Questions about I.D in America

SHOVELLER

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

That's bull****. I'm 42 and live in nyc. I was last carded on Friday night in my local neighborhood. A guy in his 20s will be cardred in just about every bar he goes to and most restaurants too, bouncer or not.

Not at all. I'm the same age and been drinking in Manhattan for years and again the majority of bars there will not ask unless you look like a child.

jaymcg91

I'm 23, and I've been asked for ID in every bar I've been in the US (NY, PA, CA and FL).

Viva La Gloria

ProudDUB wrote: »

However, there are lots of bars, restaurants & nightclubs all over the US that would not normally get a lot of tourists or foreigners. Door staff, serving staff and management would not have a lot of experience with dealing with passports or non US forms of ID. So to make their life simple, they accept US issued drivers licenses, or nothing at all.

Makes sense I guess, I've had no problems with my passport in Florida or San Francisco. Same with my sister except when she went to Arizona; they wouldn't accept it in some of the bars they went into. Bit of a difference in tourist destinations I suppose!

helimachoptor

I've only been asked once in NYC, I have been to this particular bar several times during my trips, so from about 21-31 the only time i've been asked is on my most recent trip :eek:

But passport/license is needed though imo they have no idea what you hand them in a lot of cases if you have the older style licenses.

dave2pvd

It depends on many factors. Some are overriding ones though - a county or city with huge fines/penalties for underage drinking, a bar that has already had citations for underage drinking, an area that often has police checkpoints on the drive home, a nightclub that wants to be 'restrictive', a new police chief that is cracking down,....the list goes on and on.

US driver's license will work all the time. Passport will work most of the time. Newer Irish DL will work some of the time. Old pink paper Irish DL will rarely work, and rightly so.

coylemj

dave2pvd wrote: »

US driver's license will work all the time. Passport will work most of the time. Newer Irish DL will work some of the time. Old pink paper Irish DL will rarely work, and rightly so.

The only thing that is guaranteed to work is a driver's licence issued by the state you happen to be in when they ask for ID. It's been stated several times on this and other threads (discussing this topic) that occasionally an 'out of state' US driving licence will not be accepted.

I suspect that this is down to a boss who doesn't trust his staff, I have no doubt that if the local cops bust the place that a licence from another state would be acceptable but as you said, sometimes the owner can't afford to take any chances because of an aggressive enforcement policy by the local cops or he's on his last chance from the county judge.

ProudDUB

coylemj wrote: »

The only thing that is guaranteed to work is a driver's licence issued by the state you happen to be in when they ask for ID. It's been stated several times on this and other threads (discussing this topic) that occasionally an 'out of state' US driving licence will not be accepted.

I suspect that this is down to a boss who doesn't trust his staff, I have no doubt that if the local cops bust the place that a licence from another state would be acceptable but as you said, sometimes the owner can't afford to take any chances because of an aggressive enforcement policy by the local cops or he's on his last chance from the county judge.

Nope, its not about the boss not trusting his staff. It's because every single state has its own license, with its own logo and state emblem. They all look different. My Georgia DL has a big peach on the front of it. My sisters Washington DL has fir trees on it. California licenses have a bear on them, Florida's has an orange on theirs and so on. No two look alike.

It's just not feasible for door and serving staff to know what all 50 of them are supposed to look like, or whether or not an out of state license is legit, or the by product of some savvy young entrepreneur in a dorm room, with a decent printer. So they'll only accept in state licenses, as everyone will know what they are supposed to look like. The same thing happens if you are presenting a check when you are paying for something. Businesses will generally only accept them with an instate license.

Cops don't generally do busts of places, unless they are targeting bars in college towns that have a bad reputation for serving under age drinkers. Most restaurants/bars would be inspected by teams of undercover diners/drinkers who try and order booze with bogus ID and/or underage drinkers. They order a drink and then wait and see what happens. Dunno about the rest of the country, but the ATF were behind most of the prosecutions when I managed a restaurant in Atlanta. Local law enforcement pretty much took a back seat, probably because of the bad reputation it had for being horrendously corrupt. :rolleyes:

Dublinflyer

Just back from San Francisco and my new Driving Licence card worked every time.

Mars Bar

Dublinflyer wrote: »

Just back from San Francisco and my new Driving Licence card worked every time.

I had no issues with my drivers licence in Southern California either. Sometimes they'd have a look and think "should I" but then a couple of others in the group would also show theirs and they'd take it. The old licences didn't work though.

SHOVELLER

Just back from a weekend in Manhattan and wasnt carded once. Started in the Standard and a few places nearby and ended up town in the UES.

No oirish bars as usual.

Paul_Hacket

SHOVELLER wrote: »

Just back from a weekend in Manhattan and wasnt carded once. Started in the Standard and a few places nearby and ended up town in the UES.

No oirish bars as usual.

Oh, you're in your 40s and you didn't get carded? That's amazing. Definitely the twenty something OP will have no problem then.

whitey1

It really all depends......touristy type places typically card everyone. irish bars not no much. Was in Manhattan for the Mayo V New York game back in May with a bunch of fellow 40 something's....none of us were carded once and we did the rounds to put it mildly

SHOVELLER

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Oh, you're in your 40s and you didn't get carded? That's amazing. Definitely the twenty something OP will have no problem then.

I got a baby face:D

GoProGaming

Just to give a current account of i.d in las vegas.

They will accept passports anywhere, they will take your driving licence to examine it( new type and old) take out a huge i.d guidebook and check it off that. Which might i add is outdated in most casinos on the strip and only has the old paper driving licence in their guidebook. And they will not accept a lerner permit new or old. Our group of 4 got i'd alot and we are all in our mid twenties.

For the less stress and trouble just take your passport. As everyone is allowed check that. Only managers it would appear are able to verify driving licences.

InTheTrees

GoProGaming wrote: »

And they will not accept a learner permit new or old.

That made me chuckle. Considering it takes about five minutes of practice to pass an american divers license test I doubt most americans even know there's a thing called a "learners permit".

...dont start me on american drivers.

:mad:

McChubbin

Grand. Thanks for all the replies. Passport it is!