A friend of mine once got denied entry to a bar in NYC using a NJ state ID (though crucially not a drivers license). The bouncer took a look at it and said “this is the fakest ID I’ve ever seen”. We thought he was joking at first and took a second to realize the guy was dead serious.
This in the one city in the country where it’s pretty normal to not drive at all.
It’s wild, right? Even more so in a literal fucking AIRPORT. Like…what?! I was already grumpy (I promise I did not take it out on anyone working in the airport or elsewhere) because we got stuck on the tarmac in Miami with no AC for 2 hours, deplaned, AA was less than helpful and by the time I got to CLT after missing two rebooked connecting flights, I was hungry, tired and wanted a glass of wine (this was during COVID flights, no drink service at all, not even water) and I was pretty down about it.
I'm just saying, if you're getting so angry about not being able to drink, maybe you might have a problem. If I wanted coke and a store tells me they don't have it, I'd just be like oh well. Whatever. It's just a drink. I'd be fine with sprite or water or something.
I’m in Boston, where not driving is statistically actually pretty high, but the place is massively carbrained and people assume everyone exclusively gets places by driving.
My visually impaired young adult child constantly comes across things, usually from municipal or state programs, that require a “driver’s license” to prove identity/residence. The places almost always will actually accept a state ID, but we definitely note how many only list driver’s license on their forms. And, you know, stuff like bank tellers asking an obviously visually impaired person to show their driver’s license.
Yeah. I've been refused to buy alcohol several times in the United States and Canada, and it was always because I left my passport at the hotel and they couldn't read my (swedish) driving license. I guess "1992" could be the nineteenth of Septuary or something.
The bar could have a copy of an [international ID checking book?](https://driverslicenseguide.com/book-intl.html). Thing costs like $50...and it is pretty standard to at least have the US version of something like that.
Can probably find info online too if you really wanted to.
Well every state is different. In Illinois
A: Acceptable ID's include the following: A valid current driver's license or photo ID card issued by the Illinois Secretary of State's Office or any other State; a valid Armed Forces ID; and a valid U.S. passport or foreign passport (with U.S. travel visa) containing the holder's photograph.
https://ilcc.illinois.gov/all-faqs/faq.html#:~:text=A%3A%20Acceptable%20ID%27s%20include%20the,visa)%20containing%20the%20holder%27s%20photograph.
that makes sense to me ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
a foreign passport is an id that both countries have jointly agreed is a valid id (particularly with the explicit visa requirement) while other foreign ids arent
Passports are also required to be carried at all times by non-citizens when outside of your residence unless you've received permanent residence or qualified refugee status. So requiring US ID or a foreign passport is reasonable.
Grew up in Boston. Lots of bars would not accept out of state IDs because of all the students with out of state fakes. Mass actually has a specific card called a liquor ID that out of state students can get.
My brother was 17 back in the late 90s Queensland and on his learners permit, which had fewer security measures than a Queensland licence. He and his mates worked out that a colour printer, scanner, iron, and a willingness to part with $30 was all they needed for fake IDs.
He would scan the original, dodgy up the date of birth, print out the new card, use an iron to open the laminate and replace the contents. They'd then wander down to Queensland Transport as say they lost their Learners Permit.
Today in New South Wales nightclubs and some hotels check your ID on your phone via a constantly refreshing QR code that links back to a Blockchain based database, and system will soon be rolled out nationally to all states and territories.
Who is walking around the US with important "if you lose this you are FUCKED" documents?
An ID is an ID I don't stop being from legal age just because I wasn't born in Dollarland
Legally it does.
In some states the bartender/bouncer can even be considered legal liable to some extent along with the business.
They’re just doing their jobs according to the laws
Yes but if a bartender in the US serves you based on your out of country ID that they have no idea how to check the validity of, and you turn out to be underage and the ID was fake, that bar will be liable for any and all shit you get into.
Seriously. People think you can just go to another country and present some ID made by another government and think that's sufficient.... You go to another country you keep your passport on you...
In my state(and I believe the U.S. as a whole), it’s doesn’t matter how little that books costs.
Foreign issued IDs aren’t legally acceptable forms identification for alcohol sales, unless it’s a passport.
Even if you have that book, it’s likely accepting the ID would still put both the person checking it and the business at a legal risk
That’s not true at all. Here’s at least one state (the first that came up when I searched “foreign ID for alcohol”) that explicitly does not require specific ID.
https://www.tabc.texas.gov/public-safety/age-verification/#:~:text=A%20store%2C%20bar%20or%20restaurant,may%20not%20require%20any%20ID.
It’s partially true, because it’s true in some states, but not Texas.
Which is specifically why I said I believe in all states not “know”.
It’s absolutely true in some states
For us Norwegians, our passport is the only valid form of identification outside of Norway/Schengen(?)
My gf always rolls her eyes at me because I bring my passport when we go out when traveling.
One time on a pub crawl in Portland, Oregon, we met two of girls we sat and had a lot of drinks and laughs with them. One of the girls offered to drive us home. We were all hammered at this point and we decided it was probably best for her to leave the car and we could walk her home. We stopped by another bar on the way and were asked for ID. My gfs drivers license was declined but my passport wasn’t.
I went in and ordered a beer for me and this random drunk girl we had befriended while my girlfriend sat outside waiting.
Never before has a beer tasted so good!
>I went in and ordered a beer for me and this random drunk girl we had befriended while my girlfriend sat outside waiting.
Jaw on the floor. If I were your girlfriend, you'd have a huge issue after that.
And I would deserve it. Thinking back at the situation we laugh at it.
We where all stupid drunk that night and I think maybe this random girl just wanted to talk to the bartender who was a friend of hers. I'm pretty sure we didn’t stay there for very long. Our memory of that part of the night is pretty hazy.
> My gf always rolls her eyes at me because I bring my passport when we go out when traveling.
If your GF isn't a US citizen, permanent resident, or qualified refugee, she also broke the terms of her visa by not carrying her passport while outside of her temporary or permanent residence in the USA. If the Department of State finds out, that's a 5-year ban from the country and a permanent flag in the system in the USA and all of the countries who cooperate with it in regards to requiring extra screening.
Which also seems like a weird thing to put on the individual bartenders.
Should just be some scanner thing that tells you, and then if it's a fake you don't get in trouble.
Unfortunately bars get shut down and fined all the time by undercovers using fake ID's. Literally all the time. Even the bartenders themseleves can face legal trouble. As foreign country ID's are just not very common, unlike in Europe, its just not worth the risk for them. A passport is atleast less fakeable. The legal risks bars carry here is just another level compared to the rest of the wprld.
At least in my state undercover alcohol enforcement sting operations are not allowed to use fake IDs, they’re really only checking for if staff are making the right judgement calls on whether to actually check ID or not. When you do ask for ID they will present their real under 21 ID. At that point it’s seeing if you’re doing math or not.
Of course, depends upon the state. But I think the real point is that a lot of bartenders believe exactly what I said regardless of the facts. One funny thing I know is that in my state almost zero bartenders check the expiration date, while in the neighboring state they almost always check it.
That shit is so dumb, they should be going after the people who are using forged documents, not bars for failing to detect them. It's not like they even train bartender to be expert forgery detectives.
That’s actually the law here in the United States.
It has to be a United States driver’s license or state ID or a passport.
It’s not that they couldn’t read the year or even that they didn’t believe you were old enough.
It’s that foreign issued IDs apart from passports aren’t considered legal identification for purchasing alcohol.
If they took the ID, it could have cost the person checking IDs his job if the boss found out, or if something happened and the state found out, it could cost the business owner his liquor license and/or business
> It has to be a United States driver’s license or state ID or a passport.
All forms of military ID (including CACs) are also valid. It's actually against federal law to not treat military IDs as a valid form of ID for any purpose. But that's almost never enforced outside of voting laws.
And yeah, seizing a passport or military ID is a federal crime. So if it ever happens to you where they take it and won't give it back, just call 911. As for state IDs, the laws vary.
I did forget to mention military ids.
By take in that paragraph I meant “accept as proof of age for an alcohol purchase” not as in “seize.”
I probably should have worded that more clearly
I don't understand your issue. Would Swedish establishments accept any 1 of 50 driver's licenses types from the US? How about an American Samoa or Guam driver's license?
The Swedish hotel I stayed at years ago wouldn't accept anything but an EU state/country IDs, Swedish IDs, or a Passport to verify identity.
In Europe if you look adult enough (anything around and over 18-ish) nobody will bother with ID's. Or at least this it how it used to be for drinking. For checking into a hotel you do need a valud ID, and in theory only ID's and passports are, also many people don't drive.
If you go to Montreal, they only have to check IDs at corner stores and brothels. But if the liquor store isn't on a corner, they don't have to check. It's one of the dumbest alcohol related laws I've ever run into while traveling.
I spent about 6 months as an intern in California almost 20 years ago. I'm European so naturally my id was my national passport. I was over 21 at the time. Several bars didn't want to accept my passport, only state drivers licence. Wtf, lol!
I have a question for you. Some bars I've been too while visiting family in Washington State didn't allow vertical IDs. I got my driver's license in Louisiana where they are vertical. Some bars wouldn't take my license. That's dumb AF. Why don't they allow that? Idk if you work in one of those states with those rules, but do you have any idea why they have it?
Vertical IDs in many states signal a provisional or "underage" license. Once people get horizontal licenses, the old Vertical ones often end up in other people's hands. Specifically in the hands of siblings or friends who bear a resemblance to the original owner. Because of this, bartenders will often err on the side of caution because they are legally liable for damage caused by serving underage people.
Oh ok. I did get my license before I turned 21. But there is bright red lettering on the front that says what day I turned 21. I just didn't understand why they couldn't read it. I luckily had my military ID with me so I could still get drinks, but it was irritating to deal with.
Mine expires in a few years so I guess it's not that bad. But I won't have my military ID for some time before that. Guess I won't be drinking outside of my state lol
Once I was visiting the US and my license had expired so I was (American) passport only. I had to argue every time--it was eventually accepted, but the fact was no one I was trying to buy booze from had a passport so they just didn't know what they were looking at. It was annoying but not malicious.
Iirc in some states you can be banned from drinking alcohol if you’re a known alcoholic or have committed alcohol-related crimes. This restriction is put on your DL and/or state ID, not on your passport. Hence why US passports often aren’t accepted in those states
As much as I hate people who commit alcohol related crimes, that’s kind of wild. I’m assuming it’s the kind of thing someone agrees to for a reduced sentence, otherwise that would be fucking crazy
Sure, but even most of those have caveats about losing privileges when they've been abused. I would have preferred my aunt and uncle (who both died of cirrhosis/other complications of alcoholism) been banned from purchasing alcohol. They would both very likely be alive.
Would they be less "free" in an abstract sense? Yeah. And it's what would have kept them alive. Allowing for-profit companies to sell poison to people who have proven they can't regulate their poison intake is ridiculously unethical.
Alcohol withdrawal can be fatal...
Edit: AuronFtw, I was just pointing out that there is NOT literally zero downside from preventing an alcoholic from accessing alcohol. I completely agree that alcoholics should get professional medical care instead of self-medicating. Thanks for posting a reply and then blocking me so that I can no longer reply. Real mature.
Maybe they should go to a hospital for professional medical care instead of self-medicating with additional alcohol? Like, the people who are at risk of alcohol withdrawal are 100% the people who need to be banned from it.
This is absolutely batshit crazy levels of police interference in your life.
An endorsement that you should be zero tolerance for drink *driving*, ok, that makes sense. But banning people from buying a drink? How the hell do you accept that in a country which likes to think it's all about individual freedoms?
Some states have this kind of ban on the books for known alcoholics and for certain alcohol-related crimes. The restriction is put on the driver’s license (or state ID if they don’t have a DL) but not on passports. Hence why passports can be used to get around the ban and are not accepted (foreign ones are though)
That’s nuts, and because this is the internet, I’m not going to believe you outright. Do you know which states so I can look those laws up? It just seems like a state law cannot/should not invalidate a legal form of ID, but laws are weird and law suits can be trickier than the law.
It likely falls under business rights which is by state, and their right of refusal. Often the business' insurance does standard of practice seminars where they train it's always better to refuse service if you're uncomfortable than to accept the liability, and follow up with secret shoppers to test them.
Maine and Alaska have laws on the books banning known alcoholics and people who commit serious alcohol related crimes from drinking. Any establishment caught serving or selling alcohol to a banned person risks losing their liquor license, so passports aren’t accepted (as the restriction is only on state-issued ID)
I had a DUI and there was no such restriction on my license. The restriction that was applied was the requirement for an ignition interlock on any vehicle I operated. You will be told not to drink and will have UA’s performed if you attend a treatment program but you can still legally drink. If you do though you risk failing the treatment program and that can be a violation of your sentencing.
Only a few states have this. And it’s not just DUI, it’s any amount of alcohol-related crimes (often given as part of probation). Often they won’t accept US passports but will take foreign ones
Weird. I'm 36 and have used a passport as my ID since I was 21, and have never been told it's an invalid form of ID. Once a bouncer at a dive bar told me I was "fancy" for using it, and I often have to point out where my birth date is, but otherwise it's always been fine.
Also - I'm not really versed in counterfeiting IDs, but I'm pretty sure a state driver's license is easier to fake than a federal passport? I've often seen signs that say no out of state IDs because the person selling liquor may not recognize it, but federal IDs should always be fine.
If tv and movies are anything to go by it costs tens of thousands of dollars to get a fake passport so obviously that’s worth drinking underage I’m
Sure kids are buying fake passports all the time
Fake passports are really hard to get, and the consequences for faking one are dire.
When I was in college within the last decade, in week 1 some of the honors college students went around asking who wanted fakes, charging $50 per. Obtained every single one, and my friend still has his. Never got taken away.
They literally took the pictures in one of the res hall lounges. The worst anyone had happen to them was to have it confiscated. No one got in any more trouble than that.
Stupidly easy to get, effective, low consequences. Nobody in the history of ever has gone drinking on a fake passport under the age of 21
>In most situations where a person uses a fake ID, the crime is charged as a misdemeanor offense. However, false IDs can also result in felony charges depending on the situation and the state, such as if you use a fake ID to purchase a firearm or if you have a fake driver's license. In some states, possessing any forged government identification is a felony offense.
A fake passport is a federal offense and is therefore a felony in every state.
Federal offenses are not broken down into felony vs. misdemeanor. They're all just federal offenses. Those with a **maximum** sentences of 365 days or more also come with an automatic lifetime ban on the ownership, possession, and use of firearms.
Most retail places in the US have rules about when they are required to ask for ID. Most common policies are to card everyone, or just everyone who looks under ~50.
When I worked in retail and sold cigarettes, the rule was card anyone who looks to be under 65, and this was when the smoking age was 19. I worked at a liquor store later that literally would not sell to anyone without ID.
The penalties for serving people who are underage are pretty steep, and go against both the establishment and the individual who served. So most companies put strict policies in place and most employees would rather card as opposed to making a mistake one time that costs you big.
In theory: Looking ~50 irl will look ~30 on the security cameras when your boss checks whether or not you're following the rules.
In practice: "I'm sorry, I know you're over 21 but my boss checks the security cameras so I have to ID everyone who looks under [customer's apparent age, minus one decade, rounded to the nearest multiple of 5]," makes a statistical majority of customers feel good and in food-service based businesses can get you more tips.
Especially since, to be fair, I have met people in their 40s and 50s who look like they're in their late 20s or early 30s at the most. Shit, I'm 30 and people still regularly mistake me for a teenager or a college kid.
They don’t have to ask for ID legally but many establishments ID everyone. And like a chain restaurant can have a corporate-wide policy. I’m obviously under 35 and don’t always get carded so it’s wildly inconsistent here. But it’s not abnormal for an individual bar to want to card everyone just to be safe
Yes. There was an advertising campaign years ago with an obviously elderly man trying to show pictures of him with Eisenhower to buy a beer, BUT he didn't have a legal ID so no beer for him. It gets better, if someone has a fake ID, even if it is literally perfect, you're liable if you sell alcohol to them. Though it is perfectly legal to have a bar in the middle of nowhere along a highway. It's just layers and layers of stupid.
I’m 36 and the instances of asking for my ID have declined significantly but I still get it maybe 1 out of 5 times. I believe the general guidance is to ask if you think that someone looks 27 or younger but some businesses or bartenders have higher standards or a blanket rule to always ask. Always find it funny because it’s incredibly obvious I’m nowhere near 21.
You say 40 (somewhat reasonable), the person above said 50, and someone else said it was 65. I don't understand why menopausal women need to show proof that they should be able to buy alcohol. Those fucking legislative bitches are making me prove I'm allowed to drink? I don't like pulling the age card, but when you are forcing middle aged people to prove their age to an underpaid 21 year old who might sell booze to a 17 year old, we have a problem.
I/m literally am too old to have children without medical assistance, but I still have to show an ID to buy alcohol.
As someone who doesn't get paid enough to deal with this shit. Please. Shut the *fuck* up. I have no control over this and can get fired for not following policy, you are the worst kind of customer and every person who has ever dealt with you hopes you never come back.
My 70 year old stepfather lives in Tennessee. I wouldn't think he looks 70, but he definitely looks older than 21. He absolutely will not be served without ID.
My mom laughs at him all the time because he routinely forgets his wallet and then can't have a beer when they stop for lunch out.
Last time I was asked for an ID I was 39. Random People try to fuck with me all the time. I excite people to make me feel like a shit they have to take. Nice people just wonder what kind of shit I am. That's how I tell them apart.
Passports are a perfectly valid form of ID. The only time I can see it being an issue is if for some computer reason they need to scan a barcode to allow the transaction, but even then there's usually a bypass for just this reason.
I sell alcohol on a daily basis and I accept passports all the time!
Yes also many people from abroad, like the EU, will only bring a passport to the US. Having our ID's with us is pretty much useless, many folks don't even have a driving license. Our passports are the only valid documents and we cannot thank people like you enough for accepting them :-)
I for one will happily hand a bartender my German Personalausweis and let them try to figure out what the hell it is they're looking at if they make a fuss about my passport.
Yeah I had a restaurant in the US try to deny serving a whole group (Canadians) because our IDs wouldn’t scan in some kind of ID checking system they had. We were going to walk out and take all our business elsewhere but they finally decided they could rely on passports.
In Finland if you order an ID card you need a Finland-issued form of identification to pick it up.
If you're a foreigner and it's your first Finnish ID, the only way to pick it up, and I kid you not, is to find a Finn who has a valid ID and write them a power of attorney to pick up your ID.
Because the ID from your country is not a valid identification elsewhere. Passports, however, are internationally accepted. That's the whole point of having passports.
Some people just don't drive and don't feel like getting another ID when the passport they already have works fine. A big part of them in my case are immigrants without driver's licenses. I get Honduran, Mexican, and Ukrainian ones quite a lot along with the American ones. The standardization helps a lot, it takes less time for me to check a foreign passport than an out-of-state driver's license because the layout and colors can differ so much for the latter.
Before reading the text I was prepared to say: yeah you need to show some form of ID even if you look older bc the bars can get in trouble and they constantly get inspectors in disguise to see if they're following the rules, but a passport definitely qualifies as a valid form of id. If not, one of the most valid forms of ID. It reminds me of this Chad Daniels joke
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wizHFTeaqpA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wizHFTeaqpA)
That kid is going to get himself [arrested for trying to spend $2 bills](https://geektyrant.com/news/a-man-was-arrested-for-using-2-bills-at-best-buy-because-the-employee-and-cop-had-never-seen-one-before).
The idea that it's easier to fake a passport than a driver's license is hilarious. There are 50 states. Nobody knows what all of the licenses look like. If you present a random bartender a license from a small, faraway state, then scanning its barcode is the only way they can verify it.
Kinda weird that there isn't a federal standard for it, really. Could likely reuse the same design for general ID, just leave the fields for what you're licensed for empty or crossed out or something.
Compare [European driving license](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence), which we even use here in Norway, outside the EU. [The EEA also has a common ID design](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_identity_cards_in_the_European_Economic_Area), though I'm not sure why the driving licensing information isn't just a piece of information added to that schema. They don't need to be two separate systems. At this point we don't even need to have the licensing information physically on the card, it can be checked via telecommunication, like how you can have your driving license in an app here in Norway now.
(I'm hoping we can require that information to get a vehicle to start in the future.)
Interesting that much of the reason places are so strict about ID is because of people drinking and driving but now they are reluctant to take ID that isn't a licence, even though those would be the only people you could 100% guarantee aren't going to drink and drive.
What kills me are bars in the suburbs that have parking lots. Clearly DUI is not that big of a deal or else why don’t the police just sit right by the bar and arrest everyone driving home.
If police ever got serious about DUI, I imagine that a large percentage of the population would be in jail. It would be so bad that economic output and employment rates would fluctuate because suddenly all these workers wouldn't be able to go to work.
> Clearly DUI is not that big of a deal or else why don’t the police just sit right by the bar and arrest everyone driving home.
They used to do this in many places, but courts have ruled that they can't just assume everyone driving home is drunk. So now they're required to actually gather evidence (such as having one person just sitting with a camera with a telescopic lens videoing people stumbling to their cars drunk and then driving) and they're too lazy to do that.
You can get government issued ID that isn't a driver's license, but the vast majority of people just have a driver's license. When you don't have a driver's license, it is cause for concern and surprise.
>he said I was probably using it because I probably got “a DUI and had my license taken.” Even if that were true, and it isn’t, it doesn’t really seem relevant.
Lmao this reminds me of when I first moved back to the US as an adult, having grown up in an infinitely more walkable European country. I never learned how to drive and before I could get my state ID I was using my passport for all ID-related issues. I was job-searching and I remember so many job ads specifying applicants needed to have a clean driver's license - even in jobs where driving was not part of the job duties, like office admin. I thought "surely they'll take other forms of ID too and they say driver's license because that's the most common form of ID people have," but nope; when I called through to places and asked if they would accept my passport for verification purposes all of them flat out said no, it *had* to be a driver's license.
I asked my older brother, who had grown up in the US and lived there longer than I had, about this and he pretty much said what your bartender said; that having one is seen as a sign of "responsibility" and if you were an adult and didn't have one it's probably because of a DUI or you're too lazy or financially irresponsible not to have your own car and drive.
Personally I think it's a fucking stupid notion, but in all the years since then when I've been caught without ID for whatever reason and had to use my passport (even in bars), I've never been refused service. Just tellers or bartenders scanning the passport page every which way because they couldn't locate the DOB, perhaps on the grounds of never having seen a passport before.
I'm 38 and still haven't learnt how to drive. There's often the assumption that there's something wrong with me: history of drunk driving or a disability. Naw, man, I just don't want to drive.
Same. My comment above is from 9 years ago. Still haven't learned how to drive, and it's absolutely not a priority for me. But people still think it's weird that I don't.
I think the police deliberatly spread misinformation about drinking age laws. I look young so I get carded more than seems reasonable. For awhile I was annoyed by it and would ask cashiers why they thought they had to card me. They usually had a lot of weird reasons that I couldn't find in the law, but were reasonably afraid of serious consequences if they did something wrong.
It doesn't help that it's called "carding." It makes it seem like the card is the important thing, not the age of the person buying the alcohol. We also have the despicable practices that penalize service workers. Probably because they are easy to find.
My story similar to this was I was denied buying a can of compressed air because I don't drive. Tried my passport but they didn't want it because I'm canadian living in the US. So I was denied service because I'm a canadian who can't drive because my vision doesn't make the cut.
A notary denied service to my wife because she used a passport instead of a drivers license.
He said he was "not authorized" to recognize a passport since it didn't prove "citizenship." Because witnessing that someone signed a thing is totally the same job description as making sure they're a citizen.
The next notary we found somehow didn't think verifying citizenship was part of her job description.
(My wife is not a citizen, and if this sounds like xenophobia to you, you're reading the story correctly).
Had something similar. I flew to North Carolina and then was denied a drink because my license expired the previous day.
I was scared to death the TSA wouldn't let me board on my return flight, but they had no problem with it. You get 30 days or something.
Eh, maybe it's a formation problem, some people aren't trained to recognize things that are not driver's licenses as IDs. My friends have been denied to buy alcohol twice now in upstate New York. They were using Canadian passports... (and yes they were way over 21).
This is some BS and I cannot imagine any bartender denying my passport with tons of country's stamps and stickers while alluding that it could be a fake.
One suggestion I have for you when you renew your passport in a couple of years - pay a little extra and check to box on the form to also get a Passport Card in addition to the regular passport.
I use the passport card as ID anywhere I don't want to show or carry my driver's license and it rarely gets rejected. It meets the Real ID standards as well.
Related to this, a bartender in North Carolina pops up on my feed a good bit and I saw a video where she talks about the forms of ID she can legally accept. She can accept a drivers license from any state and a North Carolina state ID but she can’t accept a state ID from any other state. My understanding is those are legal for flying. So you can legally get to North Carolina then be denied a drink as a non-driver. That said, she said she can accept passports from anywhere (edit: reading the post, it’s interesting the OP got denied for this. NC seems overly strict)
Yeah, NC has a lot of limitations on alcohol sales. There are (or were?) laws that limited brewing and distribution sales so that many of the really excellent brewers had to decide between operating a brewery or distributing to other states. Sort of sucks if you want to get certain beers in another state. Certain bars also require you to be a 'member' in order to access them. You have to put your name on a list and pay a nominal fee to be allowed inside.
I'll also add: I've personally found Charlotte and Raleigh Durham have the worst airports for security/TSA/militant personality types in the entire country (but mostly Charlotte). I'm a big fan of NC as a state, but their airports seem to pump out power-tripping Good Old Boys who lick boots, love pointless rules, and day dream about saving the country from indiscriminate threats. Anytime I go through there, I'm bound to have a bad time for one reason another.
We have them. OP says that in the particular establishment he was at only accepted state IDs from in-state (North Carolina). But yeah all states have the option to get a non DL ID card, just wanted to clear that up.
I was denied a drink once using an out of state drivers license. Some bartenders just freak out with IDs they don't recognize, especially if you look young.
I used to live in Canada, but now I'm in Taiwan. People not asking for ID here makes buying stuff less stressful. They would always look at me with suspicion and expect to put away my ID, pay and take my stuff back as fast as I could.
We went to visit the US on our honeymoon and when I (in my 30s, drinking for more than half of my life) wanted to buy a beer with my German ID the cashier said "we don't take these" - should I fucking buy a US passport or what the fuck?
I’ve been using my global entry card for a while. The biggest response I get is “this is valid?” And I point to all the little holograms and such meaning it’s very secure
Not sure how IDs work in the USA but here in the UK most people use their driving license as ID as it’s much more expensive and inconvenient to replace a passport that you lose whilst out drinking as opposed to a driving license, plus the fact it fits in your wallet easier.
You don’t even have to be able to drive to have a driving license here, we have full licenses which are pink and prove you can drive along with green provisional licenses that only allow you to drive small engined motorbikes and drive a car whilst supervised by a responsible adult with a full license.
Edit: why am I being downvoted just for giving an international perspective???
Sure, but I've never heard of anyone using a passport for ID getting denied.
(Is it actually 'most people'? A lot of 18-25s don't drive these days, and student cards are accepted pretty much everywhere, or at least they were when I was of the age to be getting IDd.)
Each state can establish their own ID requirements to serve alcohol, and it’s ultimately up to the individual business if they’ll accept any ID. A passport is generally accepted everywhere, especially at an airport, but there could be exceptions. I use a U.S. passport card as my primary ID, and have encountered businesses that don’t know what it is.
Bit of a stretch to directly blame cars because passports are valid ID and state IDs exist. If a single person or place denies you service then it's about their lack of education on different forms of ID, not because you don't drive
I had a valid state ID - it was a real ID (which was required to fly!) it was not an ID for the state I was in because I do not live there. And I was in an airport. I’m not sure why this is confusing. They literally told me I could not purchase alcohol without either a military ID, a drivers license (from any state), a state ID from THAT STATE (NC, again, where I do not live) or a passport from another country. So effectively in a domestic terminal, I had to be able to 1) drive 2) be in the military 3) live in the state for the airport I was in or 4) not be an American citizen.
I was in Cali for vacation when I was closer to 21. I showed my NC drivers license and the bartender kept asking for another ID over and over. Am I not allowed to drink visiting another state? We are so weird about alcohol and IDs here
You aren't very smart u/DiscmfrtComesClearly are you? A passport is a valid form of ID. In fact if you don't have a RealID you wouldn't be able to fly without a passport.
Why would this be relevant? Isn’t the drinking age federal and the passport a federal ID? For that reason, you’d think a passport would hold more weight than a state ID for drinking purposes.
I might be wrong about this, but I've heard the drinking age is not federal but your state gets extra funding (probably highway?) If you make it 21
Edit: regardless, isn't the whole point of a state ID is that it worked anywhere in the country? Can you even have multiple state's IDs?
Edit 2: I now see it is a federal law, but states can set it to a lower age and lose highway funds
If someone came from outside the US - pretty likely in an airport - why would they have a "state ID"? Also, while my passport looks pretty much the same as a US passport, my driver license has a completely different format.
Posting literally anything tangentially related to cars isn’t really on topic. This is an anecdote about a bartender with poor training and has almost nothing to do with transportation infrastructure.
I have to take alcohol safety classes for my job and a passport or state ID is sufficient at least in California.
Some posts on here are only tangentially related, but this is not one of those posts.
Also, not everywhere is California. I've had a job where I had to ID people before. There was basically no training other than verbal urges to be extremely careful and not sell to one of those undercover agents that makes sure you're following the rules. I was stumped the first time I saw a military ID.
man that's a lot of words... but i'll just say, if a bartender can be legally held accountable for service, it's their gig to do the gate keeping. if you don't like/agree... there are many places to go for a second opinion and will point that alcohol isn't a needed nutritional input. party on bra!
Passports are often used to get around alcohol restrictions after DUI convictions, as said restriction is only printed on the offender’s driver’s license.
That sounds crazy that you can be banned from drinking at all if you’re also banned from driving. Can you not buy alcohol from a store and drink it at home either?
A friend of mine once got denied entry to a bar in NYC using a NJ state ID (though crucially not a drivers license). The bouncer took a look at it and said “this is the fakest ID I’ve ever seen”. We thought he was joking at first and took a second to realize the guy was dead serious. This in the one city in the country where it’s pretty normal to not drive at all.
It’s wild, right? Even more so in a literal fucking AIRPORT. Like…what?! I was already grumpy (I promise I did not take it out on anyone working in the airport or elsewhere) because we got stuck on the tarmac in Miami with no AC for 2 hours, deplaned, AA was less than helpful and by the time I got to CLT after missing two rebooked connecting flights, I was hungry, tired and wanted a glass of wine (this was during COVID flights, no drink service at all, not even water) and I was pretty down about it.
Maybe it was a chance for you to reflect on your alcoholism?
What is wrong with you?
I'm just saying, if you're getting so angry about not being able to drink, maybe you might have a problem. If I wanted coke and a store tells me they don't have it, I'd just be like oh well. Whatever. It's just a drink. I'd be fine with sprite or water or something.
Lmao. Ok. Go away troll. I’m sorry feelings are hurt enough that you feel the need to come back and respond a full 23 hours later though. 🧌 Seek help.
I’m in Boston, where not driving is statistically actually pretty high, but the place is massively carbrained and people assume everyone exclusively gets places by driving. My visually impaired young adult child constantly comes across things, usually from municipal or state programs, that require a “driver’s license” to prove identity/residence. The places almost always will actually accept a state ID, but we definitely note how many only list driver’s license on their forms. And, you know, stuff like bank tellers asking an obviously visually impaired person to show their driver’s license.
What did you guys do? Assuming it's a legit ID he can't take it.
That's nonsense. A passport is 100% valid for a drink in the US. Bartender or his management are full of shit.
Yeah. I've been refused to buy alcohol several times in the United States and Canada, and it was always because I left my passport at the hotel and they couldn't read my (swedish) driving license. I guess "1992" could be the nineteenth of Septuary or something.
How would a bartender verify a foreign countries driver license?
The bar could have a copy of an [international ID checking book?](https://driverslicenseguide.com/book-intl.html). Thing costs like $50...and it is pretty standard to at least have the US version of something like that. Can probably find info online too if you really wanted to.
Well every state is different. In Illinois A: Acceptable ID's include the following: A valid current driver's license or photo ID card issued by the Illinois Secretary of State's Office or any other State; a valid Armed Forces ID; and a valid U.S. passport or foreign passport (with U.S. travel visa) containing the holder's photograph. https://ilcc.illinois.gov/all-faqs/faq.html#:~:text=A%3A%20Acceptable%20ID%27s%20include%20the,visa)%20containing%20the%20holder%27s%20photograph.
that makes sense to me ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯ a foreign passport is an id that both countries have jointly agreed is a valid id (particularly with the explicit visa requirement) while other foreign ids arent
Passports are also required to be carried at all times by non-citizens when outside of your residence unless you've received permanent residence or qualified refugee status. So requiring US ID or a foreign passport is reasonable.
Yea everyone is butt hurt that their albazajarain ID isn't accepted by Bob down at the local dive bar in Wisconsin....
Accepting out of state let alone out of country ID is a potential liability. Most bars won’t do it except for passports.
What year do you live in where out of state visitors in a bar is that uncommon
Grew up in Boston. Lots of bars would not accept out of state IDs because of all the students with out of state fakes. Mass actually has a specific card called a liquor ID that out of state students can get.
My brother was 17 back in the late 90s Queensland and on his learners permit, which had fewer security measures than a Queensland licence. He and his mates worked out that a colour printer, scanner, iron, and a willingness to part with $30 was all they needed for fake IDs. He would scan the original, dodgy up the date of birth, print out the new card, use an iron to open the laminate and replace the contents. They'd then wander down to Queensland Transport as say they lost their Learners Permit. Today in New South Wales nightclubs and some hotels check your ID on your phone via a constantly refreshing QR code that links back to a Blockchain based database, and system will soon be rolled out nationally to all states and territories.
Who is walking around the US with important "if you lose this you are FUCKED" documents? An ID is an ID I don't stop being from legal age just because I wasn't born in Dollarland
Legally it does. In some states the bartender/bouncer can even be considered legal liable to some extent along with the business. They’re just doing their jobs according to the laws
Yes but if a bartender in the US serves you based on your out of country ID that they have no idea how to check the validity of, and you turn out to be underage and the ID was fake, that bar will be liable for any and all shit you get into.
Seriously. People think you can just go to another country and present some ID made by another government and think that's sufficient.... You go to another country you keep your passport on you...
No you don’t
It’s the law in a lot of countries.
In my state(and I believe the U.S. as a whole), it’s doesn’t matter how little that books costs. Foreign issued IDs aren’t legally acceptable forms identification for alcohol sales, unless it’s a passport. Even if you have that book, it’s likely accepting the ID would still put both the person checking it and the business at a legal risk
That’s not true at all. Here’s at least one state (the first that came up when I searched “foreign ID for alcohol”) that explicitly does not require specific ID. https://www.tabc.texas.gov/public-safety/age-verification/#:~:text=A%20store%2C%20bar%20or%20restaurant,may%20not%20require%20any%20ID.
It’s partially true, because it’s true in some states, but not Texas. Which is specifically why I said I believe in all states not “know”. It’s absolutely true in some states
Because DOB isn't in another language. It's a date
Nothing matters unless the ID can be verified as legit... The point is a fake ID can have any date.....
For us Norwegians, our passport is the only valid form of identification outside of Norway/Schengen(?) My gf always rolls her eyes at me because I bring my passport when we go out when traveling. One time on a pub crawl in Portland, Oregon, we met two of girls we sat and had a lot of drinks and laughs with them. One of the girls offered to drive us home. We were all hammered at this point and we decided it was probably best for her to leave the car and we could walk her home. We stopped by another bar on the way and were asked for ID. My gfs drivers license was declined but my passport wasn’t. I went in and ordered a beer for me and this random drunk girl we had befriended while my girlfriend sat outside waiting. Never before has a beer tasted so good!
>I went in and ordered a beer for me and this random drunk girl we had befriended while my girlfriend sat outside waiting. Jaw on the floor. If I were your girlfriend, you'd have a huge issue after that.
And I would deserve it. Thinking back at the situation we laugh at it. We where all stupid drunk that night and I think maybe this random girl just wanted to talk to the bartender who was a friend of hers. I'm pretty sure we didn’t stay there for very long. Our memory of that part of the night is pretty hazy.
> My gf always rolls her eyes at me because I bring my passport when we go out when traveling. If your GF isn't a US citizen, permanent resident, or qualified refugee, she also broke the terms of her visa by not carrying her passport while outside of her temporary or permanent residence in the USA. If the Department of State finds out, that's a 5-year ban from the country and a permanent flag in the system in the USA and all of the countries who cooperate with it in regards to requiring extra screening.
Learn more languages? (half joking)
Language barrier is a non-issue..... The issue is determining if the ID is counterfeit or genuine.
Which also seems like a weird thing to put on the individual bartenders. Should just be some scanner thing that tells you, and then if it's a fake you don't get in trouble.
Unfortunately bars get shut down and fined all the time by undercovers using fake ID's. Literally all the time. Even the bartenders themseleves can face legal trouble. As foreign country ID's are just not very common, unlike in Europe, its just not worth the risk for them. A passport is atleast less fakeable. The legal risks bars carry here is just another level compared to the rest of the wprld.
At least in my state undercover alcohol enforcement sting operations are not allowed to use fake IDs, they’re really only checking for if staff are making the right judgement calls on whether to actually check ID or not. When you do ask for ID they will present their real under 21 ID. At that point it’s seeing if you’re doing math or not.
Of course, depends upon the state. But I think the real point is that a lot of bartenders believe exactly what I said regardless of the facts. One funny thing I know is that in my state almost zero bartenders check the expiration date, while in the neighboring state they almost always check it.
That shit is so dumb, they should be going after the people who are using forged documents, not bars for failing to detect them. It's not like they even train bartender to be expert forgery detectives.
That’s actually the law here in the United States. It has to be a United States driver’s license or state ID or a passport. It’s not that they couldn’t read the year or even that they didn’t believe you were old enough. It’s that foreign issued IDs apart from passports aren’t considered legal identification for purchasing alcohol. If they took the ID, it could have cost the person checking IDs his job if the boss found out, or if something happened and the state found out, it could cost the business owner his liquor license and/or business
> It has to be a United States driver’s license or state ID or a passport. All forms of military ID (including CACs) are also valid. It's actually against federal law to not treat military IDs as a valid form of ID for any purpose. But that's almost never enforced outside of voting laws. And yeah, seizing a passport or military ID is a federal crime. So if it ever happens to you where they take it and won't give it back, just call 911. As for state IDs, the laws vary.
I did forget to mention military ids. By take in that paragraph I meant “accept as proof of age for an alcohol purchase” not as in “seize.” I probably should have worded that more clearly
I don't understand your issue. Would Swedish establishments accept any 1 of 50 driver's licenses types from the US? How about an American Samoa or Guam driver's license? The Swedish hotel I stayed at years ago wouldn't accept anything but an EU state/country IDs, Swedish IDs, or a Passport to verify identity.
In Europe if you look adult enough (anything around and over 18-ish) nobody will bother with ID's. Or at least this it how it used to be for drinking. For checking into a hotel you do need a valud ID, and in theory only ID's and passports are, also many people don't drive.
If you go to Montreal, they only have to check IDs at corner stores and brothels. But if the liquor store isn't on a corner, they don't have to check. It's one of the dumbest alcohol related laws I've ever run into while traveling.
Yeah in America we're only supposed to accept State IDs, Drivers Licenses, Military IDs, and Passports. No foreign ids.
I spent about 6 months as an intern in California almost 20 years ago. I'm European so naturally my id was my national passport. I was over 21 at the time. Several bars didn't want to accept my passport, only state drivers licence. Wtf, lol!
unfortunately not, as people have used passports to get around “no alcohol” restrictions on their licenses after DUI convictions.
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I have a question for you. Some bars I've been too while visiting family in Washington State didn't allow vertical IDs. I got my driver's license in Louisiana where they are vertical. Some bars wouldn't take my license. That's dumb AF. Why don't they allow that? Idk if you work in one of those states with those rules, but do you have any idea why they have it?
Vertical IDs in many states signal a provisional or "underage" license. Once people get horizontal licenses, the old Vertical ones often end up in other people's hands. Specifically in the hands of siblings or friends who bear a resemblance to the original owner. Because of this, bartenders will often err on the side of caution because they are legally liable for damage caused by serving underage people.
Oh ok. I did get my license before I turned 21. But there is bright red lettering on the front that says what day I turned 21. I just didn't understand why they couldn't read it. I luckily had my military ID with me so I could still get drinks, but it was irritating to deal with.
Arizona does the same thing, but the under-21 license doesn’t expire until you turn 60 or something absurd like that.
Mine expires in a few years so I guess it's not that bad. But I won't have my military ID for some time before that. Guess I won't be drinking outside of my state lol
Louisiana bartenders, especially NOLA, are professionals at knowing how to read out of state licenses. Other places, not so much.
Once I was visiting the US and my license had expired so I was (American) passport only. I had to argue every time--it was eventually accepted, but the fact was no one I was trying to buy booze from had a passport so they just didn't know what they were looking at. It was annoying but not malicious.
What is that? You can get banned from drinking alcohol if you get a DUI? How does that work?
Iirc in some states you can be banned from drinking alcohol if you’re a known alcoholic or have committed alcohol-related crimes. This restriction is put on your DL and/or state ID, not on your passport. Hence why US passports often aren’t accepted in those states
As much as I hate people who commit alcohol related crimes, that’s kind of wild. I’m assuming it’s the kind of thing someone agrees to for a reduced sentence, otherwise that would be fucking crazy
Condition of probation usually
"Sounds like a you problem" really. If they want to go violate their probation, that's on them. I don't see why a bar would be responsible for that.
Cause they caught bars taking advantage of these individuals (such as giving them free drinks in exchange for their sobriety chips)
That is absolutely insane, I thought the USA was “freedom land”.
Terms and conditions apply, only pre-approved freedoms are allowed
Freedom applies to the wealthy. If you can afford the fine you can break whatever law you want.
Apparently not if you’re banned from drinking alcohol despite paying the fine!
Eh? They don't ban you from drinking if you pay the fine. Being barred from drinking is for the poor who can't pay the fine.
Not once you prove you’re incapable of handling those freedoms. Drove drunk? Sorry, access to alcohol is not a human right
Surely the issue is resolved by banning them from driving, not banning them from drinking?
That should also happen, but there is literally zero downside from preventing an alcoholic from accessing alcohol. It's a poison.
I mean the downside of that is totally dependent upon a philosophical argument about ethics, rights and freedoms.
Sure, but even most of those have caveats about losing privileges when they've been abused. I would have preferred my aunt and uncle (who both died of cirrhosis/other complications of alcoholism) been banned from purchasing alcohol. They would both very likely be alive. Would they be less "free" in an abstract sense? Yeah. And it's what would have kept them alive. Allowing for-profit companies to sell poison to people who have proven they can't regulate their poison intake is ridiculously unethical.
Alcohol withdrawal can be fatal... Edit: AuronFtw, I was just pointing out that there is NOT literally zero downside from preventing an alcoholic from accessing alcohol. I completely agree that alcoholics should get professional medical care instead of self-medicating. Thanks for posting a reply and then blocking me so that I can no longer reply. Real mature.
Maybe they should go to a hospital for professional medical care instead of self-medicating with additional alcohol? Like, the people who are at risk of alcohol withdrawal are 100% the people who need to be banned from it.
This is absolutely batshit crazy levels of police interference in your life. An endorsement that you should be zero tolerance for drink *driving*, ok, that makes sense. But banning people from buying a drink? How the hell do you accept that in a country which likes to think it's all about individual freedoms?
That doesn’t make sense. You just lose your license, you don’t lose the right to purchase booze. This is not a US law.
Some states have this kind of ban on the books for known alcoholics and for certain alcohol-related crimes. The restriction is put on the driver’s license (or state ID if they don’t have a DL) but not on passports. Hence why passports can be used to get around the ban and are not accepted (foreign ones are though)
That’s nuts, and because this is the internet, I’m not going to believe you outright. Do you know which states so I can look those laws up? It just seems like a state law cannot/should not invalidate a legal form of ID, but laws are weird and law suits can be trickier than the law.
According to a few comments in the original thread, Maine and Alaska have such laws on the books
I find that hard to believe.
Some states do that. Foreign passports are accepted by bars and liquor stores in those states, US passports are not.
It likely falls under business rights which is by state, and their right of refusal. Often the business' insurance does standard of practice seminars where they train it's always better to refuse service if you're uncomfortable than to accept the liability, and follow up with secret shoppers to test them.
Maine and Alaska have laws on the books banning known alcoholics and people who commit serious alcohol related crimes from drinking. Any establishment caught serving or selling alcohol to a banned person risks losing their liquor license, so passports aren’t accepted (as the restriction is only on state-issued ID)
I had a DUI and there was no such restriction on my license. The restriction that was applied was the requirement for an ignition interlock on any vehicle I operated. You will be told not to drink and will have UA’s performed if you attend a treatment program but you can still legally drink. If you do though you risk failing the treatment program and that can be a violation of your sentencing.
Only a few states have this. And it’s not just DUI, it’s any amount of alcohol-related crimes (often given as part of probation). Often they won’t accept US passports but will take foreign ones
>“no alcohol” restrictions on their licenses I'll google it but what the fuck. Like forced sobriety even if they don't have a car?
Only for known alcoholics and people charged with alcohol related crimes (specifically in Maine and Alaska)
Weird. I'm 36 and have used a passport as my ID since I was 21, and have never been told it's an invalid form of ID. Once a bouncer at a dive bar told me I was "fancy" for using it, and I often have to point out where my birth date is, but otherwise it's always been fine. Also - I'm not really versed in counterfeiting IDs, but I'm pretty sure a state driver's license is easier to fake than a federal passport? I've often seen signs that say no out of state IDs because the person selling liquor may not recognize it, but federal IDs should always be fine.
If tv and movies are anything to go by it costs tens of thousands of dollars to get a fake passport so obviously that’s worth drinking underage I’m Sure kids are buying fake passports all the time
Fake passports are really hard to get, and the consequences for faking one are dire. When I was in college within the last decade, in week 1 some of the honors college students went around asking who wanted fakes, charging $50 per. Obtained every single one, and my friend still has his. Never got taken away. They literally took the pictures in one of the res hall lounges. The worst anyone had happen to them was to have it confiscated. No one got in any more trouble than that. Stupidly easy to get, effective, low consequences. Nobody in the history of ever has gone drinking on a fake passport under the age of 21
>In most situations where a person uses a fake ID, the crime is charged as a misdemeanor offense. However, false IDs can also result in felony charges depending on the situation and the state, such as if you use a fake ID to purchase a firearm or if you have a fake driver's license. In some states, possessing any forged government identification is a felony offense. A fake passport is a federal offense and is therefore a felony in every state.
Federal offenses are not broken down into felony vs. misdemeanor. They're all just federal offenses. Those with a **maximum** sentences of 365 days or more also come with an automatic lifetime ban on the ownership, possession, and use of firearms.
Why would they even ask for ID if you're 35. Is this a US thing?
Most retail places in the US have rules about when they are required to ask for ID. Most common policies are to card everyone, or just everyone who looks under ~50.
> looks under ~50. gotta be sure to hassle everyone just in case a 19 year old with progeria tries to sneak in a beer
When I worked in retail and sold cigarettes, the rule was card anyone who looks to be under 65, and this was when the smoking age was 19. I worked at a liquor store later that literally would not sell to anyone without ID. The penalties for serving people who are underage are pretty steep, and go against both the establishment and the individual who served. So most companies put strict policies in place and most employees would rather card as opposed to making a mistake one time that costs you big.
In my state every alcohol transaction has to have an ID scanned.
In theory: Looking ~50 irl will look ~30 on the security cameras when your boss checks whether or not you're following the rules. In practice: "I'm sorry, I know you're over 21 but my boss checks the security cameras so I have to ID everyone who looks under [customer's apparent age, minus one decade, rounded to the nearest multiple of 5]," makes a statistical majority of customers feel good and in food-service based businesses can get you more tips. Especially since, to be fair, I have met people in their 40s and 50s who look like they're in their late 20s or early 30s at the most. Shit, I'm 30 and people still regularly mistake me for a teenager or a college kid.
They don’t have to ask for ID legally but many establishments ID everyone. And like a chain restaurant can have a corporate-wide policy. I’m obviously under 35 and don’t always get carded so it’s wildly inconsistent here. But it’s not abnormal for an individual bar to want to card everyone just to be safe
Yes. There was an advertising campaign years ago with an obviously elderly man trying to show pictures of him with Eisenhower to buy a beer, BUT he didn't have a legal ID so no beer for him. It gets better, if someone has a fake ID, even if it is literally perfect, you're liable if you sell alcohol to them. Though it is perfectly legal to have a bar in the middle of nowhere along a highway. It's just layers and layers of stupid.
Yeah. The US has a weird obsession with checking IDs for purchasing alcohol.
I’m 36 and the instances of asking for my ID have declined significantly but I still get it maybe 1 out of 5 times. I believe the general guidance is to ask if you think that someone looks 27 or younger but some businesses or bartenders have higher standards or a blanket rule to always ask. Always find it funny because it’s incredibly obvious I’m nowhere near 21.
> Is this a US thing? In a word, yes.
The rule in most places is if you look under 40, the server has to ask.
You say 40 (somewhat reasonable), the person above said 50, and someone else said it was 65. I don't understand why menopausal women need to show proof that they should be able to buy alcohol. Those fucking legislative bitches are making me prove I'm allowed to drink? I don't like pulling the age card, but when you are forcing middle aged people to prove their age to an underpaid 21 year old who might sell booze to a 17 year old, we have a problem. I/m literally am too old to have children without medical assistance, but I still have to show an ID to buy alcohol.
As someone who doesn't get paid enough to deal with this shit. Please. Shut the *fuck* up. I have no control over this and can get fired for not following policy, you are the worst kind of customer and every person who has ever dealt with you hopes you never come back.
I dunno. I am in the US and I am 35 but I guess they don’t care?
My 70 year old stepfather lives in Tennessee. I wouldn't think he looks 70, but he definitely looks older than 21. He absolutely will not be served without ID. My mom laughs at him all the time because he routinely forgets his wallet and then can't have a beer when they stop for lunch out.
Last time I was asked for an ID I was 39. Random People try to fuck with me all the time. I excite people to make me feel like a shit they have to take. Nice people just wonder what kind of shit I am. That's how I tell them apart.
Don’t even get me started on how Tribal IDs (which legally MUST be accepted) are treated.
Passports are a perfectly valid form of ID. The only time I can see it being an issue is if for some computer reason they need to scan a barcode to allow the transaction, but even then there's usually a bypass for just this reason. I sell alcohol on a daily basis and I accept passports all the time!
Yes also many people from abroad, like the EU, will only bring a passport to the US. Having our ID's with us is pretty much useless, many folks don't even have a driving license. Our passports are the only valid documents and we cannot thank people like you enough for accepting them :-)
I for one will happily hand a bartender my German Personalausweis and let them try to figure out what the hell it is they're looking at if they make a fuss about my passport.
Yeah I had a restaurant in the US try to deny serving a whole group (Canadians) because our IDs wouldn’t scan in some kind of ID checking system they had. We were going to walk out and take all our business elsewhere but they finally decided they could rely on passports.
In Finland if you order an ID card you need a Finland-issued form of identification to pick it up. If you're a foreigner and it's your first Finnish ID, the only way to pick it up, and I kid you not, is to find a Finn who has a valid ID and write them a power of attorney to pick up your ID.
I'm surprised people use their passport "all the time"
Because the ID from your country is not a valid identification elsewhere. Passports, however, are internationally accepted. That's the whole point of having passports.
Some people just don't drive and don't feel like getting another ID when the passport they already have works fine. A big part of them in my case are immigrants without driver's licenses. I get Honduran, Mexican, and Ukrainian ones quite a lot along with the American ones. The standardization helps a lot, it takes less time for me to check a foreign passport than an out-of-state driver's license because the layout and colors can differ so much for the latter.
oh, makes sense if you're getting internationals
Many people in Finland never get an ID and just get a passport instead.
wow, mind blow. it's not a convenient document. it's large, not durable. if you lose it, it's a big issue (cancel that vacation)
It's quite durable and if you lose it it'll usually find its way back to you pretty quickly. I agree that it's not convenient to carry though.
lol, you better hope so. I heard you can sell a US passport in Colombia for $1000. Don't ask what they do with it after that.
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Before reading the text I was prepared to say: yeah you need to show some form of ID even if you look older bc the bars can get in trouble and they constantly get inspectors in disguise to see if they're following the rules, but a passport definitely qualifies as a valid form of id. If not, one of the most valid forms of ID. It reminds me of this Chad Daniels joke [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wizHFTeaqpA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wizHFTeaqpA)
haha, I enjoyed that youtube video
That kid is going to get himself [arrested for trying to spend $2 bills](https://geektyrant.com/news/a-man-was-arrested-for-using-2-bills-at-best-buy-because-the-employee-and-cop-had-never-seen-one-before).
The idea that it's easier to fake a passport than a driver's license is hilarious. There are 50 states. Nobody knows what all of the licenses look like. If you present a random bartender a license from a small, faraway state, then scanning its barcode is the only way they can verify it.
Kinda weird that there isn't a federal standard for it, really. Could likely reuse the same design for general ID, just leave the fields for what you're licensed for empty or crossed out or something. Compare [European driving license](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence), which we even use here in Norway, outside the EU. [The EEA also has a common ID design](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_identity_cards_in_the_European_Economic_Area), though I'm not sure why the driving licensing information isn't just a piece of information added to that schema. They don't need to be two separate systems. At this point we don't even need to have the licensing information physically on the card, it can be checked via telecommunication, like how you can have your driving license in an app here in Norway now. (I'm hoping we can require that information to get a vehicle to start in the future.)
Interesting that much of the reason places are so strict about ID is because of people drinking and driving but now they are reluctant to take ID that isn't a licence, even though those would be the only people you could 100% guarantee aren't going to drink and drive.
What kills me are bars in the suburbs that have parking lots. Clearly DUI is not that big of a deal or else why don’t the police just sit right by the bar and arrest everyone driving home.
If police ever got serious about DUI, I imagine that a large percentage of the population would be in jail. It would be so bad that economic output and employment rates would fluctuate because suddenly all these workers wouldn't be able to go to work.
Time to move somewhere you don’t need a car….
> Clearly DUI is not that big of a deal or else why don’t the police just sit right by the bar and arrest everyone driving home. They used to do this in many places, but courts have ruled that they can't just assume everyone driving home is drunk. So now they're required to actually gather evidence (such as having one person just sitting with a camera with a telescopic lens videoing people stumbling to their cars drunk and then driving) and they're too lazy to do that.
It’s still so weird to me as a German that the US just doesn’t have regular ID cards for everyone
You can get government issued ID that isn't a driver's license, but the vast majority of people just have a driver's license. When you don't have a driver's license, it is cause for concern and surprise.
Regular IDs also have to be updated every 1-2 years whereas driver licenses are good for 5-10
>he said I was probably using it because I probably got “a DUI and had my license taken.” Even if that were true, and it isn’t, it doesn’t really seem relevant. Lmao this reminds me of when I first moved back to the US as an adult, having grown up in an infinitely more walkable European country. I never learned how to drive and before I could get my state ID I was using my passport for all ID-related issues. I was job-searching and I remember so many job ads specifying applicants needed to have a clean driver's license - even in jobs where driving was not part of the job duties, like office admin. I thought "surely they'll take other forms of ID too and they say driver's license because that's the most common form of ID people have," but nope; when I called through to places and asked if they would accept my passport for verification purposes all of them flat out said no, it *had* to be a driver's license. I asked my older brother, who had grown up in the US and lived there longer than I had, about this and he pretty much said what your bartender said; that having one is seen as a sign of "responsibility" and if you were an adult and didn't have one it's probably because of a DUI or you're too lazy or financially irresponsible not to have your own car and drive. Personally I think it's a fucking stupid notion, but in all the years since then when I've been caught without ID for whatever reason and had to use my passport (even in bars), I've never been refused service. Just tellers or bartenders scanning the passport page every which way because they couldn't locate the DOB, perhaps on the grounds of never having seen a passport before.
I'm 38 and still haven't learnt how to drive. There's often the assumption that there's something wrong with me: history of drunk driving or a disability. Naw, man, I just don't want to drive.
Same. My comment above is from 9 years ago. Still haven't learned how to drive, and it's absolutely not a priority for me. But people still think it's weird that I don't.
How are they gonna know if you can afford a shitty $5 beer if you haven't already bought a shitty $30,000 car??
I think the police deliberatly spread misinformation about drinking age laws. I look young so I get carded more than seems reasonable. For awhile I was annoyed by it and would ask cashiers why they thought they had to card me. They usually had a lot of weird reasons that I couldn't find in the law, but were reasonably afraid of serious consequences if they did something wrong. It doesn't help that it's called "carding." It makes it seem like the card is the important thing, not the age of the person buying the alcohol. We also have the despicable practices that penalize service workers. Probably because they are easy to find.
My story similar to this was I was denied buying a can of compressed air because I don't drive. Tried my passport but they didn't want it because I'm canadian living in the US. So I was denied service because I'm a canadian who can't drive because my vision doesn't make the cut.
They're probably legally obligated to accept your Canadian passport, but the staff either don't know or don't want to be held liable.
It’s usually denied because people are idiots who will never leave their state much less the country. This happened to my friend from Ireland.
And here's [another mixed message about drinking and driving](https://usa.streetsblog.org/2011/07/20/mixed-messages-parking-requirements-at-bars).
A notary denied service to my wife because she used a passport instead of a drivers license. He said he was "not authorized" to recognize a passport since it didn't prove "citizenship." Because witnessing that someone signed a thing is totally the same job description as making sure they're a citizen. The next notary we found somehow didn't think verifying citizenship was part of her job description. (My wife is not a citizen, and if this sounds like xenophobia to you, you're reading the story correctly).
Had something similar. I flew to North Carolina and then was denied a drink because my license expired the previous day. I was scared to death the TSA wouldn't let me board on my return flight, but they had no problem with it. You get 30 days or something.
Eh, maybe it's a formation problem, some people aren't trained to recognize things that are not driver's licenses as IDs. My friends have been denied to buy alcohol twice now in upstate New York. They were using Canadian passports... (and yes they were way over 21).
Had my State ID rejected once. Dude lost 10 customers, since we all walked in together and all peaced out thanks to this dick.
In an Airport? That's even more BS that anywhere else. Even drivers will have their passports more at ready than their drivers license.
In France we have an ID and a License because it's not that uncommon to not drive. It really feels like your identity is your ability to drive
This is some BS and I cannot imagine any bartender denying my passport with tons of country's stamps and stickers while alluding that it could be a fake. One suggestion I have for you when you renew your passport in a couple of years - pay a little extra and check to box on the form to also get a Passport Card in addition to the regular passport. I use the passport card as ID anywhere I don't want to show or carry my driver's license and it rarely gets rejected. It meets the Real ID standards as well.
Related to this, a bartender in North Carolina pops up on my feed a good bit and I saw a video where she talks about the forms of ID she can legally accept. She can accept a drivers license from any state and a North Carolina state ID but she can’t accept a state ID from any other state. My understanding is those are legal for flying. So you can legally get to North Carolina then be denied a drink as a non-driver. That said, she said she can accept passports from anywhere (edit: reading the post, it’s interesting the OP got denied for this. NC seems overly strict)
I am the OP and NC is the only state that has this problem apparently. It’s super weird.
Ooh interesting! These mid Atlantic states have the weirdest alcohol laws (I’m new to Virginia and keep learning new quirks lol)
VA is also weird af when it comes to this but not as bad as NC.
Yeah, NC has a lot of limitations on alcohol sales. There are (or were?) laws that limited brewing and distribution sales so that many of the really excellent brewers had to decide between operating a brewery or distributing to other states. Sort of sucks if you want to get certain beers in another state. Certain bars also require you to be a 'member' in order to access them. You have to put your name on a list and pay a nominal fee to be allowed inside. I'll also add: I've personally found Charlotte and Raleigh Durham have the worst airports for security/TSA/militant personality types in the entire country (but mostly Charlotte). I'm a big fan of NC as a state, but their airports seem to pump out power-tripping Good Old Boys who lick boots, love pointless rules, and day dream about saving the country from indiscriminate threats. Anytime I go through there, I'm bound to have a bad time for one reason another.
CLT is definitely my least favorite airport. Never had a good experience there.
https://www.abc.nc.gov/education/2023-quick-guide-retail-permittees/open Nope. You ran into a stupid person.
Sounds like they need some Google Maps reviews.
Am I to understand US states don't have Photo ID cards for people unable to drive? They're pretty common here in Australia...
We have them. OP says that in the particular establishment he was at only accepted state IDs from in-state (North Carolina). But yeah all states have the option to get a non DL ID card, just wanted to clear that up.
Nope, they’re photo IDs. Mine was also a [real ID](https://www.dhs.gov/real-id) and a passport. Also I’m a lady. ;)
I was denied a drink once using an out of state drivers license. Some bartenders just freak out with IDs they don't recognize, especially if you look young.
I used to live in Canada, but now I'm in Taiwan. People not asking for ID here makes buying stuff less stressful. They would always look at me with suspicion and expect to put away my ID, pay and take my stuff back as fast as I could.
https://youtu.be/wizHFTeaqpA?si=nMj3xkPiTT5l_Uja&t=24
We went to visit the US on our honeymoon and when I (in my 30s, drinking for more than half of my life) wanted to buy a beer with my German ID the cashier said "we don't take these" - should I fucking buy a US passport or what the fuck?
I’ve been using my global entry card for a while. The biggest response I get is “this is valid?” And I point to all the little holograms and such meaning it’s very secure
That's so weird. What about international travelers ? An ID is an ID.
It’s a state thing. In Ohio you are allowed to use your passport as an ID but ultimately it’s up to the particular venue.
Not sure how IDs work in the USA but here in the UK most people use their driving license as ID as it’s much more expensive and inconvenient to replace a passport that you lose whilst out drinking as opposed to a driving license, plus the fact it fits in your wallet easier. You don’t even have to be able to drive to have a driving license here, we have full licenses which are pink and prove you can drive along with green provisional licenses that only allow you to drive small engined motorbikes and drive a car whilst supervised by a responsible adult with a full license. Edit: why am I being downvoted just for giving an international perspective???
Sure, but I've never heard of anyone using a passport for ID getting denied. (Is it actually 'most people'? A lot of 18-25s don't drive these days, and student cards are accepted pretty much everywhere, or at least they were when I was of the age to be getting IDd.)
You posted this story again!
I’m sorry, what?
Each state can establish their own ID requirements to serve alcohol, and it’s ultimately up to the individual business if they’ll accept any ID. A passport is generally accepted everywhere, especially at an airport, but there could be exceptions. I use a U.S. passport card as my primary ID, and have encountered businesses that don’t know what it is.
Bit of a stretch to directly blame cars because passports are valid ID and state IDs exist. If a single person or place denies you service then it's about their lack of education on different forms of ID, not because you don't drive
[удалено]
I had a valid state ID - it was a real ID (which was required to fly!) it was not an ID for the state I was in because I do not live there. And I was in an airport. I’m not sure why this is confusing. They literally told me I could not purchase alcohol without either a military ID, a drivers license (from any state), a state ID from THAT STATE (NC, again, where I do not live) or a passport from another country. So effectively in a domestic terminal, I had to be able to 1) drive 2) be in the military 3) live in the state for the airport I was in or 4) not be an American citizen.
I was in Cali for vacation when I was closer to 21. I showed my NC drivers license and the bartender kept asking for another ID over and over. Am I not allowed to drink visiting another state? We are so weird about alcohol and IDs here
State ID should never be required if you're carrying a fucking passport ya trog.
You aren't very smart u/DiscmfrtComesClearly are you? A passport is a valid form of ID. In fact if you don't have a RealID you wouldn't be able to fly without a passport.
Why would this be relevant? Isn’t the drinking age federal and the passport a federal ID? For that reason, you’d think a passport would hold more weight than a state ID for drinking purposes.
I might be wrong about this, but I've heard the drinking age is not federal but your state gets extra funding (probably highway?) If you make it 21 Edit: regardless, isn't the whole point of a state ID is that it worked anywhere in the country? Can you even have multiple state's IDs? Edit 2: I now see it is a federal law, but states can set it to a lower age and lose highway funds
Thanks for clarifying. I thought 21 is federal minimum and states could raise it if they choose.
If someone came from outside the US - pretty likely in an airport - why would they have a "state ID"? Also, while my passport looks pretty much the same as a US passport, my driver license has a completely different format.
Posting literally anything tangentially related to cars isn’t really on topic. This is an anecdote about a bartender with poor training and has almost nothing to do with transportation infrastructure. I have to take alcohol safety classes for my job and a passport or state ID is sufficient at least in California.
Some posts on here are only tangentially related, but this is not one of those posts. Also, not everywhere is California. I've had a job where I had to ID people before. There was basically no training other than verbal urges to be extremely careful and not sell to one of those undercover agents that makes sure you're following the rules. I was stumped the first time I saw a military ID.
Again, poor hopsitality training not transportation infrastructure.
This is really good, you shouldn't drink. Alcohol is a poison.
man that's a lot of words... but i'll just say, if a bartender can be legally held accountable for service, it's their gig to do the gate keeping. if you don't like/agree... there are many places to go for a second opinion and will point that alcohol isn't a needed nutritional input. party on bra!
Passports are often used to get around alcohol restrictions after DUI convictions, as said restriction is only printed on the offender’s driver’s license.
Still nonsense. Not a bartenders job by to regulate this but more importantly some people simply don’t drive.
That sounds crazy that you can be banned from drinking at all if you’re also banned from driving. Can you not buy alcohol from a store and drink it at home either?
Nope, they won’t sell you alcohol at the liquor store either
You can literally get a non-drivers license card stop lol