Clear Airport Security

Wish you could just clear airport security?

Who else remembers the CLEAR card and those CLEAR lanes at SFO to clear airport security? You remember the service that allowed travelers submitting biometric information and paying $179 per year to bypass regular security lines and get to their gates faster? Just like the fast pass at Six Flags (The original company folded in 2009.)

Well guess what? Clear Airport Security has been functioning at Denver and Orlando airports since 2010, and it will soon make a return to all terminals at San Francisco International.

According to a company spokesperson, the San Francisco Airport Commission has approved a new lease, although there is not yet a firm date when Clear Airport Security lanes will open at SFO. The spokesperson estimated it could take a few months.

What’s best about CLEAR is that it makes the clear airport security process a lot more predictable—members know for certain that they’ll get through security checkpoints in just a few minutes. The downside (for now) is that the new company is currently operating in only Denver and Orlando airports—SFO will be the third. CLEAR says that it’s got other airports in the pipeline for opening later this year, but it cannot name names for obvious reasons.

The question is, is CLEAR as necessary as it once was? Over the last year, unexpectedly long lines at airport security at airports across the country have really messed up my plans. Travelers and the TSA seem to have gotten worse. Did you read about the guy who stripped down buck naked because the TSA said he had explosives?

When it shut down in 2009, CLEAR was operating at all three Bay Area airports and had 40,000 members in the region. CLEAR is honoring membership from all prior members—click here to reactivate. New members can join here.

So what do you think? Is it worth $179 to have the peace of mind that you’ll clear airport security quickly? Is it worth more? You decide!