In the past few weeks I’ve passed through security at 10 airports, both large and small. An oddity that I’ve noticed is Clear has often been significantly slower than TSA Pre-Check. Not in all locations, but in many airports. In the airports that Clear is faster, the wait for Pre-Check is also very short. So while you might pass through security with Clear in 3 minutes, PreCheck would take 5. Other places have zero line for either so there is no difference in time spent at security.
Bottom Line: Clear Security isn’t any faster than Pre-Check at many airports. With the increase in costs, I’m really not sure the value proposition that Clear provides these days.
Clear Program Background
A little bit of background on Clear. Clear is a private company that is allowed to verify identities of flyers. So instead of showing your ID to TSA, Clear verifies your identity using bio-metrics at one of their kiosks. These can be your fingerprints or eyes. You’ll still need to show your boarding pass to a few people and it’s advertised that you won’t need to show an ID. In reality, the number of “Random ID Checks” is extremely high and I’ve had to show my ID about half the time I use Clear. The cost for Clear is $189/year. There are some discounts provided by various airline memberships. You can also add a family member for $99 each.
The process is pretty straight forward, but takes a lot of Clear employees. Most airports have a separate line for Clear, once at the front of the line a Clear representative will check your boarding pass to see if you have Pre-Check or not. They will then login to the kiosk and the traveler will verify their identity with their fingerprints or eyes. The Clear rep will then walk with you over to the TSA ID check station. The rep will tell the TSA agent you’re good to go and you then proceed through the same security check as everyone else. This does usually allow you to skip the line before the ID check, but not after.
As you can see, this process is somewhat cumbersome and kinda labor intensive for Clear. Each person(or small group of people) is personally escorted past the TSA ID check. Clear can be combined with Pre-Check or used without, it’s still the same security process. Clear just verifies identity, that’s it. Clear has also been in the news lately as they’ve had some issues with letting non-passengers through security.
Pre-Check Program Background
Pre-Check is a federal government trusted traveler program. It requires a background check and interview. With Pre, travelers are allowed to leave their shoes on, keep computers/liquids inside their bags, and use the standard metal detector instead of the scanner. Pre-Check costs $89/5 years but is also included in Global Entry($99/5 years) and that’s a very popular option.
Clear vs Pre-Check During My Recent Trips
I have flown home from LAS, MCO, and BNA over the past 5 weeks. At each of those airports, the line for Clear is longer and slower moving than the line for Pre-Check.
MCO appeared to have the largest difference with Pre-Check having essentially zero line while the Clear line was at least a 10-15 minute wait. I really don’t know why someone would wait in the Clear line when there’s no line at Pre-Check. I’m sure there are a few people with Clear but not Pre, but those must be a very small percentage of people.
At my home airport of GSP, there’s rarely a line for Pre-Check or Clear, I honestly find Pre-Check easier than Clear. The rigmarole of having to show my boarding pass to so many people and also the high percentage of “Random ID Checks” has made Clear very unattractive at GSP. Pre-Check just requires my ID as they scan it and I don’t need to show a boarding pass.
Clear vs Pre-Check Usefulness in 2023
With the recent price increases of Clear, I would not be a customer if the cost wasn’t covered by my credit card. On the other hand, even if the cost came out of my own pocket, I would pay for TSA Pre-Check(My company pays for Global Entry). There are also lots of credit cards that reimburse for TSA-Precheck or Global Entry. If I had to pick one, it would certainly be Pre-Check.
I’m not declaring that Clear is worse than Pre-Check in all situations. However, the value of Clear is decreasing with longer lines with duplicated ID checks. Clear is just not a process that scales well. It takes so many Clear Representatives to move people through security. The kiosks do work pretty well, but they are still not self service, you always need a rep to work with.
On the other hand, Pre-Check has actually improved over the last 18 months or so. Mostly because it’s rare that a TSA Agent will ask to scan a boarding pass. They just scan your ID and it populates all of the information they need.
Final Thoughts
I’m really not sure that Clear is worth having in 2023. The lines are often longer than Pre-Check, the process is clunky, and I often still need to show an ID. I certainly wouldn’t pay out of pocket for it but I’m willing to have it due to my credit card covering it.
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