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Starting today, July 1st, the annual cost of a CLEAR® Plus membership has risen to $209. This is a $10 increase and the third price hike in the program’s 15-year history. Airport security technology continues to evolve and I question whether the premium service is still worth the price.
When CLEAR® Plus first launched, it promised a faster, frictionless airport experience by letting travelers skip ID checks using biometric verification. For years, that convenience made it a popular add-on for frequent flyers like me. But lately, I use it less often. The TSA PreCheck® lanes have become more efficient, especially with the rollout of TSA’s touchless ID technology (it verifies identities via facial recognition). Last year, I was calling the service useless (I’ve lightened up a bit since then).
CLEAR got in trouble in 2023 when a traveler reportedly used a false ID to bypass security at Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) and was later found to be carrying ammunition. This incident sparked a blame game between CLEAR and the TSA and raised concerns about the program’s security protocols.
For years, travelers could justify the cost thanks to perks from airline loyalty programs and credit cards. United Airlines previously offered free CLEAR® Plus memberships to Premier 1K® members for free, but that benefit ended in May. Delta Air Lines still provides the service free to Diamond Medallion members, though I wonder if it will last. On the credit card side, American Express has announced it will now cover the full $209 fee for eligible cardholders and I guess I’ll use that to keep it.
Anthony’s Take: While CLEAR® Plus can still offer a time-saving edge in certain airports and during peak travel times, the rising cost is getting harder to justify with increasingly efficient TSA lanes.
(Image Credits: CLEAR and United Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
I’ve had CLEAR since it began, and it can be really good in some airports if you travel enough, but it’s not worth it for the average passenger who flies once or twice a year to Grandma’s unless they have an Amex card that reimburses it.