5

http://wikitravel.org/en/Massachusetts says:

Many establishments in Boston and Cape Cod will not serve to out of state visitors under 25. Get a Liquor ID, a state ID card available to non-residents from the Registry of Motor Vehicles if you'll be in the area for awhile, costs $25 for five years of validity. Note that under Massachusetts law, the only acceptable proofs of age for purchase of alcoholic beverages are the Massachusetts driver's license and the RMV Liquor ID card. Out-of-state driver's licenses, and even passports, are not acceptable.".

However, I heard that the Massachusetts Liquor ID is not always accepted as a proof of age (entrance to nightclubs/bars or buying alcohol at liquor stores). How likely is it?

hippietrail
  • 79,417
  • 54
  • 271
  • 625
Franck Dernoncourt
  • 57,214
  • 30
  • 185
  • 366
  • 3
    This isn't a question about travelling. – hippietrail Dec 15 '13 at 02:17
  • A few months ago you saw and even tweeted a question on the same topic and didn't say anything: What kind of ID does the US accept when visiting bars or drinking age events?... and the questions got heavily upvoted. – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 15 '13 at 02:25
  • Well that one was obviously a foreigner travelling to the US. Your question is about a person from Massachusetts going drinking in "businesses". If you're going on a trip to somewhere specific in the US and don't know if you're ID will be accepted there you should include that info. – hippietrail Dec 15 '13 at 02:32
  • 4
    A Liquor ID implies by no mean I'm from MA. E.g. :http://wikitravel.org/en/Massachusetts: "Many establishments in Boston and Cape Cod will not serve to out of state visitors under 25. Get a Liquor ID, a state ID card available to non-residents from the Registry of Motor Vehicles if you'll be in the area for awhile, costs $25 for five years of validity. Note that under Massachusetts law, the only acceptable proofs of age for purchase of alcoholic beverages are the Massachusetts driver's license and the RMV Liquor ID card. Out-of-state driver's licenses, and even passports, are not acceptable.". – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 15 '13 at 02:37
  • 3
    The more of these sentences you put into your question along with the single vague sentence so far, the better your question is going to do. The less effort you put into your question the less effort people will feel like contributing to an answer. – hippietrail Dec 15 '13 at 02:41
  • I value conciseness. As currently stated, the question seems crystal clear to me, except the kind of businesses where I need the proof of age, which I have just added. If the question is unclear for you, please let me know. – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 15 '13 at 02:46
  • 3
    Well I didn't vote the question down and I didn't vote to close it, I'm just trying to help you understand why it hasn't been well received here. – hippietrail Dec 15 '13 at 03:35
  • 4
    +1 if only people would focus more on answering questions. This question is on topic and @FranckDernoncourt is right similar questions are abundant. People it is almost christmas and time to get rid of the pedantic filters. –  Dec 15 '13 at 13:03
  • This question appears to be off-topic because it is about buying liquor. – DJClayworth Dec 15 '13 at 21:22
  • @DJClayworth Buying liquor is just one use. It can be useful for other things such as going to nightclubs. Also, I'm confused: you said that the question is off-topic, but the question was put on hold because it is "unclear". So, is it off-topic, unclear or both? – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 16 '13 at 02:45
  • @hippietrail Thanks for the concern. Can you please expand what do you think the question is vague? – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 16 '13 at 02:48
  • @FranckDernoncourt When people vote to close a question for different reasons, the reason displayed is the one chosen by the majority of voters. – LessPop_MoreFizz Dec 17 '13 at 04:46
  • @LessPop_MoreFizz ok thanks. Was the question unclear to you, if so how can I clarify it? – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 17 '13 at 04:58
  • 2
    A good start would be to incorporate the significant amount of clarifying info you included in your first few comments. – LessPop_MoreFizz Dec 17 '13 at 05:11
  • @LessPop_MoreFizz Thanks, done. Is it clear now? – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 17 '13 at 05:20
  • 2
    To me it still sounds unclear/unanswerable. What kind of answer do you expect? 20% of bars do not accept it? This is not a statistics website. The conclusion would be that this piece of ID is only accepted in some places, but we do not really know which? To me, while the topic is valid, I do not see the relevance of the question. Asking 'what ID is a definitive accepted proof of age to buy alcohol in Massachusetts' accompanied with your worries would make way more sense to me. – Vince Dec 17 '13 at 08:45
  • @Vince For "what ID is a definitive accepted proof of age to buy alcohol in Massachusetts" there is none as the business owner ultimately has the last word (e.g. if he thinks the ID isn't yours, you're screwed whatever the ID is). Also I'm only interested to know about the Liquor ID anyway. What I would like to know is a rough idea: is having one's Liquor ID ignored extremely rare or commonly happens? Based on what criteria? Are there tricks to increase chance of acceptation? Etc. Any information related to Liquor ID + entrance to nightclubs/bars or buying alcohol at liquor stores interest me. – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 17 '13 at 15:12
  • @Vince (one example of approximation is what you said: http://travel.stackexchange.com/a/10949/1810 "As a French native, I discovered this practice in North America. I never asked for a doggy bag in France, nor have I seen someone do it. So it is likely restaurants don't even have boxes.") – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 17 '13 at 15:14
  • Obviously if you want to cover all edge cases this will not be a good question, this is not about fraud. 2. :) the difference between these two questions is that the one you mention is clearer than yours right now, no one said you need an authoritative answer but you need a precise and answerable question. 3. If your question is about what ID will get the more chances to be accepted, ask that. We had a lot of answers without an authoritative answer saying 'in my experience, it should work this way, but you're never too cautious, anticipate it works this way'.
    • – Vince Dec 17 '13 at 15:51
  • In any country in any bar I have never seen any definitive or authoritative rule to have a specific ID to enter. Every bar bouncer might anyway refuse you whatever your ID is. Some will consider any ID is fine. To be honest, I entered bars in Boston without any state ID, I only had national foreign ID or passport and it worked (and I was under 25). So most likely you worry too much. If that is a really big deal, just get all those IDs (driver's license, liquor ID, passport) and you are pretty sure one will get you in. – Vince Dec 17 '13 at 15:55
  • @Vince 1. What do you mean by "cover all edge cases" and "this is not about fraud."? 2. My precise question is "How often do businesses refuse Massachusetts Liquor ID as a proof of age? (entrance to nightclubs/bars or buying alcohol at liquor stores)." 3. I'm only interested to know about the Liquor ID. How many times do I have to repeat myself?? Now since you seem to be French I'm going to give you an example of answer for Paris: in Paris, the national identity card is proof of age that will be accepted by any nightclub unless you're a 12 year-old kid who borrowed his father's ID. – Franck Dernoncourt Dec 30 '13 at 03:31