Traveler discovers that COVID vaccine certificate can also function as an identity document

Article content

All Wayne Moser wanted was to catch a flight to Thunder Bay to see his elderly in-laws.

Article content

The 66-year-old Calgarian retiree was at the airport last week with a boarding pass on his phone for a WestJet flight from Calgary to Thunder Bay. But when the airline employee at the gate checked his driver’s license, she discovered that the document had expired two weeks earlier.

“They don’t tell you that your driver’s license is up for renewal,” Moser said in a call with the National Post. “It is a period of five years. That’s when they caught me.”

The gate attendant told Moser he couldn’t use an expired photo ID to board, so he dug through his wallet and came out with his Alberta health card, Alberta Blue Cross and some credit cards. But that wasn’t good enough either.

“She said it wouldn’t work,” Moser recalled.

Article content

Then she asked if he had his passport. “My passport is at home because I’m flying in Canada,” he said. “Why bring my passport?”

It seemed like he was out of options, until the attendant said there was one more thing. “I said what is this? She said do you have your COVID vaccine card?

He didn’t do that. Moser, like most people, got the vaccine, but because proof of vaccination is no longer required for travel, he no longer had the paperwork.

“Six months before all this I was looking at my cell phone and I saw that photo of my vaccination certificate and I got rid of it”, he recalled. “I thought, what do I need this for?”

But it turns out that even an old COVID vaccine certificate can double as a government-issued ID (or, as Moser cheekily put it, “a get-out-of-jail-free card”) if other options fail.

Article content

A WestJet representative told the Post: “Guests traveling domestically within Canada may board with two valid, non-photo identification documents issued by a Canadian federal, provincial or territorial government, both of which must include your name and at least one of which must include your date of birth.

She continued: “A vaccination certificate qualifies for use as a form of non-photo government-issued identification as long as it includes the guest’s name as written on their boarding pass.”

Most Canadians will not meet this requirement, as most travelers will carry photo identification in the form of an (unexpired) driver’s license, passport, or NEXUS card.

Article content

Moser was unfortunate to have none of that. And of the other personal identification, the Alberta health card does not have a photo (in fact it is still issued on paper), the Blue Cross card is not issued by the government and neither are credit cards.

“I was totally shocked,” he said. “I’m just a regular guy trying to get to Thunder Bay. I haven’t seen (my wife’s) parents since before COVID, and they’re in their nineties. Did I miss the opportunity to see them? I don’t know.”

Moser’s wife ended up flying to Thunder Bay without him. He asked WestJet to refund the return portion of the ticket, but after the service fees ended up with a credit of just $39.

Moser says he will fly WestJet again on a trip to Hawaii in November. “If this comes out, maybe they’ll blacklist me, I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. “Or maybe they’ll feel really bad and give me a free flight.”

One thing is certain is that when he shows up for that trip he will have his passport in hand. And your updated driver’s license, just in case. “I already have my new one.”

Our site is the place for breaking news, exclusives, longreads, and thought-provoking commentary. Bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

Article content