There are a number of benefits of having a Visa signature credit card, one of these benefits is that you’re entitled to a free six month membership to CLEAR. We will have a look at what this benefit is, who is eligible and if it’s worth signing up to or not.
What Is It?
CLEAR makes it easier and quicker to get through airport security lanes at select airports (and select times at those airports). This is possible with dedicated CLEARlanes at these airports. You need to present your CLEAR card and also your boarding pass to use these lanes.
CLEAR is available at the following airports (click here for an up to date map):
- Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW)
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Houston, TX – George Bush (IAH)
- Houston, TX – William Hobby (HOU)
- Las Vegas, NV (LAS)
- Orlando, FL (MCO)
- San Antonio, TX (SAT)
- San Francisco, CA (SFO)
- San Jose, CA (SJC )
- Westchester County, NY (HPN)
- Miami, FL (MIA) (COMING SOON)
Who Is Eligible?
Anybody with a Visa signature credit card is eligible for this benefit, although you must be a new CLEAR member, those who have signed up before are not eligible. If you’re unsure if your a Visa signature credit card holder or not, you can go to the Visa signature/CLEAR website and enter your credit card number, alternative just look for the Visa signature logo on any of your credit cards.
How To Sign Up
It’s not exactly an easy process to sign up for CLEAR. Here is what you need to do:
- Go to the Visa Signature/CLEAR website and enter in your Visa Signature credit card number
- Follow the prompts
- Complete in person verification at one of the CLEAR enrollment centers
The in person process is pretty simple, you provide them two identity documents (see what qualifies here) they then scan these into their system. They’ll also get a copy of your fingerprints, an iris scan and of course a photo. You won’t get your CLEAR card immediately after this, you’ll need to wait 5-7 days for it to be shipped to you. Travel with Grant shares his enrollment experiences here.
Our Verdict
If you sign up for this benefit, there is one thing that you should be very aware of: after the free six months is up you will be automatically rebilled $119. Personally I don’t see a lot of benefit in using CLEAR, it’s not at any of the airports I frequent and I still need to go through the security check.
It is possible to combine CLEAR with TSA PreCheck/Global Entry and get skipped to the front of the PreCheck line as well. All of these benefits are things that I am happily to utilize when they come for free with a credit card, but I don’t place a high dollar value on these benefits (especially CLEAR).
Personally I’m not going to bother with CLEAR, by the time I complete my application, go into the physical locations and remember to cancel I will probably have spent more time than I would have waiting in line at the limited airports on offer. The value proposition would be much different if my main airport had CLEAR, but it doesn’t.
Earlier this year CLEAR offered a free one year membership, this was supposed to be for people adding a spouse to their account but the promotional code worked for anybody so I can’t imagine them offering this same deal in the future.
What are your thoughts on CLEAR? Please share them in the comments below.
Is CLEAR better than TSA pre-check?