Ever since air travel has recovered, there have been several developments with CLEAR that may have travelers re-evaluating if the program is worth the cost.
Up until February 2023, almost everyone could pay $119 per year for the service that allowed you to skip the TSA’s ID check.
Price Hikes
In February of this year, CLEAR raised the base membership price by $10 from $179 to $189 a year. This didn’t make much difference since most members weren’t paying full price. However general members with Delta or United who were paying $119 saw their price go to $179, a $60 increase. It doesn’t hurt as much if you have a co-brand card or any level of status with those airlines as the price went $149. That’s a $30 increase and a $40 discount.
Members with top-tier status with Delta or United still get a free CLEAR membership.
The price increase might not have been a big deal if CLEAR was delivering on its core promise of getting passengers through the checkpoint quicker.
Long Lines
Whenever we’d write about how we were able to fly through security at Orlando International Airport with CLEAR, we’d undoubtedly get a comment saying, “That’s not the case at my airport where the CLEAR lines are longer.” We used CLEAR lines at several other airports and never had more than a few people in front of us. That was, until I used CLEAR at Atlanta Airport. Sure there was a line but it wasn’t long and I was still through security in less than 15 minutes.
On our most recent trip through Atlanta, Sharon and I did an experiment. She went through the regular TSA Precheck line and I used the TSA Precheck/CLEAR line. As it turns out, she got through security a few minutes before me.
While this was our experience in Atlanta, at our home airport of Orlando the CLEAR lines are always shorter than the TSA Precheck line. However, we’ve come across a new delay recently which also eliminates a huge advantage of paying for CLEAR.
ID Checks
CLEAR members have been talking about the increased frequency of so-called “random” ID checks when using airport checkpoints. For people who use CLEAR or have been following this development, the news about having to show ID even after going through ID verification with your eyes or fingerprints isn’t a surprise.
However, the story hit the mainstream media when the Washington Post wrote an article saying “TSA to require additional screening step for some travelers at airports.” It didn’t take long to learn that “some travelers” meant people who paid for CLEAR.
A growing number of travelers enrolled in Clear’s airport screening program will undergo additional identification checks in the wake of an incident last summer that raised security concerns about the company’s process for verifying customer identities.
In the article, we see that this is going back to CLEAR’s problems with enrollments going back to last summer.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (Miss.), the ranking Democrat of the House Homeland Security Committee, applauded the TSA’s decision to require Clear customers to show identification.
“While we all want to get through airport security checkpoints quickly and efficiently, security must always be paramount,” Thompson said. “It’s clear that TSA needed to act to close this security gap.”
Fast forward a few days and the TSA spokesperson confirmed to Ben at One Mile at a Time that “All Registered Traveler participants will be required to present ID, whether physical or digital, to TSA’s Credential Authentication Technology (CAT), with the timeline for implementation to be determined.”
My question here is if there’s a question about CLEAR having accurate information about members, why are travelers being subject to multiple random screenings? Once you prove that your ID matches your eyes or fingers, isn’t the problem solved?
I’m sure that CLEAR members wouldn’t mind re-screening their biometric data if that meant they could use CLEAR as intended. But if they’re going to have to show their ID to the TSA 100% of the time, is the service worth the cost?
In addition, Sharon and I have been subject to random ID checks on about 1/2 of our trips in 2023. What about the other half? Were we OK for those flights but not for the others? While CLEAR is responsible for the security issue being investigated by the TSA and Congress, it seems like the government solution doesn’t fit the scope of the problem.
If CLEAR’s procedures were sufficient for years, why wouldn’t updating the database solve the problem? If the TSA is going to require all passengers to have an ID check, what’s the use of CLEAR besides another “skip-the-line” service?
What’s Next?
If CLEAR lines are as long as the usual TSA PreCheck line and if passengers have to regularly show their ID, what’s the reason for having CLEAR? Congress and TSA need to decide if they want to allow a third party to run a quicker, more efficient system or if they’re going to limit the service to the point where it’s no longer worth the cost.
If CLEAR lines allow you to go through security without showing ID and get through security faster, passengers will pay the cost for the service. If going through the CLEAR lanes is almost the same as the regular TSA checkpoint, is it worth the $189 yearly fee?
Maybe this is why CLEAR has been expanding its scope in recent months.
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