ORLANDO, Fla — The busy holiday travel season is here, and you might be considering one of the programs that promises to get you through airport security faster. One of those programs is CLEAR Plus. But we heard from travelers who say the CLEAR experience can vary from airport to airport.
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There are 150 CLEAR Plus lanes at 58 airports nationwide including Orlando International Airport and the service is getting mixed reviews.
On social media we found people who called it amazing, but other who claimed the CLEAR line was longer than the TSA line.
As CLEAR members approach security, they’re scanned in with biometric data using their eyes or fingertips.
CLEAR Plus customer Simon Lee was passing through Orlando International Airport recently with his family after a Disney vacation. He told Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal, “We love it, going through airport security with TSA PreCheck along with it.”
Lee said for his family having CLEAR Plus and TSA PreCheck has been worth the extra cost.
He added, “It goes over an hour wait for the lines and stuff, but to get PreCheck and CLEAR, get through it in about 10-15, minutes. I mean, it’s huge… beneficial I think.”
But other travelers who had CLEAR have ditched it.
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“I wish that you could go to the top of the line when you’re doing your bags. But you don’t. You have to stand in the line with all the other people to go through there,” said Julie Peoples, a former CLEAR Plus customer.
Consumer Adviser Clark Howard said, “It’s so inconsistent.”
He’s a CLEAR member and has used the service.
“You just don’t know. And it’s a lot of money to have something that’s a big question mark,” Howard said.
CLEAR Plus costs $199 a year, but there are discounts through some partner airlines including Delta, United, Alaska and Hawaiian.
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Clark Howard noted, “If I’m spending all that money for CLEAR and I get there and it’s not all clear, it’s a terrible experience. It makes me not want to pay when the renewal comes up.”
During a call with investors earlier this year, a CLEAR Plus founder said of that customer experience that in 2023, “we did not consistently deliver the in-lane experience that our members have come to expect.”
Kyle McLaughlin is Executive Vice President for Aviation with CLEAR Plus.
McLaughlin said, “We’ve been working tirelessly to improve that.”
He said the efforts to improve processing speed for the CLEAR lines include facial recognition as a screening method, staffing and new integrations with TSA for a more seamless handoff.
“Nobody’s going ahead of anybody else. CLEAR has dedicated entry points for coming through a separate CLEAR line to get up to the TSA entry point. And we integrate our passengers with the other non-CLEAR passengers that are coming through there,” he said.
McLaughlin also said often CLEAR customers are through their lines in five minutes or less, not accounting then for the TSA security wait lines.
So, CLEAR is now recommending you also get TSA PreCheck like the Lee family did.
Kyle McLaughlin said, “We believe that having both of them together is the best of both worlds. You know, CLEAR expedites the front side of security and gets you through the identity verification process faster. TSA PreCheck expedited you through the backside of security.
If you add TSA PreCheck it’s $77.95 for five years on top of $199 annual fee for CLEAR Plus.
If you’re interested in trying CLEAR Plus, look for a free trial period. If you like it, you can keep it. If not, make sure to cancel before your credit card gets charged.
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