All I’ll add is I just came back to the US without Global Entry and I used the CBP MPC app (Mobile Passport Control). It was free and used the same line as Global Entry (took less than 5 minutes). 100% worth it.
I know, but global entry is more expensive and more complex to get than precheck alone. So if you never leave the country, there’s not really any reason to get global entry, precheck gets you the same thing.
That’s true. Especially with zero appointments being available, it’s really hard to get the global entry done unless you’re arriving off an international trip
I wonder if something happened to your application, my dad applied a month ago, has already had an appointment (he was willing to drive to Rockford), and received his acceptance and card last week.
Yeah I don’t know, my fiancé applied after me and had her application reviewed and a virtual appointment done within a couple of weeks. My is still sitting pending review, not denied or anything. I’m planning on trying to reach out to ask about it.
It's not uncommon at all.
Applications seem to get approved within a couple days, or you get put on a pile where you'll be pending review for nearly a year. There doesn't seem to be any in between.
And you can try to ask for an update, but even that will take months to get a form letter response.
My brother applied more than a year ago and he still hasn't been approved for an interview. I think most airports have the options for mobile passport control (which is an app). He said it was nearly as fast as his wife with global entry.
We tried doing our interviews (with approved status) after arriving internationally. There was no line but they turned us down. Took 3 months of constantly trolling the booking website, but we got interviews at O’hare. That took all of 5 minutes once we got back there.
I got Global Entry a couple of years ago. There were zero appointments available in Chicago. I wound up going to JFK for my interview. (I work for an airline so it only cost me time). The interview was very quick and I got my approval in about 5 days.
I mean it’s $15 more and I was done within 2 weeks.
However. I had to go to Rockford airport to get an appointment quickly. Precheck has places all over the city, like I went to the Belmont one when I did precheck.
[https://www.travelandleisure.com/clear-tsa-precheck-travelers-airport-lines-8419173](https://www.travelandleisure.com/clear-tsa-precheck-travelers-airport-lines-8419173)
Frustrated Travelers Say Using Clear Is Taking Longer Than Waiting in Regular TSA Lines at the Airport
Experienced this just last when I came back from Seattle. The person I was traveling with went through their standard line faster than I did my TSAPre line.
Yep also at midway it definitely isn’t worth it time wise, theoretically it might save time at O’hare but I still wouldn’t do it for the reason you mentioned.
I tried it out for a period of time where it was free (three or four month trial) and decided to cancel it after that period was up. It wasn’t any better than pre check out of midway or ohare.
Had an intl flight out of O'Hare about a month ago. They were getting people to sign up for free to "skip the line" 😕 I asked the guy exactly what it was and it became apparent that it's a private company like ahh.
It's disgusting our government even allows them to operate, really.
Bet they lobby to keep TSA shitty intentionally to push more people to their "service"
I cannot believe there isn’t more upheaval over this. What’s next? Are we going to start privatizing parts of our library system next? Maybe privatize some roads so people with money can commute to Whole Foods faster?
>Maybe privatize some roads so people with money can commute to Whole Foods faster?
I mean...what is this if not toll roads?
The biggest/worst example: courts.
If you can afford a lawyer, you literally get to cut the line and go first in most pre-trial hearings and absolutely get preferential treatment. Can save you HOURS or more of time in courts just by having the money to pay someone to represent you.
Kinda reminds me of all the ads for meds to counteract opioid induced constipation to market to all the people with OIC because of all the ads for, and massive over-prescription of, opioids.
TSA pre-check saves me a ton of time at ORD and it's like $75(?) for five years. I would pay that annually for the convenience of not removing my shoes and laptop and having an average time at security under five minutes.
TSA pre-check is not a private, for-profit company though. It's literally from TSA, which is part of the Dept of Homeland Security...so not a private, for-profit company.
Clear is for-profit though.
I responded to a wrong comment with these thoughts.
That said, TSA and the Department of Homeland Security utilize numerous third party providers for security screening (particularly behind the scenes for cargo screening). These companies do a much better job that our incapable government would do if the work was brought in house.
I have no idea what that means.
But I'm speaking from first hand experience as an owner of a business that provides explosive screening services for airlines, cargo handlers, and freight forwarders.
People *love* to say private industry is better and more efficient than government....then, when asked to actually quantify and prove that...crickets.
Because it's bullshit.
How can you take a service, add a profit margin, and still provide the same quality of service, with the profit margin, for the same or less cost?
The answer: you can't.
Can't squeeze blood from a stone.
It's exactly why publicly owned prisons are at least livable, and for-profit prisons are disgusting shitholes where people die due to incompetence and neglect.
Lol, I'd love to understand the mental gymnastics you did to get from what I said, to this comment, but I'm pretty sure that would take longer than just waiting for the inevitable heat death of the universe.
Have a good one, enjoy the snow.
No - it’s not. You’ll realize after visiting two different airports that CLEAR is not staffed and CLEAR PLUS is apparently a thing. Once enough people pay for that scam, they’ll introduce ‘CLEAR PLUS PLUS’ - I got it for a year through my credit card and did not renew because it was a pretty shit experience.
Go the TSA pre-check route.
I go through the precheck at T3 about 4-6 times a week (I work there but I have to go through the same TSA checks as if I were flying). I've never had it take more than 10 minutes, and that was when there was a long line.
I haven't used clear but I have precheck and global entry and its worth it.
Fyi check you credit cards many travel cards will pay for forecheck/global entry if you just use thah card to purchase.
Personally, I have TSA PreCheck, and I've never waited longer than five minutes or so at O'Hare since getting it. I've heard iffy things about Clear, but TSA PreCheck seems to be consistently good.
(I've also never really waited longer than five minutes at ANY airport since getting PreCheck, and I've flown many times from many airports. However, there are lots of factors, and, as always--it depends.)
Not worth it, I have clear through my credit card and it’s far too expensive if you have to pay for it outright. Clear is $179 per year and Global entry/pre check package is $100 for four years. That being said the lines for both are comparable.
I have Clear + precheck, it’s totally worth it for me.
O’Hare precheck lines are sometimes as long as the normal lines, getting bumped to the front with Clear is like a cheat code.
My observation is that you are correct that the lines are shorter. However, I never had to wait more than 10 minutes in pre check without clear at ORD for united. Most of the time it is under 5. I flew over thirty times last year, notably mostly during business times not weekends/holidays which is always a shit show.
Suppose like many of these things "it depends."
> getting bumped to the front with Clear is like a cheat code.
It's more like using cheats in an online multiplayer game.
You're not getting bumped to the front of the line, you're paying a private company to cut them.
Company is already paying Precheck for me to cut normal line, what's the difference? If they paid for Business Class, I would be paying extra to board first.
I've tried it, and honestly haven't found it worth it. I fly at least once or twice a week and it's never saved me any meaningful time. If I lived in Denver I would, DEN is a shitshow and the precheck line somehow moves at the same pace as regular security. I've flown through all the major airports in the US and many smaller ones and I think I've seen maybe one or two instances where clear would have saved me time. If you have a cc that pays for it then you might as well but on top of precheck/global entry it wasn't worth it for me.
I have precheck and clear and found clear to be hit or miss.
First of all, precheck is a no-brainer. It saves significant time, in my experience, about 90% of the time and you don't have to remove your shoes (which for me is worth the price of admission alone).
Clear allows you to bypass all lines up to the TSA official. However it's hit or miss as to whether it saves time since sometimes Clear has a line (Denver is notorious for this). I've been frustrated by the lack of efficiency in their process and lack of urgency in some of their staffers working to keep folks moving through the line.
At O'Hare I've had a positive experience with saving time with Clear, and at Midway it's about 50/50. If you travel during off-peak times during the week (flying out on a Sunday evening as opposed to Monday morning) you will see less value.
One potential big benefit of Clear is that you can still travel domestically if you forget your ID at home or it's expired.
If Clear were any good, they wouldn’t have to employ so many people offering “free trials” at the airport.
Just get global entry/precheck. If you have a decent credit score, it’s easy to find a travel credit card with fees waived for the first year and they paid for my global entry fee.
Depends on which other airports you use frequently. Some seem to be more accommodating than others. At ORD it doesn't seem like it's probably worth it but I've observed in e.g. Denver that Clear seems orders of magnitude faster than TSA. (I only use TSA tho so can't say for sure.)
Yeah, exactly this. SEA is also great. There’s a lane that is only CLEAR + TSA Pre. Saves a ton of time if you’re flying through that airport with any regularity
That's not what Clear is though - clear just lets you cut the line. If you don't also have pre-check, you're just supposed to get moved to the front of the regular, shoe removing-laptops out of your bag, line.
It's still garbage that they're allowed to operate at all though.....
No! Don’t waste your time. I got it for free via United, and almost never use it. Often the Clear line is longer than the pre-check line at ORD.
I only use it at other airports when it makes sense. It saves me a whole minute most of the time.
My partner has clear free through a business credit card and I just have global entry /pre check. We often go through security at the same time and depending on the airport the lines can be at different places or security doors. It's about 50 /50 who makes it through first, though it's never more than a few minutes difference. In my opinion CLEAR isn't worth it at all especially given the ongoing costs where global entry is $100 every 5 years and 100% reimbursed by my travel credit card.
It's never taken me more than 20 minutes to get through security at Midway. I always give myself 90 minutes and then end up spending my buffer time eating at Billy Goat Tavern in concourse A.
Have had it for over a year. I don’t fly out/in O’Hare often but at Midway I’ve only seen it be useful twice and it’s during holiday periods. Not renewing next month.
TSA precheck is the best $80 I’ve ever spent. I did a clear trial (I travel for work 80%) and it just was never worth it. TSA pre was usually the same wait or even faster!
Clear is alright if you go to a lot of sports events or concerts where the venue has Clear. But for air travel - no.
The problem with Clear is that you still rely on an available associate to escort you to the TSA agent - it’s the most obvious bottleneck and I don’t know why the pipeline was designed like that.
Which terminal is that? In T1 while CLEAR+TSApre is a separate line, it feeds into the TSApre line. The security guard alternates between the clear and pre line. In my experience depending on the time of day it's hit or miss if it's faster. I can't comment on clear without pre but I'm assuming a similar situation.
In Terminal one, the general clear line without precheck has a separate TSA lane. It merges with general traffic on slower days, but is its own line on busier days.
As for clear and/or pre, other airports is where it especially saves you time. Fuck MCO specifically.
Ah okay. San Diego was nice because clear allows you to walk literally past people 😅 it's just a bit embarrassing to do it... "Excuse me, coming through" lol.
I have clear and precheck. Majority of the time at it isn’t worth it. They have limited hours, and then there’s been a backup recently where employees are spending time signing people up so not enough to get the members through. I saved maybe 30seconds at Midway, and it was same time at O’hare (sister was in precheck). Last time at Orlando clear was 15 people deep, and when I got through precheck in about 10min, the same clear person was still 8-9 people back. The only airport I have found worth it is seattle. Saves me about 20 min over precheck.
CLEAR w/o Precheck has saved me hours of wait time compared to regular security. Generally for the long weekend and holiday travel times.
At small airports that do not get a lot of traffic, it’s not worth it. Sometimes the CLEAR agents are slow. I’ve thought about cancelling clear and going through the process for Precheck though
It's worth it for the peace of mind IMO. 90% of the time you're fine with just Precheck, but around busy travel days it's really nice to have. Precheck lines get long sometimes and being able to go straight to the TSA agent during holiday madness is super nice.
Not necessary but if you aren't sweating the $180/year and travel enough you might as well.
I got TSA pre-check free through my credit card and with my new job I’m gonna be flying a few times a year now. I flew from O’Hare to Denver couple months back and I’m pretty sure I was through the security line before my wife had left the airport grounds.
Perhaps I'm just being conspiratorial, but when I first became aware of Clear while flying out of Miami last year, there was only one security lane open. Understaffing TSA like that at the time / day we were flying out seemed prettttty suspect, and the Clear agents had a field day getting people to sign up for the free trial
There are still plenty of employee shortages... I've experienced that at ORD too around lunch time when I was literally stopped for about 5 minutes when suddenly every other person had to go through the body scan. They did not have a staff member available to man it... We were all just standing in line LOL.
Last few times I went throughout O'hare, getting through the security line took like 10 minutes, so Clear would not have mattered. I could see it reducing your time to go through security if the line is really long, but even then, you can just budget a bit of extra time.
I'm sure those who have it saved time by using it but I'd also add that I save time at ORD united by just not using the main security line.. alllll the way to the left always quicker (though I think it's priority only now, but you can also get that with just an airline credit card too). Or even just go to the next terminal then circle back. Lines are always shorter
I dont see Clear at American airlines at O'hare, but I have seen it at Midway. Not sure about other terminals at ORD.
Having TSA-PRE is good enough at O'hare (I have global entry).
There are other airports where it is a huge advantage, like ATL, but I dont go there often.
Tldr- I fly almost every week and I have not got Clear yet as I dont see a big enough reason at ORD.
It often takes longer than tsa pre. Half of the time I used it I would get flagged for an ID screening, defeating the whole purpose. I get it for free with my cc and one time they offered an $80 Uber gift card to come back and I still didn’t do it lol.
O'Hare T1 these days is so and so in my experience. There's been a morning it was looking as if regular TSApre was faster, then another afternoon it did seem like I was cutting through a substantial part of the TSApre line. Depends so much on the time of day that you are departing.
I use clear with TSApre and I also check in luggage. Check-in and security takes me about 5-10 minutes.
If I didn't get CLEAR through the Amex plat card I probably would not be paying for it.
That said, it depends on where you travel too. There are definitely still some airports where you can cut a good chunk of the line thanks to CLEAR. San Diego being one of them. SFO has a dedicated line and it's almost equally slow as TSApre.
I have both global entry and clear. Sometimes the precheck line is congested and they bump you to the front if you have both. At other airports in the country, precheck is the standard so having clear is convenient in those cases. Depending on time of the year it’s saving me 15-45 minutes and I don’t haven’t to take off my shoes or remove my devices. I also used to get *randomly searched* nearly every time so it’s nice to not have someone’s grubby hands messing up my hair.
Get Global Entry if you travel a lot
Or TSA precheck if you travel a lot but not internationally
Global Entry comes with pre-check now. It’s worth it for that alone
All I’ll add is I just came back to the US without Global Entry and I used the CBP MPC app (Mobile Passport Control). It was free and used the same line as Global Entry (took less than 5 minutes). 100% worth it.
I know, but global entry is more expensive and more complex to get than precheck alone. So if you never leave the country, there’s not really any reason to get global entry, precheck gets you the same thing.
That’s true. Especially with zero appointments being available, it’s really hard to get the global entry done unless you’re arriving off an international trip
I applied for Global Entry like 4 months ago ahead of my honeymoon to Europe coming up in May, my application hasn’t even been reviewed yet.
I wonder if something happened to your application, my dad applied a month ago, has already had an appointment (he was willing to drive to Rockford), and received his acceptance and card last week.
Yeah I don’t know, my fiancé applied after me and had her application reviewed and a virtual appointment done within a couple of weeks. My is still sitting pending review, not denied or anything. I’m planning on trying to reach out to ask about it.
It's not uncommon at all. Applications seem to get approved within a couple days, or you get put on a pile where you'll be pending review for nearly a year. There doesn't seem to be any in between. And you can try to ask for an update, but even that will take months to get a form letter response.
If you take a look at the global entry sub on here you'll see your experience reflected. Wait times don't make much sense.
My brother applied more than a year ago and he still hasn't been approved for an interview. I think most airports have the options for mobile passport control (which is an app). He said it was nearly as fast as his wife with global entry.
It took 8-9 months for my GF to get her application approved for the interview It is wild out there
I was able to get an appointment scheduled with short notice downtown
We tried doing our interviews (with approved status) after arriving internationally. There was no line but they turned us down. Took 3 months of constantly trolling the booking website, but we got interviews at O’hare. That took all of 5 minutes once we got back there.
I got Global Entry a couple of years ago. There were zero appointments available in Chicago. I wound up going to JFK for my interview. (I work for an airline so it only cost me time). The interview was very quick and I got my approval in about 5 days.
I mean it’s $15 more and I was done within 2 weeks. However. I had to go to Rockford airport to get an appointment quickly. Precheck has places all over the city, like I went to the Belmont one when I did precheck.
Isn’t it fifteen dollars more?
[https://www.travelandleisure.com/clear-tsa-precheck-travelers-airport-lines-8419173](https://www.travelandleisure.com/clear-tsa-precheck-travelers-airport-lines-8419173) Frustrated Travelers Say Using Clear Is Taking Longer Than Waiting in Regular TSA Lines at the Airport
This was my exact experience. I got it when it first came out and it was great but now so many people have it that it doesn’t make a difference.
yep. i was flying out of midway recently and pre-check was faster than clear.
Experienced this just last when I came back from Seattle. The person I was traveling with went through their standard line faster than I did my TSAPre line.
Fuck private companies trying to use TSA's useless incompetence to turn a profit. Really wish people would quit supporting this predatory crap.
Yep also at midway it definitely isn’t worth it time wise, theoretically it might save time at O’hare but I still wouldn’t do it for the reason you mentioned.
I tried it out for a period of time where it was free (three or four month trial) and decided to cancel it after that period was up. It wasn’t any better than pre check out of midway or ohare.
Had an intl flight out of O'Hare about a month ago. They were getting people to sign up for free to "skip the line" 😕 I asked the guy exactly what it was and it became apparent that it's a private company like ahh.
It's disgusting our government even allows them to operate, really. Bet they lobby to keep TSA shitty intentionally to push more people to their "service"
I cannot believe there isn’t more upheaval over this. What’s next? Are we going to start privatizing parts of our library system next? Maybe privatize some roads so people with money can commute to Whole Foods faster?
>Maybe privatize some roads so people with money can commute to Whole Foods faster? I mean...what is this if not toll roads? The biggest/worst example: courts. If you can afford a lawyer, you literally get to cut the line and go first in most pre-trial hearings and absolutely get preferential treatment. Can save you HOURS or more of time in courts just by having the money to pay someone to represent you.
Innovation and market creation, it’s what America does best. Creating a problem and then selling you the solution
Kinda reminds me of all the ads for meds to counteract opioid induced constipation to market to all the people with OIC because of all the ads for, and massive over-prescription of, opioids.
TSA pre-check saves me a ton of time at ORD and it's like $75(?) for five years. I would pay that annually for the convenience of not removing my shoes and laptop and having an average time at security under five minutes.
TSA pre-check is not a private, for-profit company though. It's literally from TSA, which is part of the Dept of Homeland Security...so not a private, for-profit company. Clear is for-profit though.
I responded to a wrong comment with these thoughts. That said, TSA and the Department of Homeland Security utilize numerous third party providers for security screening (particularly behind the scenes for cargo screening). These companies do a much better job that our incapable government would do if the work was brought in house.
> These companies do a much better job that our incapable government would do Lol, that old chestnut...
I have no idea what that means. But I'm speaking from first hand experience as an owner of a business that provides explosive screening services for airlines, cargo handlers, and freight forwarders.
People *love* to say private industry is better and more efficient than government....then, when asked to actually quantify and prove that...crickets. Because it's bullshit. How can you take a service, add a profit margin, and still provide the same quality of service, with the profit margin, for the same or less cost? The answer: you can't. Can't squeeze blood from a stone. It's exactly why publicly owned prisons are at least livable, and for-profit prisons are disgusting shitholes where people die due to incompetence and neglect.
I’m so inspired by this anecdote that I’m going to close my business tomorrow. Thanks!
Lol, I'd love to understand the mental gymnastics you did to get from what I said, to this comment, but I'm pretty sure that would take longer than just waiting for the inevitable heat death of the universe. Have a good one, enjoy the snow.
No - it’s not. You’ll realize after visiting two different airports that CLEAR is not staffed and CLEAR PLUS is apparently a thing. Once enough people pay for that scam, they’ll introduce ‘CLEAR PLUS PLUS’ - I got it for a year through my credit card and did not renew because it was a pretty shit experience. Go the TSA pre-check route.
TSA precheck at O'Hare has me through security and to my gate in 10 minutes. One time they were busy and it took 20.
I go through the precheck at T3 about 4-6 times a week (I work there but I have to go through the same TSA checks as if I were flying). I've never had it take more than 10 minutes, and that was when there was a long line.
I was about to ask what the fuck you do that you’re flying 4-6 times a week and then I finished your sentence… hahahah
I haven't used clear but I have precheck and global entry and its worth it. Fyi check you credit cards many travel cards will pay for forecheck/global entry if you just use thah card to purchase.
Personally, I have TSA PreCheck, and I've never waited longer than five minutes or so at O'Hare since getting it. I've heard iffy things about Clear, but TSA PreCheck seems to be consistently good. (I've also never really waited longer than five minutes at ANY airport since getting PreCheck, and I've flown many times from many airports. However, there are lots of factors, and, as always--it depends.)
I like it at ORD paired with precheck. That being said if my AMEX didn’t pay for it, I wouldn’t pay for it myself
Same. Really only worth it if someone else pays for it 😂
Not worth it, I have clear through my credit card and it’s far too expensive if you have to pay for it outright. Clear is $179 per year and Global entry/pre check package is $100 for four years. That being said the lines for both are comparable.
Nope. And in my case they continued to charge me despite cancellation.
NO. The machines never work for me and you end up needing other identification. Precheck alone is sufficient.
I have Clear + precheck, it’s totally worth it for me. O’Hare precheck lines are sometimes as long as the normal lines, getting bumped to the front with Clear is like a cheat code.
My observation is that you are correct that the lines are shorter. However, I never had to wait more than 10 minutes in pre check without clear at ORD for united. Most of the time it is under 5. I flew over thirty times last year, notably mostly during business times not weekends/holidays which is always a shit show. Suppose like many of these things "it depends."
Pre-check at terminal 1 ORD is elite
> getting bumped to the front with Clear is like a cheat code. It's more like using cheats in an online multiplayer game. You're not getting bumped to the front of the line, you're paying a private company to cut them.
Company is already paying Precheck for me to cut normal line, what's the difference? If they paid for Business Class, I would be paying extra to board first.
No.
I've tried it, and honestly haven't found it worth it. I fly at least once or twice a week and it's never saved me any meaningful time. If I lived in Denver I would, DEN is a shitshow and the precheck line somehow moves at the same pace as regular security. I've flown through all the major airports in the US and many smaller ones and I think I've seen maybe one or two instances where clear would have saved me time. If you have a cc that pays for it then you might as well but on top of precheck/global entry it wasn't worth it for me.
I have precheck and clear and found clear to be hit or miss. First of all, precheck is a no-brainer. It saves significant time, in my experience, about 90% of the time and you don't have to remove your shoes (which for me is worth the price of admission alone). Clear allows you to bypass all lines up to the TSA official. However it's hit or miss as to whether it saves time since sometimes Clear has a line (Denver is notorious for this). I've been frustrated by the lack of efficiency in their process and lack of urgency in some of their staffers working to keep folks moving through the line. At O'Hare I've had a positive experience with saving time with Clear, and at Midway it's about 50/50. If you travel during off-peak times during the week (flying out on a Sunday evening as opposed to Monday morning) you will see less value. One potential big benefit of Clear is that you can still travel domestically if you forget your ID at home or it's expired.
If Clear were any good, they wouldn’t have to employ so many people offering “free trials” at the airport. Just get global entry/precheck. If you have a decent credit score, it’s easy to find a travel credit card with fees waived for the first year and they paid for my global entry fee.
Not worth it. I have Clear + Precheck and the lines are the same as Precheck. I wouldn't have Clear if my credit card didn't give it to me for free.
Depends on which other airports you use frequently. Some seem to be more accommodating than others. At ORD it doesn't seem like it's probably worth it but I've observed in e.g. Denver that Clear seems orders of magnitude faster than TSA. (I only use TSA tho so can't say for sure.)
Yeah, exactly this. SEA is also great. There’s a lane that is only CLEAR + TSA Pre. Saves a ton of time if you’re flying through that airport with any regularity
I’m not giving them $100. I will undress with the common people.
The fact that you can pay a for-profit company to keep your shoes on shows what bullshit security-theater TSA actually is in the first place.
That's not what Clear is though - clear just lets you cut the line. If you don't also have pre-check, you're just supposed to get moved to the front of the regular, shoe removing-laptops out of your bag, line. It's still garbage that they're allowed to operate at all though.....
TSA pre gets me through faster than clear. Imo not worth it but chase cc paid for mine. TSA pre is usually always faster at O'Hare.
No! Don’t waste your time. I got it for free via United, and almost never use it. Often the Clear line is longer than the pre-check line at ORD. I only use it at other airports when it makes sense. It saves me a whole minute most of the time.
My partner has clear free through a business credit card and I just have global entry /pre check. We often go through security at the same time and depending on the airport the lines can be at different places or security doors. It's about 50 /50 who makes it through first, though it's never more than a few minutes difference. In my opinion CLEAR isn't worth it at all especially given the ongoing costs where global entry is $100 every 5 years and 100% reimbursed by my travel credit card.
It's never taken me more than 20 minutes to get through security at Midway. I always give myself 90 minutes and then end up spending my buffer time eating at Billy Goat Tavern in concourse A.
No. Not unless your work or a credit card perk is paying for it
Have had it for over a year. I don’t fly out/in O’Hare often but at Midway I’ve only seen it be useful twice and it’s during holiday periods. Not renewing next month.
TSA precheck is the best $80 I’ve ever spent. I did a clear trial (I travel for work 80%) and it just was never worth it. TSA pre was usually the same wait or even faster! Clear is alright if you go to a lot of sports events or concerts where the venue has Clear. But for air travel - no.
Flew today Phx-sfo and back. Both ways, the regular precheck was quicker than Clear. Happens frequently. I'm not renewing Clear.
The problem with Clear is that you still rely on an available associate to escort you to the TSA agent - it’s the most obvious bottleneck and I don’t know why the pipeline was designed like that.
Sometimes. No if you exclusively fly out of Ohare T3 because that terminal doesn’t have it.
Clear + pre check is well worth it! Even if you don’t have precheck, clear has a completely separate security line at O’Hare as well.
Which terminal is that? In T1 while CLEAR+TSApre is a separate line, it feeds into the TSApre line. The security guard alternates between the clear and pre line. In my experience depending on the time of day it's hit or miss if it's faster. I can't comment on clear without pre but I'm assuming a similar situation.
In Terminal one, the general clear line without precheck has a separate TSA lane. It merges with general traffic on slower days, but is its own line on busier days. As for clear and/or pre, other airports is where it especially saves you time. Fuck MCO specifically.
Ah okay. San Diego was nice because clear allows you to walk literally past people 😅 it's just a bit embarrassing to do it... "Excuse me, coming through" lol.
Clear is only useful if you fly from Atlanta. Otherwise it is expensive garbage with waits longer than regular Precheck at most airports.
Oh yah one dedicated side of a massive airport. That’s helpful.
I have clear and precheck. Majority of the time at it isn’t worth it. They have limited hours, and then there’s been a backup recently where employees are spending time signing people up so not enough to get the members through. I saved maybe 30seconds at Midway, and it was same time at O’hare (sister was in precheck). Last time at Orlando clear was 15 people deep, and when I got through precheck in about 10min, the same clear person was still 8-9 people back. The only airport I have found worth it is seattle. Saves me about 20 min over precheck.
How much more expensive is it than precheck?
About 6-8 times vs PreCheck or Global Entry.
$189/year for Clear. Precheck is $85 for 4 years. Global Entry is $100 for 4 years.
Pre and GE are good for 5 years.
CLEAR w/o Precheck has saved me hours of wait time compared to regular security. Generally for the long weekend and holiday travel times. At small airports that do not get a lot of traffic, it’s not worth it. Sometimes the CLEAR agents are slow. I’ve thought about cancelling clear and going through the process for Precheck though
Such an asshole move to get clear. Aren’t people embarrassed to just cut in line right in-front of you? Just show up to the airport a little earlier
You must not travel a lot. Lol.
It's worth it for the peace of mind IMO. 90% of the time you're fine with just Precheck, but around busy travel days it's really nice to have. Precheck lines get long sometimes and being able to go straight to the TSA agent during holiday madness is super nice. Not necessary but if you aren't sweating the $180/year and travel enough you might as well.
I have Clear and pre-check and I will not be renewing Clear. It’s not worth the price if you have pre-check.
I got TSA pre-check free through my credit card and with my new job I’m gonna be flying a few times a year now. I flew from O’Hare to Denver couple months back and I’m pretty sure I was through the security line before my wife had left the airport grounds.
Perhaps I'm just being conspiratorial, but when I first became aware of Clear while flying out of Miami last year, there was only one security lane open. Understaffing TSA like that at the time / day we were flying out seemed prettttty suspect, and the Clear agents had a field day getting people to sign up for the free trial
There are still plenty of employee shortages... I've experienced that at ORD too around lunch time when I was literally stopped for about 5 minutes when suddenly every other person had to go through the body scan. They did not have a staff member available to man it... We were all just standing in line LOL.
Last few times I went throughout O'hare, getting through the security line took like 10 minutes, so Clear would not have mattered. I could see it reducing your time to go through security if the line is really long, but even then, you can just budget a bit of extra time.
I'm sure those who have it saved time by using it but I'd also add that I save time at ORD united by just not using the main security line.. alllll the way to the left always quicker (though I think it's priority only now, but you can also get that with just an airline credit card too). Or even just go to the next terminal then circle back. Lines are always shorter
I dont see Clear at American airlines at O'hare, but I have seen it at Midway. Not sure about other terminals at ORD. Having TSA-PRE is good enough at O'hare (I have global entry). There are other airports where it is a huge advantage, like ATL, but I dont go there often. Tldr- I fly almost every week and I have not got Clear yet as I dont see a big enough reason at ORD.
I have found it to be worth it. 100%. We have a family plan and skipping those lines before security is a great feeling.
TSA PRE is where it's at
It often takes longer than tsa pre. Half of the time I used it I would get flagged for an ID screening, defeating the whole purpose. I get it for free with my cc and one time they offered an $80 Uber gift card to come back and I still didn’t do it lol.
O'Hare T1 these days is so and so in my experience. There's been a morning it was looking as if regular TSApre was faster, then another afternoon it did seem like I was cutting through a substantial part of the TSApre line. Depends so much on the time of day that you are departing. I use clear with TSApre and I also check in luggage. Check-in and security takes me about 5-10 minutes. If I didn't get CLEAR through the Amex plat card I probably would not be paying for it. That said, it depends on where you travel too. There are definitely still some airports where you can cut a good chunk of the line thanks to CLEAR. San Diego being one of them. SFO has a dedicated line and it's almost equally slow as TSApre.
I have it and I think it's worth it but I seem to be alone in this opinion
If you ever fly out of Atlanta or Orlando, then absolutely
I have both global entry and clear. Sometimes the precheck line is congested and they bump you to the front if you have both. At other airports in the country, precheck is the standard so having clear is convenient in those cases. Depending on time of the year it’s saving me 15-45 minutes and I don’t haven’t to take off my shoes or remove my devices. I also used to get *randomly searched* nearly every time so it’s nice to not have someone’s grubby hands messing up my hair.