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A company that provides a service we never even heard of called the Clear Registered Traveler Program has abruptly gone out of business, KCBS reports. Clear operated special security lanes at 20 airports around the country, including all 3 Bay Area airports, purporting to provide (for a $200 annual membership fee) a pre-screening service for frequent travelers that would allow them to scoot through security as if they were trusted government dignitaries. But as the WSJ puts it, "TSA never was comfortable with the notion of 'trusting' any travelers, so the security benefits of a Clear card boiled down to getting a special lane and some staff to help carry plastic tubs for you." Yeah, no wonder it flopped.
Airport Pre-Screening Service Goes Belly Up
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Parents want all Caltrains to go 5 mph between California Ave & San Antonio road. No doubt they'd be
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Even worse... no refunds. That has to suck.
i always thought the ability to buy your way out of a standard security screening seemed counter-productive.
I was a member since they started in 2005. The annual cost was $98 and I travel at least once a month out of SFO. Also, I write about travel, so the experience alone was valuable to me. The real benefit was being able to go to the Clear kiosk and cut everyone in line to get through security instead of waiting 45 minutes behind people who didn't know they were supposed to wear all their silver jewelry nor bring a Big Gulp through the TSA scanners.
The product wasn't for everyone, but for frequent travelers, it had real value. I'm sorry to see them go, especially since I have a flight this Thursday.
So if I pay more I can get better government services? That's not to say I think TSA makes me feel any safer. Predictable, routine security checks have to be the easiest to thwart. The current system I think has also gone a long way in making travel less attractive. At least the decrease in flying will have good environmental benefits.
How much does this inconvenience Peter Getty?
I had a Clear membership for the past two years. The service sounds like you skip some security steps to get through faster, but in reality all you basically do is get moved to the front of the exact same security line and go through it same as everyone else. You basically paid a yearly fee to be able to cut in line.
back in line assholes
I travel 2 times a month and thought about joining but the biggest line I saw at SFO was maybe 12 minutes on a AMERICA flight .... most are 5-8 min ... I also travel with kids so I would have to spend $400 a year for everyone , not worth the basically small wait , at least in my experience.
My company paid for my membership. An absolute lifesaver in an airport like Orlando, where the security lines snake 300 yards through the terminal and clueless tourists, many of them old folks and kids with little travel experience, make the process agonisingly slow.
That said, the Clear system never really did make sense to me. One is vetted by the Gov't, has fingerprints and occular scans made, but then...has to go through the security line and xray regime anyway. So all one was ulimately paying for was the privilege of jumping the queue. No real idea why airports allowed this in the first place. But I'll miss it.
Seems like that's a good reason to avoid Orlando.
I could've purchased this, but paying to cut in line at the expense of voluntarily submitting to a useless background check just rubbed me the wrong way.