We Finally Know Why the TSA Is Cracking Down on Clear at Airport Security

Re:We Finally Know Why the TSA Is Cracking Down on Clear at ... by Beldin on Sunday July 30, 2023 @10:15PM (#36938119)

You may not realise this, but you need to be reasonably affluent *and* fly quite a bit for this to make sense. An extra $190 to shave off 15 or so minutes(1) for 1 or 2 trips a year is, frankly, not an affordable luxury for most.

For families it'd be worth it sooner, but if 2 parents join, you'll need to fork over $380. You could also put that towards your family holidays. E.g., it's enough for three tickets to Disney World.

(1) another comment stated that average regular TSA wait time was 26 min worst-case.

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Re:We Finally Know Why the TSA Is Cracking Down on Clear at ... by mmh0000 on Sunday July 30, 2023 @10:54PM (#36938311)

Flying isn't just for luxury. In my previous job, I was sent to client sites, a week at a time, for about 60% of the year. I flew 2ish weeks a month every month for years.

Because of the above, I demanded to only fly Delta, and I got the Amex Skymiles credit card. I built status, and often, got free upgrades to First Class. Another "not-a-luxury" thing. When you're boarding and you walk by all the First Class passengers, most of them are there on their company's dime, and nearly all got a free upgrade or paid a highly reduced rate.

The AMEX SkyMiles Credit Card also pays for your PreCheck or Global Entry. So even that was "free" for me (depending how you define 'free' and 'credit cards')

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Re:We Finally Know Why the TSA Is Cracking Down on Clear at ... by balls187 on Monday July 31, 2023 @01:17PM (#36945817)

Delta Amex also pays for Clear. That's what I used.

Once my wifes work schedule settles down, I plan on upgrading to the platinum amex.

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Re:We Finally Know Why the TSA Is Cracking Down on Clear at ... by balls187 on Monday July 31, 2023 @02:25PM (#36946758)

We're mostly saying the same thing here--though adding an adult is only $60, so it's $250 for a family.

If you fly infrequently, it's probably not worth the cost. If you do fly frequently, it probably is.

However, in response to the commenter whom I originally replied to, my opinion is Clear is not a luxury for only the wealthy. And it seems silly to prohibit Clear because of philosophical opposition to paying for expedited access.

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