After applying for my Real I.D. at the local AAA office, the permanent license arrived less than a week later! That surprised me. However, in looking it over, I could see very little, if any, significant difference between the new & the old. So how do you know you've actually got a "REAL ID" or not? Searching online for the answer led to zilch. I had no clue what I was holding in my hand, so I emailed AAA and got this response:

"Your license will look similar to a standard, but the REAL ID has a star on the top right corner. Also, your temp license should read Real Credential in the red rectangle on the paper copy."

Low & behold! Yep.....mine has the star, so I guess I can walk into a Federal Building now and not get arrested. (Not saying that they won't arrest me for something else however!) Figured some/all of you might like to know this.