4 ms·

As someone who uses Clear, it has a significant benefit in that, for a comparatively low cost, it makes time through the airport more consistent. If I have pri

by cge 2y ago

As someone who uses Clear, it has a significant benefit in that, for a comparatively low cost, it makes time through the airport more consistent. If I have priority check-in through airline status, or am not checking baggage, then security waiting time is the main variable in the time to get from the terminal entrance to the gate (we'll ignore disaster airports like LAX where time from the freeway to the terminal is a major variable). If Clear lets me essentially not wait in line for security, that reduces an expectation of a, say, 0-45 minute time through security to a 0-5 minute time through security. Even if it might often not save me any time getting through security, the reduction in uncertainty means I can safely plan to arrive at the airport much later, while having the same low chance of missing the flight. Some airline status provides priority security, but it is less common, usually at higher levels, and less consistent outside major hubs for each airline. Flying business or first would work, but would be vastly more than the cost of Clear for frequent travellers, while providing few other benefits for short flights. In Europe, some airports just directly offer a paid priority security option, which sometimes is actually quite inexpensive. But it seems this may not be allowed by the TSA, and the alternative is the fiction of Clear supposedly offering some identity verification benefit.

et-al 2y ago
Isn't Clear just a more exclusive TSA PreCheck? It only works because the normies haven't saturated it.
- gnutrino 2y ago
  It's actually worse because you still have to go through the normal security check, you just get to skip the line. This may be dependent on the airport though.
  - filoleg 2y ago
    Not if you have TSA precheck as well. Most US airports I’ve been to have 4 types of queues: * No TSA precheck, no Clear * TSA precheck, no Clear * No TSA precheck, Clear * TSA precheck, Clear They all work exactly as you expect (you get the benefits of either precheck or clear or both at once, depending on the queue).
  - otterley 2y ago
    At most large airports in the U.S., there is a separate CLEAR line for PreCheck from the CLEAR line for standard security. CLEAR is a benefit to skip the queue, but it doesn't usually have an impact on the level of scrutiny.
  - TeaBrain 2y ago
    Is it actually worse if you get to skip the line? As the person you responded to mentioned, TSA PreCheck is now so saturated that the TSA PreCheck line will sometimes be longer than the regular line.
  - FireBeyond 2y ago
    To me, the only way to really do it is Clear+Pre. Clear "bypasses" the ID verification step, and then you get inserted into a Pre line, which at most airports, under normal circumstances means: shoes stay on, remove any metal and jacket and just walk through an X-ray. Laptops, iPads, etc., stay in bags and go through X-ray too.
  - cge 2y ago
    It's the line that adds uncertainty more than precheck vs normal. I can have my electronics and liquids out, and shoes off, in 30 seconds or so. As I'm frequently travelling internationally, I need to be prepared for the combination of different rules, and so can't rely on precheck to let me pack differently. Clear does often have a precheck/non-precheck distinction, but when I had precheck (and not clear), I had enough trouble with miscommunications between different TSA agents about a line being one or the other that resulted in delays and secondary bag screening, at least at LAX, that it did not seem particularly useful. I did not appreciate being told by one person not to remove anything from my bag, then shouted at by another person for not having removed anything from my bag.
tristor 2y ago
I also pay for Clear, and basically echo your take. My home airport has a separate like for Clear + Precheck, and basically only frequent travelers have both, so even though the line is sometimes longer it moves much faster. It's worth it for me to eliminate the variance of a first-time traveler who got randomed to precheck being slow.
lotsofpulp 2y ago
> In Europe, some airports just directly offer a paid priority security option, which sometimes is actually quite inexpensive. But it seems this may not be allowed by the TSA, and the alternative is the fiction of Clear supposedly offering some identity verification benefit. The question is why a non governmental entity is inserted into the middle of transportation security, with a profit incentive. There already existed an entire apparatus for airport transportation security. There already existed an entire apparatus for fingerprint and other biometric verification to expedite the security screening process (precheck and global entry). So then why did the government give Clear the right to bypass the official process? Why not just have a precheck plus or whatever system? Why not just have everyone do their biometrics when they do them every 5 years for precheck as it is?
- cge 2y ago
  It is, in reality, just paying for a separate line, nothing else. It is not a more convenient or even different security process, as precheck tries to be, it is just a more consistently short line to get to that process. The entire identity verification aspect is nonsense, and everyone knows it is nonsense. It is arguably slower than just showing an agent my passport. I agree that it makes little sense, and doesn't seem like it should be allowed, but for some reason, the airports in the US have decided that paid priority security lines should be outsourced to a for-profit private intermediary offering a nonsense security service.
- divbzero 2y ago
  > The question is why a non governmental entity is inserted into the middle of transportation security, with a profit incentive. Reminds me of ID.me, the for-profit company that authenticates users for certain IRS services including IRS Direct File [1]. For some reason, the government agency asks us to present our government-issued ID to a private company to verify our identity when Login.gov [2] exists to provide “the public’s one account for government”. [1]: https://directfile.irs.gov/ https://directfile.irs.gov/ [2]: https://login.gov/ https://login.gov/
  - lotsofpulp 2y ago
withinboredom 2y ago
I used to race my coworkers through those lines. Going through normal security 9/10 times, I would win. They’d finally come through the other side to find me sipping on a Starbucks coffee. But when I lost, I lost big time, and I’d have to meet them in the bar.

by cge 2y ago

et-al 2y ago

Isn't Clear just a more exclusive TSA PreCheck? It only works because the normies haven't saturated it.

gnutrino 2y ago
It's actually worse because you still have to go through the normal security check, you just get to skip the line. This may be dependent on the airport though.
- filoleg 2y ago
  Not if you have TSA precheck as well. Most US airports I’ve been to have 4 types of queues: * No TSA precheck, no Clear * TSA precheck, no Clear * No TSA precheck, Clear * TSA precheck, Clear They all work exactly as you expect (you get the benefits of either precheck or clear or both at once, depending on the queue).
- otterley 2y ago
  At most large airports in the U.S., there is a separate CLEAR line for PreCheck from the CLEAR line for standard security. CLEAR is a benefit to skip the queue, but it doesn't usually have an impact on the level of scrutiny.
- TeaBrain 2y ago
  Is it actually worse if you get to skip the line? As the person you responded to mentioned, TSA PreCheck is now so saturated that the TSA PreCheck line will sometimes be longer than the regular line.
- FireBeyond 2y ago
  To me, the only way to really do it is Clear+Pre. Clear "bypasses" the ID verification step, and then you get inserted into a Pre line, which at most airports, under normal circumstances means: shoes stay on, remove any metal and jacket and just walk through an X-ray. Laptops, iPads, etc., stay in bags and go through X-ray too.
- cge 2y ago
  It's the line that adds uncertainty more than precheck vs normal. I can have my electronics and liquids out, and shoes off, in 30 seconds or so. As I'm frequently travelling internationally, I need to be prepared for the combination of different rules, and so can't rely on precheck to let me pack differently. Clear does often have a precheck/non-precheck distinction, but when I had precheck (and not clear), I had enough trouble with miscommunications between different TSA agents about a line being one or the other that resulted in delays and secondary bag screening, at least at LAX, that it did not seem particularly useful. I did not appreciate being told by one person not to remove anything from my bag, then shouted at by another person for not having removed anything from my bag.

tristor 2y ago

I also pay for Clear, and basically echo your take. My home airport has a separate like for Clear + Precheck, and basically only frequent travelers have both, so even though the line is sometimes longer it moves much faster. It's worth it for me to eliminate the variance of a first-time traveler who got randomed to precheck being slow.

lotsofpulp 2y ago

> In Europe, some airports just directly offer a paid priority security option, which sometimes is actually quite inexpensive. But it seems this may not be allowed by the TSA, and the alternative is the fiction of Clear supposedly offering some identity verification benefit. The question is why a non governmental entity is inserted into the middle of transportation security, with a profit incentive. There already existed an entire apparatus for airport transportation security. There already existed an entire apparatus for fingerprint and other biometric verification to expedite the security screening process (precheck and global entry). So then why did the government give Clear the right to bypass the official process? Why not just have a precheck plus or whatever system? Why not just have everyone do their biometrics when they do them every 5 years for precheck as it is?

cge 2y ago
It is, in reality, just paying for a separate line, nothing else. It is not a more convenient or even different security process, as precheck tries to be, it is just a more consistently short line to get to that process. The entire identity verification aspect is nonsense, and everyone knows it is nonsense. It is arguably slower than just showing an agent my passport. I agree that it makes little sense, and doesn't seem like it should be allowed, but for some reason, the airports in the US have decided that paid priority security lines should be outsourced to a for-profit private intermediary offering a nonsense security service.
divbzero 2y ago
> The question is why a non governmental entity is inserted into the middle of transportation security, with a profit incentive. Reminds me of ID.me, the for-profit company that authenticates users for certain IRS services including IRS Direct File [1]. For some reason, the government agency asks us to present our government-issued ID to a private company to verify our identity when Login.gov [2] exists to provide “the public’s one account for government”. [1]: https://directfile.irs.gov/ https://directfile.irs.gov/ [2]: https://login.gov/ https://login.gov/
- lotsofpulp 2y ago

withinboredom 2y ago

I used to race my coworkers through those lines. Going through normal security 9/10 times, I would win. They’d finally come through the other side to find me sipping on a Starbucks coffee. But when I lost, I lost big time, and I’d have to meet them in the bar.