Why Has CLEAR® Plus Become So Useless?

When CLEAR® Plus was introduced, I was excited. A way to get through security even faster than TSA PreCheck® was a great idea. Not having to take out an ID and just cruise through, sign me up. I did sign up as soon as it was offered and have had it ever since. But, I find myself using it less and less. Many times I actively avoid the CLEAR® Plus lane as I know it’s going to be a pain. How has CLEAR® Plus lost its way?

CLEAR® Plus is great in theory. You go to a designated lane, scan your eyes or fingerprints, and zip through security just flashing your boarding pass. In reality, this is not the case. A lot of CLEAR employees are pretty bad. Many of them couldn’t cut it in the fast food drivethrough, so they came to work for CLEAR. They frequently stand around chatting or figuring out ways to make the line move slower. These lines are well staffed, but many of the employees stand around on their phones or doing nothing. “Oh, you’re traveling together? Let me take one of you through.” That’s if you don’t get selected for a random ID check (which is not so random when it happens more often than not). I used to be a huge fan and now find myself aggravated when I see the signs.

CLEAR got into hot water around an incident from July 2022 that called into question the security and procedure for using CLEAR® Plus at the airport. According to a Bloomberg article, CLEAR allowed a passenger to carry ammo and pass through security under a false name at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) last July. The ammunition was found when his bags were scanned at security. Police were called and they found that the man was using a false identity. CLEAR blamed the TSA and they blamed CLEAR.

The main concern seems to center around CLEAR® Plus enrollment photos clarity. Several images were not clear, focused on a chin or forehead, or had the individual wearing a mask. The CLEAR system always requires a match to boarding pass/enrollment data and when there is an issue, a manual verification is performed (similar to how the TSA manually matches IDs with faces). The TSA found nearly 49,000 CLEAR members who were flagged by facial recognition software as non-matches (about 1% of CLEAR members). After this finding, CLEAR took immediate action to end the practice that led to the human error and took corrective action to fully reenroll the small percentage of its customers enrolled under this process. In the last six months alone, the TSA has reverified 4.7 million IDs without citing a single issue.

This one incident has caused an interesting rift between the government agency and the publicly traded company. What I have always loved about CLEAR was that I could leave my ID in my wallet and quickly be waived through security. Mandatory ID checks were supposed to roll out. Those were not deemed mandatory for everyone in the end and they were meant to be random. Of my last 10 trips through the CLEAR® Plus lane, I was flagged to have my ID checked six times. That doesn’t feel random and actually has made me waste more time than just going through TSA PreCheck®. These hassles coupled with the fact that CLEAR recently raised the cost from $189 to $199 a year recently without any notice.

Several credit cards offer reimbursement and I get it complimentary for holding Delta Diamond Medallion status. If I had to pay for it, I would question doing so.

Anthony’s Take: CLEAR® Plus has lost its way and unless the line was completely empty, I will stick to the TSA PreCheck® line. CLEAR needs to get it together and show some value for its service or even those who don’t pay will opt not to use it.

(Image Credits: CLEAR.)