If you haven’t heard of Clear before, it is an identity verification program that can be found at many airports throughout the United States. While Clear also provides some services for stadiums and other events, airports are by far their most extensive service. When going through TSA security at US airports, there are two parts: identification verification and screening. Clear helps to expedite the identification verification portion of this process. This means that a Clear associate will escort you to the front of the TSA or TSA PreCheck line at the airport skipping the many people are in those lines. This post reviews my recent experience signing up for Clear. This should provide an idea of what’s involved and help you decide if Clear is right for you.
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Online Registration Process
Signing up for Clear starts with an online registration process. Go to clearme.com and start the new member registration process. Several basic pieces of information will be requested including your name, email, zip code, and date of birth. Verify that these are entered correctly (just as they are on your government identification). If these are different than your ID, you will have a problem completing your registration at the airport.
Next, you will have an opportunity to add up to 3 family members for $60 each per year. Children under 18 in your party are included on your Clear account without additional cost. This means parents, spouses, relatives, and friends 18 and older need to have their own registration within the family account. It is generally cheaper for family members to get added to an existing family account rather than open their own account. The main account holder also doesn’t have to travel with registered family members for the Clear benefits to be used. Check out the cost section below to confirm that this is the best setup for you though.
Enter a promo code if this applies to you. Clear will often run promo codes that provide between 1 – 3 months for free through their partners. This is a great way to extend your membership or try it out with the opportunity to cancel before you get charged for the full year.
Finally, enter your payment and billing information. Once this is set up, you have completed the online registration process. The rest of the sign-up will be performed at the airport the next time you travel.
Airport Registration
The second part of the registration process is completed at an airport with Clear during your next trip. First, locate the Clear lines prior to security. Clear often has a separate set of kiosks dedicated to completing the registration process. Approach a Clear associate, and they will help you complete the registration.
The associate will pull up your online registration information with your email address. After confirming the email address, your biometric information will be collected. This is what Clear uses to expedite the identity verification process. The biometric information collected includes fingerprints of both hands and an iris scan.
After the biometrics are collected, Clear verifies your identity using a government-issued identification. I recommend that you bring a couple of forms of identification because Clear’s scanning software confused a “D” with an “O” on my passport which caused an issue completing my registration. Fortunately, I was able to complete the process with my state-issued driver’s license. This may not happen to you, but it never hurts to have a back-up just in case.
That’s it. Registration is complete. The whole process of signing up for Clear took 5 minutes for the online registration and another 5 minutes for the airport registration. It’s a very quick process all things considered. You and anyone else on your membership are now able to use the Clear lines at airports and other venues to speed through identity verification. Even with TSA Precheck, the lines are starting to get longer these days as more people utilize the service. Clear is a way to get a shorter security experience (until many more people sign up for Clear).
Cost and How to Save
Promo Codes
Clear advertises their services for $15 a month, billed annually. This means that you are paying $179/year when you sign up for Clear without a promo code or through a special link. However, no one should be paying $179 because Clear is fairly aggressive at sending out promo codes. These codes often provide two to three months of free service (including family members) for registering. As an example, I received six different promo offers to enroll in Clear in the six months between April 2021 and September 2021.
Partner Pricing
After you have used a promo code to get a free period of service, there are options to reduce the annual cost of Clear. Clear has several partnerships with airlines that provide discount rates for members of their frequent flyer programs.
First, members of Delta’s SkyMiles frequent flyer program can get Clear from a little as $0 to $119/year. Delta’s top-tier Diamond Medallion Members are provided a free Clear membership as part of their status level. Any of Delta’s other status levels (Silver, Gold, Platinum, and some Delta credit cardholders) can purchase Clear at the reduced rate of $109/year. All Delta General Members can purchase a year of Clear for $119. Since anyone can sign up for Delta’s frequent flier program and be a General Member for free, no one should pay more than $119 for a Clear membership. To get these prices, start your Clear sign-up from this web link: https://www.clearme.com/partner/delta.
Second, Clear provides a similar pricing model and partnership for United Airline’s frequent flyer program. United offers its top-level elites (Premier 1K members) a free annual membership to Clear. All elite members of the United frequent flyer program (Silver, Gold, Platinum, and United credit cardmembers) are provided a $109 price for a year of membership. Finally, similar to Delta, general MileagePlus members can purchase a year of Clear for $119. To get these prices, start your Clear sign-up from this web link: https://www.clearme.com/partner/united
Finally, there are a few credit cards that offer Clear reimbursements as a perk of membership. While TSA Precheck/Global Entry credits are far more common, the following is a listing of cards and their reimbursement provided.
- Free Clear Membership
- American Express Centurion Card
- American Express Platinum Card ($179 Credit)
- American Express Business Platinum Card ($179 Credit)
- $100 Off
- American Express Green Card
- $70 Off (credit cards mentioned in the Delta and United Partnership sections above)
- American Express Delta SkyMiles Gold Business
- American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum
- American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business
- American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve
- American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business
- United Club Infinite by Chase
- United Club Business by Chase
- United Explorer by Chase
- United Business by Chase
A final word on the Clear credit card reimbursements: The $179 credits from American Express can be used in combination with the partner awards above to get a primary membership ($119) and an add-on membership ($60) for the $179 reimbursement total.
Wrap-Up
Signing up for Clear is a very easy process. The whole experience takes about 10 minutes to complete the online and in-person registration. While TSA Precheck will probably be sufficient for most, Clear does have its distinct advantages. This is especially true if you routinely fly from large airports with a large amount of business travel. These airports tend to have long TSA Precheck lines since a large number of people in these markets are part of that program. Clear lets you skip this line and still use your TSA Precheck screening benefits. Ultimately, you have to be the judge if signing up for Clear makes sense in your situation.
