What ID Do I Need to Show at Hotel Check-In?

Bring the photo ID your employer issued, together with the booking confirmation that shows the staff rate. Reception usually wants your passport or another government ID next to it for the registration card.
What reception is looking for

• A valid airline or airport company ID badge with your photo on it.
• Your passport or another government issued ID.
• The booking confirmation showing the staff rate you booked.

Some properties also ask for a roster, a crew list, or a letter from your employer, and a few check again at checkout. Keep it all within reach rather than buried at the bottom of your suitcase.
Who counts as aviation staff
More people than the phrase airline ID suggests. Pilots and cabin crew, ground handling, ramp, gate and check-in agents, operations and maintenance, air traffic controllers, airport authority staff, and travel industry colleagues generally get in on the ID their employer issued.
The wording differs per hotel, so if your situation is unusual, ask the property before you book rather than at the desk at the end of a long duty. What is open to aviation staff overall is set out on our crew deals overview.
Retired colleagues
Plenty of hotels accept a retirement ID card or proof of your airline pension, while others want a current badge. It is decided per property, so ask first. Our retired aviation staff section covers what stays open to you.
What usually does not work

• An expired badge, which is the most common one we hear about.
• A boarding pass, since it proves you flew, not who you work for.
• A business card without company branding.
• A roster screenshot on its own. Some properties accept a roster alongside your badge and others do not, and the hotel page tells you per hotel what that property expects.

What happens without valid ID
The hotel can reprice your stay at the standard public rate, meaning the normal published price anyone pays, or cancel the staff booking altogether. That is the property's call, not ours, so it is worth getting the paperwork right before you travel.
The same rule at the rental counter
Car rental works on exactly the same proof: your company badge, your driving licence, and in most cases a credit card in the name of the main driver. What counts and what to bring is set out in our car rental tips and tricks, and the crew rate itself starts on the Alamo crew rate page. Save that link and the crew rate is yours on every future rental.
Your next step
Look up your property on the hotel discounts pages and read what it asks for before you travel. Aviation staff can sign up free for the complete verified list on the First Class page.
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