when you

3:12

go. to an airport, try to get

3:14

through TSA security, or try to go

3:16

to a federal courthouse or other federal

3:19

building. Right, so as you just said,

3:21

starting May 7th, it'll be required that

3:23

you have, even for domestic air travel,

3:25

that you have a real ID, or

3:28

your passport, the old type of driver's

3:30

license is not going to be enough.

3:32

Do you think that, you know, basically

3:34

one month out now, that most people

3:37

know this and are prepared, or is

3:39

it... Are people in this last month

3:41

going to face you know long waits

3:43

for DMV appointments long lines expected in

3:46

the final weeks you know around the

3:48

country generally are there still a lot

3:50

of people that need to take this

3:53

final step? Well we've only seen about

3:55

54% of people in California who have

3:57

driver's license or identification card upgrade to

3:59

a real ID at this point in

4:02

time. But we're seeing a uptick in

4:04

the number of people coming in the

4:06

last couple months to get a real

4:08

ID and a lot of it's going

4:11

to depend on the TSA and how

4:13

they implement their enforcement at the airport.

4:15

We're hearing different things from them that

4:17

it's going to be a phased in

4:20

process that starting May 7th they're going

4:22

to be looking for a real ID

4:24

and they're going to be reminding people,

4:27

but each airport is going to decide

4:29

how they fully implement it by their

4:31

TSA guidelines. And we don't think people

4:33

in those first couple months are going

4:36

to be turned away from the airport.

4:38

However, why risk it? That was exactly

4:40

my next question is, are people going

4:42

to be turned away at the airport

4:45

starting May 7? So that is good

4:47

information to know that maybe not, but

4:49

it's also a risk. Right, and that's

4:51

completely up to the federal TSA and

4:54

how they implement this program. To be

4:56

clear though, kids are exempt and also

4:58

is it if you have a military

5:01

ID? So a military ID is a

5:03

form of a federal ID, military ID,

5:05

a matricular card, a passport, those are

5:07

all forms and there's a whole list

5:10

that we link off our website that

5:12

goes to the Department of Homeland Security

5:14

and they have that list of what's

5:16

allowed to be used. And yes, the

5:19

children are. example from having a real

5:21

ID. And when you say children, you

5:23

mean under 18? Correct. So I know

5:26

this is also a little bit different

5:28

state by state, but if someone's not

5:30

sure, if they already have a real

5:32

ID, because maybe they just didn't realize

5:35

it when they went to the DMV

5:37

to renew their driver's license, how can

5:39

people check if they have it? Will

5:41

they see it on their driver's license

5:44

or ID card if in the upper

5:46

right-hand corner there is a star? That

5:48

is a real ID. And it's important

5:50

to know that they are state specific.

5:53

So what I mean by that is

5:55

I have my real ID here in

5:57

California. If I move to another state,

6:00

I have to do the process all.

6:02

over again. I have to have those

6:04

identifying documents that identifying not only who

6:06

I am the passport for certificate, but

6:09

also those residency required documents. So say

6:11

if I move to Texas, I would

6:13

have to start the process all over

6:15

again in Texas to get a Texas

6:18

federally compliant real ID. It doesn't just

6:20

transfer from state to state. Any misconceptions

6:22

about the real ID or the process

6:24

that you've seen? going around or anything

6:27

else about it that you think we

6:29

need to address? Well, I think the

6:31

biggest thing is some people think that

6:34

May 7th is the deadline to get

6:36

a real ID. And May 7th is

6:38

the enforcement deadline. So that's when they're

6:40

starting to enforce having to have a

6:43

real ID or other federally compliant ID

6:45

to get through TSA or go into

6:47

a federal building. We will continue to

6:49

issue real IDs as long as people

6:52

are asking for it. Still ahead. Planning

6:54

a trip to Europe? There's a new

6:56

visa requirement to know about. Up next,

6:58

Katie Nastro from the Travel App Going

7:01

joins me to chime in on both

7:03

the Real ID in America and what

7:05

you need to travel internationally. Plus, she's

7:08

sharing top picks for summer destinations and

7:10

how to score the best travel deals

7:12

to save money. That and more coming

7:14

up. But first, a quick break for

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and Be Sure Show. Now to my

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conversation with Katie Nastro from the Travel

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App going. Katie Nastro, thank you so

9:31

much for joining us here on the

9:33

news, Rodi. Yeah, thanks so much for

9:35

having me. So first, what do you

9:38

think are a couple of the most

9:40

important things travelers need to know about

9:42

the upcoming real ID deadline? It is

9:44

drawing near, and I don't want people

9:46

to get in the mindset of thinking

9:49

that, oh, this will just be pushed

9:51

back once again. Only half of Americans

9:53

have a passport, which is another form

9:55

of ID that you're able to use.

9:57

for domestic travel if you don't have

10:00

a real ID. So, you know, I

10:02

just think that it is in your

10:04

best interest, even if you want to

10:06

just go visit your friends or your

10:08

grandparents or, you know, family elsewhere in

10:11

another state and you are looking to

10:13

get on a flight, you know, we

10:15

should definitely take this deadline seriously to

10:17

be able to do that. Yeah, I'm

10:19

curious to see if they are actually

10:22

going to be turning people away starting

10:24

May 7th or if there's going to

10:26

be a grace period there. Well, exactly,

10:28

exactly. You know, you would hope that

10:30

there would be a grace period, but

10:33

do we know how long that grace

10:35

period will last? Do we know if

10:37

that actually will, if it will come

10:39

into effect? You know, again, better be

10:41

safe than sorry. Any other misconceptions that

10:44

you've heard about real ID that you

10:46

think is important to clear up? I

10:48

think a lot of people think that

10:50

they can just sort of, you know,

10:53

walk into the DMV and they'll be

10:55

able to get an appointment, whereas that's

10:57

sort of not the case. We're hearing,

10:59

not rumors, but we're hearing from a

11:01

lot of people that it is, there

11:04

are hefty wait times and appointments are

11:06

becoming sort of really scarce. I don't

11:08

want people to sort of put this

11:10

off thinking that it's going to be

11:12

easy or think that you can just

11:15

apply online. It's not necessarily like that,

11:17

you know, only some. states, you're able

11:19

to get sort of pre-screened, you know,

11:21

for example, New York is one of

11:23

them, and that will make your processing

11:26

a lot easier. However, each state is

11:28

different, so it is in your best

11:30

interest to go online, you know, go

11:32

to DHS.gov slash real ID, and there

11:34

is a dropdown that will direct you

11:37

to your state's DMV, and it will

11:39

clearly, you know, sort of spell out

11:41

what exactly is needed, what sort of

11:43

the process is for your specific state.

11:45

That's a great point because as we

11:48

near this deadline I imagine that it's

11:50

also going to be covered more and

11:52

more in the news which means more

11:54

people are going to realize they might

11:56

need it and do you expect those

11:59

wait times to only get longer? Oh

12:01

for sure as well as you know

12:03

if you do have a passport I

12:05

think a lot of people tend to

12:07

forget about their expiration dates. and you

12:10

know a lot of people not only

12:12

forgetting that the expiration date is sort

12:14

of drawing near but the fact that

12:16

if you are looking to travel especially

12:18

abroad and you have a passport you

12:21

need at least six months validity on

12:23

that passport so that's something you know

12:25

I think a lot of people are

12:27

going to start realizing as they look

12:29

to use their passport in place of

12:32

the real ID when that time comes

12:34

so it's sort of a twofold occurrence

12:36

that we might see happen. Final thought

12:38

about real ID before we move on

12:40

to other things. Don't wait till the

12:43

last minute is my biggest piece of

12:45

advice. May 7th is going to be

12:47

here before we know it. You know,

12:49

we're just about over a month out

12:52

and you know, I think it will

12:54

catch up to a lot of folks.

12:56

So another thing that we expected this

12:58

year was that Americans would need special

13:00

visas to travel to Europe. Now my

13:03

understanding is that's been delayed to 2026,

13:05

right? Can you tell us about that?

13:07

Correct, yeah, the Eteus has been pushed

13:09

back to 2026 and it's likely, it

13:11

just wasn't set up and ready for

13:14

the amount of people that were likely

13:16

to be looking to apply for it.

13:18

Remind us why this requirement came about

13:20

in the first place. It's supposed to

13:22

make everything a little bit more seamless,

13:25

you know, if you have this sort

13:27

of pre-screen clearance. If it's anything like

13:29

the ETA that the UK is now

13:31

requiring Americans and other countries to apply

13:33

for, you know, that process, super, super

13:36

easy, it was an app, it took

13:38

me not even 20 minutes, gosh, I

13:40

think it was 10 minutes to get

13:42

approved. And so I envision that the

13:44

ETS, when that is rolled out fully,

13:47

it's going to be pretty similar. All

13:49

right, let's shift to the top travel

13:51

trends that you're seeing for 2025. What's

13:53

standing out to you? You know, revenge

13:55

travel is definitely done. People are traveling

13:58

with more purpose. And you know, with

14:00

a lot of economic uncertainty sort of

14:02

going into this year, you know, I

14:04

think a lot of people are, yes,

14:06

being purposeful with their travel, not traveling

14:09

just to be able to go somewhere,

14:11

but doing it distinctly for a specific

14:13

reason. and making sure that their dollars

14:15

are going to an experience or a

14:17

vacation that they really want to travel

14:20

for. Anything standing out to you about

14:22

how people have started to spend their

14:24

spring break or about to spend it?

14:26

This year, you know, I think a

14:28

lot of people, again, you know, they're

14:31

being more purposeful in where they decide

14:33

to travel to and spend their dollars

14:35

in terms of, am I getting, you

14:37

know, like an affordable price from a

14:40

vacation? Or are they opting to maybe

14:42

not necessarily take a spring break and

14:44

maybe they opt to just look at

14:46

summer travel? So speaking of summer, any

14:48

top trends or destinations you're watching right

14:51

now? 79% of our respondents in our

14:53

going state of travel for 2025 are

14:55

looking to go to Europe. You know,

14:57

it's one of those areas that it's

14:59

really a condensed area that you can

15:02

hit so many different spots and it's

15:04

easy to travel in between countries and

15:06

there's so many different cultures and experiences

15:08

to be had in a small section

15:10

of the world. But one surprising sort

15:13

of flag that we are seeing is

15:15

that, you know, Gen Z is... more

15:17

opting to explore places outside of Europe

15:19

than any other demographic, which I think

15:21

is telling. You know, Asia is topping

15:24

the list as well as parts of

15:26

Latin America, Australia, Australia, New Zealand. Another

15:28

surprising thing is people are looking to

15:30

explore outside of cities, beaches, national parks,

15:32

and forests, small towns and countriesides are

15:35

sort of neck and neck and neck

15:37

with where people are looking to opt

15:39

for. this sort of detourism. Yes, these

15:41

big name cities that top bucket lists

15:43

are always popular like a London, a

15:46

Rome, a Paris, but looking at sort

15:48

of these second cities and countryside villages

15:50

is really something that I think a

15:52

lot of people are going to explore

15:54

more as they get sort of crowd

15:57

fatigue. What are you saying within America?

15:59

The great outdoors is really having a

16:01

moment and majority of people that are

16:03

looking to travel in 2025, you know,

16:05

over 58% of them are looking to

16:08

get outdoors and are looking to explore

16:10

places in the US where they're able

16:12

to do so. So places like California,

16:14

the Pacific Northwest, Washington, Oregon, you know,

16:16

Alaska, Hawaii, it's the, they're in our

16:19

top 10 most looked at destinations within

16:21

the US that people want to travel

16:23

to. And your top tips are finding

16:25

deals in affordable prices. We always talk

16:28

about letting the deal decide. A lot

16:30

of people plan their travel backwards where

16:32

they have this set destination and then

16:34

they look into when they want to

16:37

go and then they look into the

16:39

flight or the accommodation. We actually want

16:41

people to flip that on its head

16:43

if you really want to maximize, you

16:46

know, your likelihood of finding a great

16:48

deal. So, you know, starting with, okay.

16:50

Where can I go that's affordable, that

16:53

has a great flight deal right now,

16:55

you know, using the going app to

16:57

explore destinations, what deals are available, using

17:00

Google Flight's explore feature, you know, looking on

17:02

the map to see, okay, these are the

17:04

deals available at the map to see, okay,

17:06

these are the deals available at the moment

17:09

that I'm looking to search for travel, you

17:11

know, does this all line up? Is this

17:13

a place I really want to explore? You

17:15

know, you have 24 hours to decide when

17:18

you book directly with an air carrier. If

17:20

you want to even go to that place,

17:22

you know, do some research within that 24

17:24

hours, if you decide you don't want to

17:27

take that flight, you can cancel and get

17:29

your money back. No questions asked, no hassle,

17:31

you know, like it's not a whole rigor-mor

17:33

all. It'll just get devoted back to your

17:36

credit card or whatever method of payment. So

17:38

to quickly recap. Search for deals, not

17:40

destinations. Jump on a deal when you

17:42

find it. You can always cancel within

17:45

24 hours and then be flexible on

17:47

your dates, I imagine, so that you

17:49

can find those deals. As well as,

17:52

I think one tip that people are

17:54

really going to take advantage of in

17:56

2025 is price alerts. We're seeing many

17:59

different travel providers. of roll out price

18:01

alerts. It really is going to save

18:03

people money before and after booking by

18:05

getting alerted that prices have dropped. You

18:08

know, if you book a main economy

18:10

ticket, you know, on most carriers, you're

18:12

able to just call the carrier, have

18:14

them cancel and rebook you at that

18:17

lower price, and just get a travel

18:19

credit to be used in the future.

18:21

Final thought as we wrap up or

18:23

anything else you want to add. I

18:26

think with a lot of economic uncertainty,

18:28

I think people are looking at travel

18:30

as this sort of discretionary spending that

18:33

is on the chopping block at first,

18:35

but I do think that people can

18:37

still travel affordably, even if they are

18:39

sort of in this weird, I don't

18:42

know what's going to happen with the

18:44

economy mindset. Services like going wouldn't exist

18:46

if we weren't helping people travel affordably.

18:48

Like you still can do so even

18:51

in uncertain economic times. Well,

18:54

thank you so much to both of

18:56

our guests today. We'll link to the

18:58

government's real ID website. If you still

19:00

have any questions, you can find that

19:02

in today's episode notes. And of course,

19:04

check out the going app or go

19:06

to going.com to save money on flights

19:08

that even have a free on flights

19:10

that even have a free trial if

19:12

you're interested in giving it a try.

19:15

Thank you so much for listening and

19:17

joining us today. We'll of course remind

19:19

you in our daily news show as

19:21

the real ID deadline approaches in early

19:23

May. Until then, have a great rest

19:25

of the weekend.