We really mean it this time: Real ID becomes mandatory at U.S. airports on October 1, 2021.

We know. Americans have heard this warning before. A perennial victim of politics and pandemics since the formulation of the Real ID Act in 2005, the deadline has been announced, delayed, re-announced, and re-delayed. After all that folderol, you'd be forgiven if you thought it didn't matter.

Read more at Frommer's.