1.1K

Clear Secure, Inc. is an American technology company that operates biometric travel document verification systems at some major airports and stadiums. Its most popular concept is used at airports. With a CLEAR membership ($189 per year, although discounts are available with certain airline mileage memberships or credit cards), you’re able to skip the pre-security queue at over 50 airports in North America.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news over the past six months or so, you may have read how CLEAR has been asking random passengers to show their ID as a security measure. It happened to me, and then Joe, on separate occasions, in May of this year. It happened pretty consistently to both of us during our flights in June and July, and then didn’t happen on our most recent 2 flights in August. It turned out CLEAR had had a security breach that inadvertently led to a handful of people getting through security who shouldn’t have. TSA initially made CLEAR check the ID of every person who went through the airport checkpoint, but eventually relented and said it didn’t have to happen 100% of the time – which followed the pattern of our being asked for ID and then not.

Being asked for ID at CLEAR can slow down the queue considerably. And that’s a problem since the benefit of the program is supposed to be getting through the line quickly because they have your biometric information (via fingers and/or eye scans) on file. There’s been a time or two when we experienced the pre-security queue for CLEAR has been longer than the TSA PreCheck line and we didn’t bother using the CLEAR queue, but in some cities that’s what happens virtually all the time.

We’ve heard from friends who live in Atlanta, and those in a few other larger cities, that the CLEAR queue tends to be longer in their home airports because Delta or United have a large presence (Joe likes to say that ATL is the center of the Delta universe. And I have to agree). And because you used to get huge discounts on CLEAR for Delta or United membership (and high level medallion level can still snag you a free CLEAR membership), the queues at those hub airports are crazy long.

But then again, speaking of Atlanta, Joe and I flew out of ATL in June and we decided to have a race – one of us went on the CLEAR line and the other of us went on the PreCheck queue. Here’s what happened. (Spoiler: I won. But just by a little bit and Joe suggested it wasn’t fair because of what happened on his queue. “Yes, dear.”)

But that brings up an interesting point. TSA requirements set aside (if TSA is making demands on CLEAR, it’s most likely going to be a nationwide thing), it starts to make you wonder if there are specific airports where CLEAR tends to be useful to save you time, and others where it’s not really much of a timesaver.

Someone on Reddit decided to do an informal survey to see what other peoples’ experiences had been. These are the results (comments edited for adult language and clarity. Differing views from the same person are separated out, for clarity.):

Atlanta-Hartsfield Int’l Airport (ATL)

Note: ATL “is the center of the Delta universe” LOL

• Larger airports with separate Clear+Pre-check is where it has the most value for me. Some airports I find Clear most useful are IAD, IAH, ORD, RDU, especially ATL and MCO. — d0c241
• Definitely not ATL. Always bad with clear, pre is usually faster. — uptotheright
• There were no lines for Clear and multiple unused terminals at RDU, ATL, and MSY when I went through those airports last week. So Clear users would get through the ID checkpoint faster but then they merge into the same screening line as Precheck. — Xyzzydude
• At least 40 people deep on TSA Pre line and no one on Clear at ATL yearly morning. — hw60068n
• Clear’s completely useless in ATL — Brookwlynne1020
• Clear user here, I was just in ATL last week and the PreCheck line was empty and the Clear line was at least 10 deep — Titan5199
• ATL. 30-60 min regular precheck lines. CLEAR w/precheck gets backed up too but more like 10-20 mins. — tilthouse

Austin-Bergstrom Int’l Airport (AUS)

• I love it at the Austin airport. Always a huge difference to precheck & non precheck line — Ktrinh518
• Clear is very helpful at Austin — 312midwestgirl
• (in response to avoice) Came here to say this! — nyssa1231
• In my experience smaller airports like AUS where Clear mixes pre-check and non pre-check can often get backed up to the point where it is not worth it. — d0c241
• MCO and Austin Bergstrom. Too many people have tsa-pre there but not as many have both tsa pre and clear in my experience — 312midwestgirl
• AUS is always faster using clear. Of course we initially got it in order to make a flight, overall I like having it. I think “I’m late for my flight” represents 80% of their initial signups. Maybe more — dingleberriesalamode

Baltimore/Washington Int’l Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)

• BWI. Was on a flight a couple of weeks ago at 5:30 am. Clear was instant, PreCheck was 20 minutes — manbuckets2001

Boston Logan Int’l Airport (BOS)

Note: BOS is a Delta hub

• I’ve had very good luck with clear in boston. — kippsters93
• I love CLEAR at BOS — mct601
• I’ve had it save time at BOS and SFO…. But they “randomly” select me for ID check every time. — dante662
• It’s great at Logan — 5thatdude5
• We were in Boston recently and worried about missing our flight, and my husband was like, “I’ll take the kids through Clear and run for the gate,” but boop, I was through Pre-Check more quickly than they were through Clear. Definitely didn’t inspire me to shell out the bucks for Clear. — sok283

Bradley Int’l Airport (BDL)

• Just saved my a$$ at BDL this week! — superstu321

Chicago O’Hare Int’l Airport (ORD)

Note: ORD is a United hub

• Clear is useless at ORD if you have Precheck. The Precheck line rarely takes more than 5-10 minutes. — nancybessandgeorge
• (in response to the above) Agreed and depending on the TSA agent, some make the clear precheck customers queue up before they let them through processing precheck folks while the queuing happens which creates a backlog at the kiosks — GEWINNT
• I’ve got to the front of the precheck line with Clear at ORD multiple times. Even if it saves me 5-10 minutes I find it useful, especially since my AMEX pays for it — stevie_nickle
• There’s not so much a “front” anymore, at least in T1. TSApre feeds into two or three booths of which the last one turn by turn takes pre/CLEAR. So while you get a bit ahead, it’s not as much as it used to be. This has been my experience in the last month. Again, T1. — DeMantis86
• Hit or miss. On Mondays, clear + pre check can be faster. Agreed most times it’s not — peteranguyen
• Terminal 1 at ORD was a disaster area this AM for pre check.
  Line was snaking out into the baggage check area, looked halfway to regular security.
  I walked over to terminal 2, through in 5 mins. Back to terminal 1 and the club for some preflight oatmeal and e-mails in no time
  But agree, pre check is usually no time at all for terminal 1/2. — Jc862
• Larger airports with separate Clear+Pre-check is where it has the most value for me. Some airports I find Clear most useful are IAD, IAH, ORD, RDU, especially ATL and MCO. — d0c241
• ORD is another place it comes in handy, but only during high traffic times. — luouixv
• Clear saved my a$$ twice for a domestic connection coming from Europe in ORD. Had to switch terminals and go through security again, would have definitely missed both flights if I didn’t have Clear. Not having to wait an hour in line after a 14h flight was nice too! — milkshakeguy
• super slow process for me at ORD– Ok_Reply3402

Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airport (CLE)

• CLE – I waited in precheck as about 25 people went through clear. — RABIB_ANTI_DENTITE_

Dallas-Ft. Worth Int’l Airport (DFW)

• It’s useless out if DFW unless you fly out of terminal E. (Delta) — Skyclub66
• i used it at DFW and it was super smooth and quick. — Ok_Reply3402

Denver Int’l Airport (DEN)

Note: DEN is a United hub

• CLEAR queue was slower than the Precheck lanes. When it gets busy DEN opens more Precheck lines. I assume Clear will only ever have access to one line at each airport. TSA was actually scolding Clear people for jumping over to one of the Precheck bag lines. — fromprefect
• Definitely not DEN these days. Regularly longer than the PreCheck line. But obviously faster than the normal TSA line. — Global Serviced
• I have had clear since 2019 and it’s crazy to me how it just stopped being faster at DEN. I feel like they did multiple rearrangements to try to make it better and it just got worse and worse.
  The last few times I went through on a busy morning I watched someone in clear while I went straight through precheck. They maybe moved up 4 people in a line of more than 100 while I went through the entire line and was up at the ID readers in the same time. — ff45727
• Last time I flew through Denver 50+ people in CLEAR and zero in PreCheck. I did a double take…was I missing something?!? — dc_based_traveler
• Yea clear with precheck used to be much faster at DEN but now everyone is funneled into north security. It’s much faster to go through precheck now. — Winter_elephant9792
• I really feel that DEN depends on the time of day. I almost always have early morning flights and clear has always been faster for me with the exception of a single time where it was the exact same speed. — DrRockstar99
• (in response to above) This is exactly my experience, too. Clear actually is faster most of the time at DEN despite what people claim. — ry_mitch
• TSA/clear at Denver have access to, I believe, 5 security lanes. You are allowed and encouraged to use any security lane after you’ve gone through the clear personnel and TSA agent checking boarding passes. During busy days it is extremely helpful. — luouixv
• During off peak times Clear’s not useful. — luouixv
• I’ve had really great luck breezing through at DEN and MSY. Got through in 5-7 minutes (including Clear and TSA Pre time) vs normal TSA Pre and non TSA pre lines — PeopleAreSus
• I’ve given up using Clear at DEN. The line is always, always longer with Clear then pre check. — Bandaidken

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

• DTW at the North Terminal for sure — fst47

Dulles Int’l Airport (IAD)

Note: IAD is a United hub

• Larger airports with separate Clear+Pre-check is where it has the most value for me. Some airports I find Clear most useful are IAD, IAH, ORD, RDU, especially ATL and MCO. — d0c241
• IAD clear has always been extremely quick for me — snakemeista
• Pre checkis 90% of the time faster then CLEAR for me at IAD. They only have one lane and lately it’s always totally wrapped out. Meanwhile precheck has multiple lanes and you don’t need to wait for the “escort” like you do with Clear. — miruolan
• Agreed on IAD, Clear is usually faster unless there is no line at precheck. — WMEugene
• It’s good at IAD but half the time pre is just as good on Fridays. I always scope it out now before getting in the clear line after watching pre checks walk right up to the TSA agent while I was waiting in a line for a Clear employee — Churro_Pete
• It has been helpful at IAD but not much faster than Precheck. — PeloHiker

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int’l Airport (FLL)

• my last flight out of FLL it was useful– artikra1n

George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)

Note: IAH is a United hub

• If it’s a busy time and you are in terminal c then it can be longer than that in tsa pre. Still, never been longer than a 5-10 minute difference. — StupidSexyFlagella
• CLEAR is absolutely useful at IAH, especially terminal C. — JohnTheRaceFan
• IAH is my home airport and Clear is alwaysa good experience for me. Staff is polite and the line is very quick. — hollyliz_tx
• seconding clear at IAH — Lintobean
• Larger airports with separate Clear+Pre-check is where it has the most value for me. Some airports I find Clear most useful are IAD, IAH, ORD, RDU, especially ATL and MCO. — d0c241
• IAH. But it depends on how busy it is. If very busy, it helps a lot. — Tonyman121
• I’ll say that for the most part, it’s been useless at IAH terminal C. Friend who has precheck and I who have clear and precheck made it out same time. Now CLEAR and precheck use the same security lines in terminal C vs regular security which is always packed. — illegalmexican97

Harry Reid Int’l Airport (LAS)

• Clear’s a nice time saver at LAS — goamash
• Clear leaving Las Vegas is faster than precheck — Aaronalpine

John F. Kennedy Int’l Airport (JFK)

Note: JFK is a Delta hub

• JFK terminal 4 is the only time I’ve thought clear was more beneficial than precheck. The precheck line was probably 30 min and clear 15 min.– meg09002
• I have found it very useful at JFK T4. I can’t disagree with the comments about employees being slow, but it does end up getting me through faster than the Precheck only line. It has really come in handy when I’m in a rush, although that’s admittedly my own fault. — artikra1n

John Glenn Columbus Int’l Airport (CMH)

• The most recent experience that I’ve had was at Columbus, where the dedicated lines did really make a difference. — artikra1n
• Only clear at CMH and I get to airport 20 min before boarding. Check bag and get to terminal during pre boards every time. — Brookelynne1020

Los Angeles Int’l Airport (LAX)

Note: LAX is both a Delta & United hub

• LAX is the only airport where it saves me time. Not sure why there seem to be fewer members there than other places, but the Clear line is usually empty when I’m coming through — RelevantShock
• CLEAR at LAX as of late May in Tom Bradley was terrific for me. I do have Global Entry/TSA Precheck. — ekittie

Louis Armstrong New Orleans Int’l Airport (MSY)

• I’ve had really great luck breezing through at DEN and MSY. Got through in 5-7 minutes (including Clear and TSA Pre time) vs normal TSA Pre and non TSA pre lines — PeopleAreSus
• Clear at MSY is great — uptotheright
• There were no lines for Clear and multiple unused terminals at RDU, ATL, and MSY when I went through those airports last week. So Clear users would get through the ID checkpoint faster but then they merge into the same screening line as Precheck. — Xyzzydude

Milwaukee Mitchell Int’l Airport (MKE)

• At MKE, where Clear is pretty new, I’ve been the only person in the line multiple times. I’d say a 10-15 minute savings over regular screening and 5-10 minute over PreCheck. — 17roarer

Nashville Int’l Airport (BNA)

• Have it. Based on BNA. It is rarely faster than PreCheck. — petron5000
• For BNA, precheck has always been faster for sure. — dcgirl98

Newark-Liberty Int’l Airport (EWR)

Note: EWR is a United hub

• my buddy got through regular precheck about 15 minutes faster than the Clear line. — frodprefect
• I have rarely ever seen Clear at EWR be quicker than regular precheck, it’s either slower or the same. — ACrispPickle
• EWR is wild. It does depend on how long the pre-check is vs how many Clear staff they have. The Clear line could look short but if there’s only 1-2 Clear reps forget it. — dcgirl98
• There have been times where Clear was faster and vice Vera’s. — dcgirl98
• I think your departure terminal matters too. I’ve never seen a long pre-check line in term A. — dcgirl98
• really depends on the time of day/week/season and the terminal. I’ve never waited in line for clear at terminal C. — EquivalentChoice8450
• At terminal A I’ve been in a deep line that was just at long as the normal precheck. — EquivalentChoice8450
• Weird – I go through ewr 3-4x a year and clear is always faster for me than pre. — uptotheright
• The new A is a good exception, clear is always quick there. — ACrispPickle
• the last time I flew out of EWR (in July, EWR -> YVR on air canada), Clear was significantly faster than pre-check (we have precheck) to the point where the people in the pre-check line was getting upset. It wasn’t even a long line, maybe 10-15 people, but the clear and precheck line converged, and they seemed to be pushing through way more clear people to the TSA agent than pre-check. It still only took like 10 or 15 minutes but was just annoying seeing multiple groups of CLEAR passengers going through for every precheck group — JJJ54321
• I’ve experienced EWR with a super long Clear line (and a super long TSA pre line too). I still like it because it’s helpful on non-business flight routes when you tend to have a lot of infrequent flyers who are far slower through security lines and tend to travel with lots of little kids — SummerInPhilly
• EWR in the mornings have been useful and let me skip the TSA line. Afternoon, all bets are off. — RobinKennedy23
• (In response to above) Depends on terminal and time and how busy things are. Sometimes tsa one is faster by like a minute or so. Sometimes clear is faster. It’s a hit or miss. — fludgesickles
• Have never thought it was worth it at EWR. Depending on what time of day and terminal you fly out of at EWR a lot of times Clear isn’t even open/available — meg09002
• Ewr is notorious for the slow a$$ clear line… I always go through clear knowing damn well I should just do normal pre check. — KamKorn
• (In response to the above) Same. Most of the time the identity check doesn’t work and I spend more time with the 1 agent who is helping 4 Clear people. But I do look at the length of the TSA Pre line. — dcgirl98
• I’m EWR based and the CLEAR line is almost always shorter and usually significantly so. What times are others flying that they see this? I’m almost always morning flights. — Chayes83
• I will say this, Clear at the new EWR Terminal A did save me about 3 weeks ago when I was trying to get back to TX. Precheck was closed already, but Clear was still open/pretty quiet and saved me a 45 minute wait in the consolidated security line. In Terminal C it is a waste of time lately. It’s also nice not to have to pull out my ID and then get it tucked away before putting my bags on the conveyor. — tfti_mary
• At EWR, I only had clear and my friend had precheck. During thanksgiving week, my friend beat me by a good 5 minute margin clearing security. — illegalmexican97

Miami Int’l Airport (MIA)

• Clear’s a big help at MIA. — goamash
• Definitely MIA. Holy moly what’s disaster of a TSA line. — Bob 815

Orlando Int’l Airport (MCO)

• MCO – normal tsa line has a crazy line with families clogging it up. Clear let’s you zip past those tired looking fathers. — Zealousideal_Hat3896
• It’s godsend flying out of Orlando — CO_Guy95
• I see a few of these comments but I fly out of MCO about twice a month and have never seen pre take more than 5 minutes. I’ve been beaten by those I’m traveling with without clear (just pre) multiple times. — NeededANewName
• Orlando is the only airport I’ve ever found it useful at. But I was thankful I had it that day. — doggsofdoom
• Larger airports with separate Clear+Pre-check is where it has the most value for me. Some airports I find Clear most useful are IAD, IAH, ORD, RDU, especially ATL and MCO. — d0c241
• 100% Orlando is the model for how it should work. — MaD__HuNGaRIaN
• MCO and Austin Bergstrom. Too many people have tsa-pre there but not as many have both tsa pre and clear in my experience — 312midwestgirl

Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport (PHX)

• It was useful for me at my most recent trip at PHX on a Sunday afternoon (when everyone wants to go back home). I’d go insofar as to say it saved me. TSA precheck only had one agent and line was pretty backed up, still not as bed as the regular non-tsa-precheck line tho tbf. — SuperChicken1994

Raleigh-Durham Int’l Airport (RDU)

• Larger airports with separate Clear+Pre-check is where it has the most value for me. Some airports I find Clear most useful are IAD, IAH, ORD, RDU, especially ATL and MCO. –d0c241
• There were no lines for Clear and multiple unused terminals at RDU, ATL, and MSY when I went through those airports last week. So Clear users would get through the ID checkpoint faster but then they merge into the same screening line as Precheck. — Xyzzydude

Reagan National Airport (DCA)

• Clear is usually faster unless there is no line at precheck. — rsc99
• At DCA, the precheck line has gotten significantly faster than Clear. — PeloHiker
• Clear’s pretty good at DCA — Churro_Pete
• DCA. I had a connecting flight through DCA recently where getting clear set up (hadn’t bothered yet because didn’t see the benefit) was at least 30 minutes faster than standing in line.
  I boarded my connecting flight 2 minutes after scheduled doors closing somehow. Never had a chance if I hadn’t gotten clear set up. — Berchanhimez

Salt Lake City Int’l Airport (SLC)

• Last time we departed SLC we realized my wife’s precheck expired and so she has to go through the “non Precheck Clear” line, and beat me through security by quite a few minutes. To the point that next time I’ll prob go to that line myself. — Wbmerrell
• It makes sense, most people that have Clear also have precheck, so that line can get long, but the regular Clear line was empty. — Wbmerrell
• I dropped CLEAR and I live and use the SLC airport. It has ZERO effect on the root mission of its existence, which is make your Security check through seamless, smooth and quick. TSAPrecheck was just as fast and on a few occasions it was actually faster. — Ecstatic-Abroad-5699
• My buddy is based in SLC. Swears by Clear there – says it lets him avoid the stroller gridlock of pre-check! — doc_ocho
• Random but I was at SLC yesterday and there was zero wait for clear. — ssw77

San Antonio Int’l Airport (SAT)

• Clear is good most of the time at SAT. — Churro_Pete

San Diego Int’l Airport (SAN)

• I flew out of San Diego yesterday and my Pre-check line took about 45 minutes, meanwhile Clear looked like it was about 5-10 minutes. Now maybe that was abnormal because of everyone getting out of town due to the hurricane coming, I’m not sure. – mblaster
• San Diego. You basically walk by the entire pre line. Although you have to go “excuse me, sorry, excuse me” to get there when it’s busy. — DeMantis86

San Francisco Int’l Airport (SFO)

Note: SFO is a United hub

• Clear’s usually faster, but not by a lot depending on traffic — sfsmea21
• (in response to the above) This is not true anymore, at least in terminal 3. They alternate between clear and precheck customers. Clear is almost never faster — Umichfan1234
• I fly weekly for work through SFO T3 and still find that clear is usually a little better. It’s definitely a boon in the other terminals, and the international terminal even moreso. — itsNUTSS
• The funny thing is if you ask people they THINK the Clear line is faster. But watch someone get in the Precheck line at the same time as you they always get through faster. Every time. At least for SFO terminal 3. — No_Cheesecake2150
• When I walk in the door and see the Precheck Clear line stretch 30 people deep I walk over to terminal 2 and get through in 30 seconds. — Reddinoob789
• Not SFO. The Clear + PreCheck line is usually the slowest line at SFO. I have not been there a single day in the past year when Clear had enough staff. They always have a line that goes past where the bathrooms on the right are, and so slow. — No_Cheesecake2150
• It’s fast at SFO. — octopusdna
• Airport experience at SFO was just awful, and while I had GE/Pre, my coworkers went through regular TSA (no Clear) and got finished before I did Clear and Pre. The machines at Clear said I wasn’t a paid member, when I had proof on the Clear app showed it, and it took multiple attempts with my iris scans and fingerprints to work. Even asking customer service to just start me with a clean slate, they didn’t do a damn thing. — GrumpyBachelorSF
• Clear used be amazing!! Especially at SFO prior to Harvey Milk terminal being built, now it’s same or even longer — Skyclub66
• Useful at SFO in the mornings when precheck is busy. — cherryblossommochi
• IME both SEA and SFO have CLEAR+PreCheck lines that are faster than regular PreCheck — heliotropic

Seattle-Tacoma Int’l Airport (SEA)

• Flying out of SEA, I can tell you that Clear is much better than Pre-Check. It took me about 3 minutes with Clear, while it took about 10 for my son with Pre-Check. And when you have the cruises in town, Clear is the way to go. — triphawk07
• SEA is the reason I got CLEAR. Security has always been the worst at sea-tac and clear prevented me from missing a few flights out of there. — calbear011011
• Everybody in Seattle seems to have Precheck and Clear is a huge advantage. — sunshine5634
• IME both SEA and SFO have CLEAR+PreCheck lines that are faster than regular PreCheck — heliotropic
• SEA 100%. Although I double dip with PreCheck. Has saved my a$$ on a few early morning flights before. — jschiefe27
• The only place it’s significantly helped me is Seattle. — Tonberry_Slayer

St. Louis Lambert Int’l Airport (STL)

• Only place I truly saw Clear being “useful” was recently in STL where regular TSA had only 2 agents checking IDs and boarding passes during an afternoon rush.
  A Clear employee was pitching Clear to the TSA line and found someone who was worried about missing their flight, got them out of line, signed them up at their airport kiosk, and got them past the line. By the time she finished signing up, TSA brought in 2 more ID checkers and I think she saved somewhere around 10-15 mins. — Notrebletrekker

Will Rogers World Airport (OKC)

• A little random, but OKC. Every time I needed to fly out there, there were 5 or 6 agents waiting to pounce and speed you through, and always faster than Precheck. It’s the base of a major FAA/ATC training center so maybe they have higher Ops quality control because senior management is often in town. — MoSQL

Well, although we didn’t hit every airport that offers CLEAR, there were opinions on 33 of the 51 airports where CLEAR has a presence.

These are, of course, all anecdotal experiences. Day of the week, time of day, whether or not someone was at the airport during a holiday, how crowded the airport was, how well CLEAR and TSA was staffed that particular moment, what terminal you’re in, if you’re comparing the time you wait to the PreCheck queue vs. the regular queue, etc., will all have a bearing on an individual’s experience at any given airport queue. Still, it might be helpful as a general guide.

Interesting random comments about CLEAR

While going through peoples’ comments, a few came up that weren’t about CLEAR at specific airports per se, but just comments about CLEAR in general. Some of them are kind of obvious 😉 (yes, we know CLEAR’s just out there to make a profit), but others make a little more sense:

• The idea behind clear is good. It’s implemented bad and is slower than everything else on a per person basis. So it only works because not many use it. More use it and it’ll be slower. It is fixable. Automateable — Idratherhikeout
• My personal opinion is that it’s worth it purely for peace of mind. I never have to worry about whether security might be backed up, and even though it’s usually not a long line, you don’t have to risk it.
  I used to pay for clear, but now get it for free with a hotel branded credit card. I would pay for it though, just so I can show up to the airport 20 minutes later and be assured that there won’t be any surprises. — Bai_Cha
• Clear is private company making profits — NewPannam1
• (In reply to the above) Great insight here. — ry_mich
• I think Clear’s usefulness is more on a situational/seasonal basis than by specific airport. For instance, with an SFO home base, I generally find Clear faster during peak vacation times when so many unorganized families with their children and strollers end up getting randomly selected for a Precheck trial (then of course end up in the line in front of me). However, on a random Tuesday morning in October when it’s primarily experienced business travelers… Precheck without Clear seems to flow better. — HoytAdam
• that’s the nature of clear, as long as they keep giving out free trials and giving it free to 1k members, there’s going to be too many people going through for it to be beneficial in most places. — ACrispPickle
• Clear is a bizarrely awful inefficient product/service mostly hampered by insufficient staffing levels (too bad it’s impossible to be able to determine almost exactly how many travelers there will be on any given day). Free is about the correct cost. Anything more than free a no go — dbf651
• I gave clear a try and found it not the least bit helpful. Like you I didn’t renew. — are_we_there_yet
• I dropped CLEAR and I live and use the SLC airport. It has ZERO effect on the root mission of its existence, which is make your Security check through seamless, smooth and quick. TSAPrecheck was just as fast and on a few occasions it was actually faster. It gives the impression that the only benefit CLEar HAS AND DOES is move you in a line…….If there is a line, but that line is never that cumbersome so Isee ity as a company who has found a way to make money by having people think…join and we’ll make it a great experience for you when all it does, again, is simply move your physical body in a line, TSA changed nothing with CLEAR, and until I can pass TSA and not just a place in line, then it’s a waste of money even if the CC is paying for it (Not all either and not indef). — Ecstatic_Abroad_5699
• It’s my experience that what is hindering clear is the staff — Extension-Size815
• It’s very situational. The same airport will be much different based on day of week and time of day. Just eyeball the length of both lines. Clear needs to be about 50% the length or less of precheck to be faster. — ThebigalAZ
• for those Clear folks out there, please, by all means, keep queuing at Clear and stay out of my way! — AskDenver
• I treat Clear as an emergency backup. When PreCheck is 30-40 minutes long on the rare days, Clear will be faster. But on any normal day I use whichever line that’s closer to me… — tristan-chord
• If you do not have precheck, Clear is helpful to jump to the front of the regular line. — ralph99_3690
• CLEAR is most helpful when their scanning podiums are almost immediately at the front of the line near the TSA agent. The longer they have to walk individual people back and forth to vouch for them, the slower all scanning is. — aphasial
• (In reply to the above) That’s the set up at EWR term C but it can still be very slow because it’s usually 1 agent to multiple passengers. — dcgirl98
• If you want to pay a premium for a “faster” line just do precheck. It’s cheaper than Clear and in more airports. Pretty much all of them. Clear also has hours of operation. I’ve seen them literally closed. I’m in a major world city so I benefit from pretty much every service available but Clear is only ever open half the time it feels like. — RiversideAviator
• Isn’t clear just another shakedown, this time by private industry, rather than the TSA Pre shakedown that we already paid for?
  Then the airlines want to charge you a premium to board in time to place your bag in an overhead, charge you extra to have place for your legs, on and on and on.
  And we suckers just lap it up. — ProgrammerTough1606
• (In reply to this) Absolutely this, I’m betting some lawmakers are getting big kickbacks from Clear. It’s a scam. Gov’t puts a barrier in place, and then grants a private company sole rights to bypass those barriers and make money. — Joey__Stalin
• If you have precheck, you’ll find that 75% of the time you don’t need it. But for that 25%, I’m grateful I have it.
  I’ll also say, I never have to worry about a long security line when I’m traveling in the US.
  But I agree, it’s hard to see the difference most of the time. Before United and Amex gave it away for free, it was amazing. Definitely felt the impact every time flew. But like every other perk — lounge access, United status, etc — too many people have it for it to be the hallelujah we want it to be. — earthgirls22

That last one? 100% spot on.

For Joe and I, MCO is our home airport and, as others said earlier in the post, CLEAR can be a huge timersaver, especially if you don’t have PreCheck. If you do have PreCheck, the time on the two queues is probably about the same. That being said, we avoid airports like the plague during holiday seasons, when having CLEAR might make a significant difference in how long you wait, due to crowds.

What do you think? Where has CLEAR been useful to you? Not useful?

Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.

Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.

Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary