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CLEAR keeps getting pricier, while many travelers find that the time savings keep going down.
CLEAR last raised rates on 8/1/24 and they will raise them again on 7/1/25.
Until January 2023, anyone with a mileage account could enroll for $119 for the primary member, and additional members were $60, so a couple would pay $179. Just two and a half years later, it would cost that same couple $324, a whopping 81% increase. Sadly, the service is also less useful than it was back then.
- CLEAR Plus currently costs:
- $199/year for general members.
- $189/year for United and Delta non-elite members.
- $159/year for United and Delta cardholders and Silver/Gold/Platinum elite members.
- $129/year for United 1K elites.
- $119/year for family members booked through a CLEAR member’s account.
- $119/year for federal, state, and local government employees, as well as active duty military and veterans.
- $0 for United Global Services elites and Delta Diamond/360 elites.
- As of 7/1, the new rates will be:
- $209/year for general members.
- $199/year for United and Delta non-elite members.
- $169/year for United and Delta cardholders and Silver/Gold/Platinum elite members.
- $129/year for United 1K elites.
- $125/year for family members booked through a CLEAR member’s account.
- $119/year for federal, state, and local government employees, as well as active duty military and veterans.
- $0 for United Global Services elites and Delta Diamond/360 elites.
The AMEX Business Platinum Card, The Platinum Card® from American Express, AMEX Green Card, and Hilton Aspire Card will increase their $199 annual credit for CLEAR to $209 on 7/1.
A CLEAR Plus member can add up to 3 adults for $125 each, which can also be covered by those cards. Kids under 18 can go with their parents for free without a membership or biometrics required.
CLEAR Plus allows you to skip to the front of the line. If you have PreCheck you can skip to the front of the PreCheck line and if you don’t have PreCheck you can skip to the front of the regular line. Plus, you don’t need to show your ID in most cases.
In my home airport of CLE, the dependability that skipping the line gives you is simply amazing. It means I can leave my house 55 minutes before a flight and know that I won’t miss my flight. When I’m with my family I’ll leave plenty of time and enjoy the airport lounge, but if I’m solo, the less wasted time in the airport is always a win.
Sadly, lines have grown in most airports. In many airports, the CLEAR line can sometimes stretch longer than the non-CLEAR line, so you do have to peek and see which looks better. But at least for me in Cleveland, I have found it to be a big time saver by reducing the variance between how long the line can get, but it certainly varies by the airport.
Do you enjoy using CLEAR? How have the lines been in your home airport? Will you renew CLEAR?
HT: TPG
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26 Comments On "CLEAR Is Raising Rates For The 2nd Time In A Year"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
I dropped Clear last year. Still not in my home airport (Philly). And it really was not saving much time vs straight Pre-check at any other airports I have used.
I try and use it whenever I can. I’ve yet to have a situation where it saved me any time vs. cost us more time.
I have both. Pre-check is often faster… getting to be too expensive for its price. Will only keep bc of Platinum benefit.
Same here
I was once on the way back from Orlando after pessach. Regular and PreCheck lines at security was crazy and I would have missed my flight if not for Clear that let me skip both lines with my entire family
Member since inception, use to have great value in certain airports in NY Airports and ATL but lately it has been a disaster at LGA or Miami. Pre check is faster. I I’m only holding on to it because it’s doesn’t cost me with Amex Credit
If you have both, you skip the TSA line, which must be the fastest option.
Please explain how to skip the TSA line. I must be doing something wrong while traveling weekly for years
It might depend on the airport. JFK, for example, will have 4 lines for each combination of TSA Precheck and CLEAR.
Sure. Joe’s point was that the clear+precheck line is typically slower and longer than the regular precheck line.
It gets fed into the beginning of the tsa pre check line, while the agents prioritize clear over the regular.
Looks like to many people are competing for the same benefit.
It’s now left to be seen if the prices increase while solve this, or still to many people get it thru their credit card.
Was at MCO last night, two Clear agents were begging people to sign up for a free trial…
When they asked my wife how to improve it, she told them to raise rates. I guess they listened.
They asked why, and she said, “Too many people have it and it slows down the regular travelers.”
I know in EWR a lot of people must have gotten it as a perk because many who don’t have pre-check use Clear and don’t know how to use it.
My Clear membership ends next month and I will not renew. The Clear lines are frequently longer than the regular TSA PreCheck lines and their hours are sporadic.
Also, there is no Clear at LaGuardia terminal B so if you’re a New Yorker who doesn’t use Delta in terminal D, you’re not able to use Clear.
I’ve been to too many places lately where there either is no Clear availability or the Clear lines had limited hours and were closed when I needed them.
I have found CLEAR to be very useful and timesaving, especially when traveling with my wife and kids. I did notice the lines getting longer than regular ones and felt it was because the service is too cheap, so everyone signed up!
It was too good of a perk for just $179, so maybe the price hikes are to make it more exclusive again so the service can return to actually saving time for the people willing to pay for it.
I’m seeing a contradiction. Will United 1k be $129 or $0 effective 7/1?
Typo, fixed now, thanks.
Clear is a scam. Now with TSA digital ID, they can do the same biometric identification in some places, with more being added.
Clear is just a company that pays to play.
Where have you seen this?
They have it in many airports. They still need to scan your license. All it is instead of the agent matching you to the picture the machines do it. Clear stores your information, so you don’t need to show ID.
DHS works with companies like clear to pilot technology implementation so that things like digital ID are possible.
Obviously $199 is too affordable for too many folks, I see the line back up at most major airport. This might be a good thing for many of us that obtain Clear through CC LoL
The main issues with clear I think are two things. One being that too many people have it, I guess solved by hiking the price 81%, that will probably clean that up. And secondly and more importantly, it takes an insane amount of time to actually go through the Clear process. Until the machine is available, then the employee has to click a buncha stuff you should be allowed to click, then you gotta scan the minors boarding pass, then they gotta walk you and you have to be double verified with your id even though you’re paying for Clear to do exactly not that. Simply put, they have to upgrade their system so it shouldn’t take a couple with a minor 4 minutes from when you walk up to the machine until you get to Bob from TSA’s lil podium.
You write in article that “a CLEAR Plus member can add up to 3 adults for $125 each, which can also be covered by those cards.”
How can it be covered with cc if the limit is only $209 per card and primary member cost $209?
If you have multiple cards