Is Clear Worth it for Airports

My Amex card offers me Clear for only like $19 bucks a year, but every time I've gone to the airport since getting it, the terminal either didn't have Clear set up there or the security line wasn't even that long anyway. I travel between Miami and Boston and Miami and LaGuardia in NY quite a bit, but have never used Clear and been like wow that was really worth it.

I've only had it since September though, so for people who have had it for longer, do you find it to be worth the price?

13 Comments
 

At that price I would do it. That comes out to basically as cheap as TSA pre check and you get to cut in front of TSA pre check people. I only have TSA precheck, but even that's saved me lots of time during busy travel seasons such as holidays. I personally wouldn't pay full price for Clear (I think it's $130 a year), but if you get that steep of a discount I would. 

That one time you need it when the lines are crazy long you'll wish you paid the 19 bucks. 

If you already have TSA precheck though and you don't travel very often then it may not be worth it for you. 

 

I think TSA precheck is a way better option which Amex will pay for and you likely already have as a frequent flyer

In the same boat as you in that I have a free membership through Amex and I've only actually used Clear one time, the Monday after Thanksgiving, and the precheck line seemed to move pretty fast anyway. I consider it just something to have in my pocket for that once every 2 years scenario when even precheck is a very long line, but I wouldn't pay money for it personally.

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I rarely use it because if the Precheck line is short and fast moving, I don't really like cutting in front of people.  But there are definitely times where I'm really glad i had it and I would have missed my flight without it.  So it's good to just keep in your back pocket in case of emergency...especially at that price point that you'll be paying.  I get it thru work so it's a no brainer for me.

The annoying thing is that when the airport is really busy, the Clear reps aggressively push their free trial to people to sign up and skip the line then and there.  So it ends up being a bit of mad rush.  But still much better than waiting in line.

 

It's one of those things which is useful every now and then when the line is ridiculously long like during a holiday season. Got me out of a 2 hour security wait at newark this past christmas 

 

I got roped into it by of the clear attendants in Salt Lake City. Honestly I usually don’t like stuff like this, it feels gimmicky and probably not worth paying for. I honestly almost told the guy I wasn’t interested. However upon sign up, the guy literally took us straight through to the normal security check bypassing everyone waiting in line. It was around Christmas too, so it was a huge time saver. If you travel frequently, I’d say it’s worth it

 

Well worth it if you fly more than a couple times a month in the normal course.

Precheck, while table stakes, is a crap shoot. Some airports it's super crowded all of the time, others TSA will randomly dump standard security into the precheck line, obviating any benefit.Most airports that matter have Clear now, has continue to expand through Covid.

Not to mention it's fully covered or substantially discounted by multiple rewards credit cards and higher tier airline status levels.

 

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