CLEAR Price: Prices, Fees & Ways to Save

CLEAR is a paid identity-verification service that lets you move through a dedicated lane at participating airports and other venues. You pay a yearly fee, enroll once with your ID and biometrics, and skip the document check at the front of the security line. You still go through security screening.

Pricing has an individual rate, a family add-on rate, and an increase that has arrived about once a year. Your real cost depends on who you add, how often you fly, and whether a credit card or airline status reimburses the fee.

The official membership page loads its prices with JavaScript, so travel sites that track the changes are the best source for the figure that applies today. The headline rate above is the individual fee, and the table lists the family option.

Family members must be adults to pay the add-on rate, and each additional adult is billed separately. Rules for children differ from the adult add-on, so check the current terms on the CLEAR website before you enroll a family.

The annual fee has increased several times in recent years. The history below shows the individual rate after each increase.

If you are on an older plan, check when your next renewal is and whether the new rate applies at that point. Renewal usually charges the current price.

It depends on how often you fly and which airports you use. CLEAR is useful when the standard ID line is long and the CLEAR lane is short, and less useful at airports where the regular line already moves quickly. It also only works at airports where CLEAR operates, so a traveler based at a small regional airport may get little use from it.

Some practical points:

• The benefit is the time saved at the front of the security line. Screening afterward takes the same time.
• If you travel a few times a year, the fee may not pay for itself. Frequent flyers are more likely to find it worth the cost.
• A membership you do not use is wasted. Check whether the airports you fly through have CLEAR lanes.

The two services solve different parts of the process. CLEAR speeds up identity verification. TSA PreCheck changes the screening itself, since PreCheck travelers generally do not need to remove shoes, laptops, or light jackets. Many frequent flyers carry both.

PreCheck is a one-time fee for a multi-year membership, while CLEAR renews every year. Spread over the full term, PreCheck is the less expensive of the two on a per-year basis. The enrollment fee for PreCheck is listed by the TSA and applies to a single applicant.

Several travel credit cards and some airline loyalty programs offer a statement credit or discount toward a CLEAR+ membership. The size of the benefit, the cards that offer it, and the conditions for it change often, and some require that you charge the fee to that specific card. Read the current terms on the card issuer's page before you rely on it. A card with an annual fee is only a good way to get CLEAR if you would hold that card anyway.

Employer travel programs and some corporate partnerships also offer discounts. If you are a member of one, ask whether CLEAR is included.

• Memberships typically renew automatically each year at the current price.
• You can usually cancel through your account, though the exact process and refund rules are set by CLEAR.
• Adding or removing family members changes the amount billed at your next renewal.
• Promotions for new members come and go, so the first-year cost can differ from the standard rate.