It’s Totally Worth It! Here’s How To Sign Up For CLEAR Airport Security
Got that new Amex Offer and want to know how to sign up for CLEAR? Now that nearly all of us can get a free membership in the CLEAR airport security program, here’s how to sign up and get started. I’ll share the basic information on it, as well as my recent personal experience.
What Is CLEAR?
First things first, CLEAR is not a TSA program (like TSA pre-check) or a government program (like Global Entry). CLEAR is a private company. Instead of using your ID, they use biometrics. This includes fingerprints and retina scans (of your eyes). This confirms your identity very quickly by comparing your face against a database. They confirm it’s you, and then you’re ready to pass through the checkpoint. Here’s more on how CLEAR works.
CLEAR members do not use the regular TSA or TSA Pre-Check lines for security. Instead, you go through the CLEAR line. Scan your eyes and your boarding pass. Then, the CLEAR employee will take you to the front of the line to complete security procedures (talk to the TSA employee, put your bags through the scanner, etc.).
You can have CLEAR and TSA Pre-Check. This can be advantageous, so you can choose whichever line is shorter. Remember that CLEAR isn’t available in all airports, though.
Amex Offers To Use For Free Membership
Typically, CLEAR can cost $179 per year. However, you should be able to get it for free.
There are currently 2 options for getting a free CLEAR membership via American Express:
- Use your American Express Gold Card to pay for your CLEAR membership by October 31, 2021 and get a statement credit of $179. Details on the offer are here, and you must enroll for the offer before paying.
- Pay for your CLEAR membership and get a statement credit of up to $179 when using your Platinum Card or Business Platinum Card from American Express. No prior enrollment is necessary. Details on those offers are here: personal offer / business offer.
Additionally, you can get a $100 credit annually if you pay for CLEAR with your American Express Green Card.
How To Sign Up For CLEAR
With that in mind, of course I wanted to sign up. Here’s my experience with how to sign up for CLEAR.
- Fill out the information online and provide your credit card number.
- After completing this, go to a CLEAR enrollment center. Note that not all CLEAR locations are enrollment centers. For instance, sports stadiums may use CLEAR at entry points, but you can’t finish your enrollment there.
- You will scan your ID, fingerprints, and eyes.
- Confirm your contact information.
- Answer identity verification questions. These are the same questions you may get from a bank, such as a previous address or birth date of a relative.
The whole process took us 3-4 minutes to complete. We signed up on arrival in DEN airport the other day, and even with a couple in front of us doing the same process, we finished in less than 10 minutes (including waiting for them).
It was really easy and simple. You can then use CLEAR immediately. We used it the following day at the Rockies stadium for expedited entry.
When departing Denver a few days later, we had the choice of using TSA Pre-Check or our new CLEAR membership. The choice was easy. The CLEAR line had 2 people. Here’s the TSA Pre-Check line, for comparison.
Final Thoughts
When CLEAR launched, I found the idea quite interesting. However, I wasn’t willing to pay $179 to sign up for it. Now that I can get it free by using my credit card, it’s much more interesting. The process on how to sign up for CLEAR was quite simple. Fill out some information online and then go to an enrollment center. You can do everything you need in just a few minutes. Many of you should be able to get a free membership, so now you know how to enroll.
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CLEAR does not, at least at JFK and at LAS, “put your bags through the scanner”. The CLEAR agent does take you to the TSA Prechecker and that gets through to where you out your baggage to be scanned,
Correct. As the article says, they take you to the front of the line, where you complete the rest of the security procedures. It doesn’t say the employees do this for you.
I just talked to American Express. CLEAR is not currently an offer for the Gold card (BTW, you link is broken).
Thanks for the tip on the link, we’ll fix that.
For the Amex Gold card, it’s not a “card perk” included. It’s an Amex Offer. Are you familiar with how to use those? If not, let me know. The link to the offer has the details.
I scrolled through my “offers”. Didn’t see anything about Clear.
Targeted??
Thanks!
A lot of people got the offer. But yes it’s never “everyone”. Sorry 🙁
It would be just nice if Clear would accept any ID I could provide or the US government would provide ID’s for programs I am approved, like Global Entry.
I tried to sign up for clear years ago and asked if they will add more accepted IDs and since 5 years I only hear soon. So there wont be a soon, its just a easy exit for them to get you off their hotline.
Peter – CLEAR doesn’t accept your ID? What type of ID is it?
I think you can also use your United MileagePlus membership to pay a discounted rate of $119 and then add one adult/your partner for $60 and get it all for free.
https://www.clearme.com/partner/united?utm_source=RAN&utm_medium=Affiliates&utm_content=Upgraded+Points&ranMID=45804&ranEAID=3492403&ranSiteID=vKq7wrvuQbY-WnoD3oQDwrt6HGm6SsI06A
If you pay with your AMEX platinum card.
A good point.
Not toget all conspiracy theory on you…
But what about the aspects of turning over some very key biometric data to someone…where you know the Chicoms are definitely attacking that database every day due to the future valuable biometrics information available. It’s not if they’ll break in, it’s how long till they break in, if they have not already!!
From previous jobs and time in the military, I’ve given out more biometric data than I had to give here. For someone who’s never given biometric data, that is something to consider.