I took short business trip to Atlanta from Washington, DC (DCA) this week. This was my first trip since signing up for Clear (R). Let me get this out early in the post. Clear simply rocked. As long as I continue to travel at least once per month, and especially to Atlanta, I will not be without Clear.
Departing DCA Wednesday morning, crowds were very light, and the regular security line looked fine. However, I presented myself at the Clear kiosk where I was greeted by helpful employees eager to shuttle me through my first time using their product. My boarding pass was checked and compared to the name on my Clear card, and then I was escorted to the kiosk. It took a couple of tries for the machine to recognize my fingerprint, but I think that is more my not being used to the best way to place the finger on the scanner than anything else. In what seemed like seconds, my identity was verified and I was escorted directly to the x-ray. The Clear representative asked how many bins I would like and they placed them on the scanner for me. I placed my laptop and other items in the bins, and I walked through the metal detector. Time from arrival at Clear to being inside security: 3 minutes, tops. Yes, that rocks!
The real reason I think this card pays for itself is the security quagmire that is Atlanta. I’ll be losing access to the Delta elite lines come March 1, so there goes any hope of getting through security in a semi-reasonable amount of time.
My Clear experience in Atlanta speaks for itself. I had plenty of time, but the regular line was quite crowded. I presented myself at the Clear kiosk where I was again greeted by pleasant employees with smiles on their faces. Got a good fingerprint scan on the second try this time (I’m learning!!). And with that, I was sent towards security. At the end of the line, another Clear representative was waiting to greet me along with a TSA officer who compared my Clear card to my boarding pass. I don’t remember TSA looking at my clear card in Washington. No worry as it only took a second or two, and then was pointed towards the dedicated x-ray lane for Clear customers. It appeared that others were allowed to use the lane, but Clear representatives will escort you past the unwashed and directly to the machine, where another Clear rep again retrieved the number of bins you need to get through x-ray. And with that, I was through.
The detector caught me this time, but I think that may have been caused by my placing my Clear card in my pocket rather than back in my travel wallet? Can’t say for sure. In any event, time from fingerprint scan to being through the metal detector: well under 5 minutes. You simply can’t top that.
Clear is well worth the money if you travel at all, and I can’t say enough about how great their people were. It’s a nice upgrade to the travel experience, and I recommend it without reservation if you regularly use airports where Clear has a presence.
Jason, Thanks for dropping by. Like you, I consider myself fully vetted already. I have a certain level of security clearance from Uncle Sam as a condition of my employment, yet I am subjected to the same unnecessary secondary security as others from time to time. That said, I don’t think TSA is collecting any funds from Clear (R). At least it no longer is. In the beginning, they collected $28 dollars for the cost of a background check which is no longer being performed by TSA which makes Clear a paid “line cut” program. And as of now, it… Read more »
I am a fully vetted traveler. I am furious with this whole scheme. Frankly, TSA has created a problem for the many travelers in the land of the free, while at the same time providing a “solution” to the problem of their own making. For me it is not a matter of the $199 fee, but more the principle of the situation. Setting a precedence of allowing a government agency to profit from a problem of their making is dangerous. What’s next?
I have read that there are some things in the works that might lead towards a different experience from the “regular” line. I don’t think that will ever include not going through the metal detector/x-ray setup, or whatever the next generation of that is. (I experienced my first “full body” scanner at BWI (not a CLEAR airport) last week after setting off the metal detector) Purely my opinion, but the intent of the Congress when they wrote the legislation was something along the lines of what you suggested. A fully vetted traveler would not need the same level of screening… Read more »
Thanks for confirming my suspicion/understanding. I haven’t really followed this very much, but I think their original goal was to allow pre-CLEARed passengers to get a less invasive security clearing, but really it’s hard to imagine that the TSA would allow anyone with a plastic card pass through security without the Xray and metal detector circus.
Well, as far as I know, they do everything that the regular security people do. Keep in mind that I’ve only tried it at 2 airports. One of those, Atlanta, has notoriously bad security lines and I happen to spend a lot of time there. With Clear, I get predictability that I would not otherwise have. And that predictability is worth the roughly $150 dollar annual fee to me.
I don’t think you are off base at all in thinking this is a “bribe” to skip the line. As registered traveler evolves, it may become something more. Time will tell.
So how exactly does giving my biometric data to Clear help speeding up the security experience? What do they not do that the regular security people do? (I take it they check your Clear ID while the TSA folks check my drivers license… what’s the difference?). To me this is nothing but a $100 fee/bribe for skipping the line.
Thanks for stopping by! The security experience didn’t look too bad yesterday at 1pm in ATL. It was crowded but lines were moving. If not for Clear, I’d say my wait would have been between 10 and 15 minutes. With Clear = 3 minutes.
They say installing Clear lines has erased waits in any lines at ATL. This I do not believe until I experience it firsthand. Here’s more on the matter:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/business/stories/2009/02/10/hartsfield_security_wait.html