CLEAR Plus Increasing Prices
I’ve written about CLEAR Plus before but wanted to post an update on their ever increasing fees. For those who don’t know, CLEAR is a technology company that helps expedite security at airports and a number of entertainment venues across the country. This technology helps you skip the line at airports however, it sometimes isn’t as useful as it sounds.
While you get a separate security line in the airport, they are often just as long if not longer than the standard TSA PreCheck lines. Additionally, CLEAR employees need to verify your identity with their kiosks which can take a minute or two.
If you don’t have TSA PreCheck (which you should), CLEAR can definitely save you a ton of time in the airport.
CLEAR Plus Kiosks
CLEAR Plus New Pricing
As of August 1st, 2024 pricing for a CLEAR Plus membership is increasing to the following:
Individual Membership: by $10 from $189 a year to $199.
Family Account: adding someone to your family account will go up by $20 from $99 to $119. You can add up to three people to your account and they don’t have to be related to you.
Up until early 2023, the cost of adding someone to your account was only $60
CLEAR Plus Pricing Increase
American Express Increasing CLEAR Plus Credit to Match
There’s good news that comes along with this increase as American Express has a few cards that offer a credit for your CLEAR Plus membership and they have increased the credit to match the fee increase.
Which American Express cards offer CLEAR Plus credits?
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire
American Express Business Platinum
Is CLEAR Plus Worth It?
To be honest, if I didn’t have a credit card that covered the cost of CLEAR Plus, I probably wouldn’t pay for a membership on my own. Back when CLEAR first launched it was a huge time save as not that many people had a membership so lines were much shorter. Now, with so many people having a CLEAR Plus membership it doesn’t save nearly as much time and there are certain times where the line is longer than TSA Precheck.
When I go through security now I do a quick survey of both the TSA Precheck and CLEAR Plus lines to see which is longer and make my decision based on how quickly I think I can get through boht. It’s sort of like being in the grocery store and picking out which register to use. Once you get to the front of the line the process is pretty much the same.
$200 a year is a lot of money to pay for a service that doesn’t material decrease the amount of time it takes to go through security. I fly a few times a month and would probably pay $75-100 for this service if I didn’t have a credit card that reimbursed me for the fee. Obviously, everyone’s travel patterns are different and you might be flying out of an airport where CLEAR is more useful.
If for whatever reason you don’t have TSA PreCheck, CLEAR will undoubtedly save you a ton of time. But if you’re going to spend $199 on CLEAR, just get PreCheck for way cheaper.
Wrapping Up
CLEAR Plus has come out with another increase to their membership fees as of August 1st. While its ‘only’ $10 more, I really don’t think it is worth paying for it unless you have a credit from one of the many credit cards that offer it.
