Guide To Maximizing Amex CLEAR Credits

Premium credit cards have all kinds of great benefits nowadays, especially for travel. American Express has a partnership with CLEAR, whereby select Amex cardmembers can enjoy annual credits with CLEAR. In this post I wanted to take a closer look at that.

Which Amex cards offer CLEAR credits, what is CLEAR, how do you enroll, and how do you get the best value?

Which Amex cards offer CLEAR credits?

Currently the following three American Express cards each offer up to a $189 annual CLEAR Plus credit annually (Enrollment required):

• The Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
• The American Express^® Green Card (review)

What are the restrictions associated with these CLEAR Plus credits?

• The credits are per calendar year (based on when the transaction appears on your card)
• The credits can be used across multiple transactions, if you’re in a situation where you’re being charged the maximum credit amount by CLEAR
• The credits apply to purchases directly with CLEAR
• Purchases by the primary cardmember and additional cardmembers are eligible, though additional cardmembers don’t get additional credits
• You can buy a CLEAR membership for anyone (including friends and family), as long as you pay with your card
• The statement credits will post within two to four weeks of an eligible purchase

The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

What is CLEAR airport security?

CLEAR is essentially a technology company that stores biometric data to expedite clearing security at airports, and at select stadiums and other venues.

The way CLEAR makes your life easier is by allowing you to bypass the ID check at airports. While you still have to go through security, you simply go up to a CLEAR checkpoint at an airport, then your fingerprints or eyes are scanned, and then you bypass the ID check (though in some cases, you may still be asked at random to show your ID).

It doesn’t matter whether you have TSA PreCheck or just “regular” security, as the CLEAR associate will direct you past the ID checker and into the appropriate line.

Where is CLEAR available?

CLEAR is currently available at 50+ airports, as well as at some stadiums and other venues. The list of eligible CLEAR locations is always changing, so you can check this link to see the up-to-date locations.

Note that not all terminals at eligible airports have CLEAR, and in some cases, CLEAR is only open for select hours. So you’ll want to check that before heading to the airport.

How do you sign up for CLEAR?

The process of signing up for CLEAR is super easy. You can initially register online, which should take just a couple of minutes. Your payment will already be processed when you register.

Then the next time you’re at an airport with CLEAR, you can simply see a company representative, and they’ll walk you through the registration process, which consists of them taking your biometric data. Unlike with Global Entry, there’s no “interview” required here. CLEAR is essentially just verifying your biometric data, so the company isn’t assessing how “risky” of a passenger you are.

How does CLEAR compare to TSA PreCheck?

CLEAR, TSA PreCheck, and Global Entry, are complements and not substitutes:

• CLEAR gets you expedited ID checking at eligible airports
• TSA PreCheck gets you expedited security screening at eligible airports, as you don’t have to take off your shoes, or take liquids or laptops out of your bags
• Global Entry gets you expedited immigration when entering the United States, allowing you to go straight to a kiosk and skip the main lines

When it comes to memberships:

• A Global Entry membership gets you Global Entry and TSA PreCheck, but not CLEAR
• A TSA PreCheck membership just gets you TSA PreCheck
• A CLEAR membership just gets you CLEAR

The ideal situation is to have a Global Entry membership and a CLEAR membership, as you’re then covered for all three programs.

How do you maximize value with CLEAR?

Ordinarily, a CLEAR membership costs $189 per year. You might be thinking “great, Amex cards offer credits of up to $189, so I’m all set.” Not so fast, because you can potentially do better than that, especially if you also want to get CLEAR for friends and family members. Let’s look at some of the strategies to maximize your Amex CLEAR credits.

CLEAR should cost no more than $179 per year

At the absolute most you should be paying $179 per year for CLEAR, before factoring in any potential Amex CLEAR credits. Why? Just for being a member of Delta SkyMiles or United MileagePlus you get a reduced CLEAR membership rate of $179 per year. Signing up for these programs is free and takes just a couple of minutes.

No status is required, but rather the discount is offered just for being a member of these programs:

• Follow this link to get the preferential Delta SkyMiles pricing
• Follow this link to get the preferential United MileagePlus pricing

Now, admittedly this distinction might not be all that important, since your card offers a $189 credit anyway, so you might not necessarily care if you’re billed $179 or $189.

Save even more with airline status or credit cards

You can save even more on a CLEAR membership if you have airline status or select co-brand credit cards:

• CLEAR is free for Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion members
• CLEAR costs $149 for Delta SkyMiles Platinum, Gold, and Silver Medallion members, as well as those with a co-branded Delta SkyMiles Credit Card
• CLEAR is free for United MileagePlus Premier 1K members
• CLEAR costs $149 for United MileagePlus Platinum, Gold, and Silver Premier members, as well as those with a co-branded United MileagePlus Credit Card

Amex credits can be applied toward any of these discounted CLEAR membership opportunities.

Get CLEAR for $60 with family plans

CLEAR memberships are individual, so you can’t bring friends or family along with you, aside from children under 18, who can tag along for free without registering.

The good news is that CLEAR also offers family plans. With CLEAR’s family plans, you can add up to three people to your account for $60 each per year. The people you add don’t even have to be immediate or biological family. As CLEAR describes it, you can even add “chosen family, or friends that feel like family.”

There are no tricks here — you can just sign up for an individual membership, and then later can add people to your family plan.

The best CLEAR strategy with Amex credits

If you have a $189 CLEAR credit on the Amex Personal Platinum Card, Amex Business Platinum Card, or Amex Green Card, what’s the best strategy to take? It depends on a couple of factors, including whether you have one or multiple eligible Amex cards, and also whether you have elite status or a co-branded credit card with Delta or United.

So here are a few thoughts:

• At a minimum, your up to $189 CLEAR credit will cover an annual CLEAR membership for one person
• If you’re eligible for the $149 pricing (based on having elite status or a co-branded credit card with Delta or United), you could get a membership and add a second person for $60, and only be out of pocket $20
• If you have two or more Amex cards offering CLEAR credits, the best strategy is to get a membership for yourself with one card, and then to use the credit on another card to add up to three additional people using the family plan

I actually have all three Amex cards that offer CLEAR credits. So I use one of the CLEAR credits for myself, and then I’ve added three people to my account using the credit on one of the other cards. I’d say that’s a pretty good system.

The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

Three American Express cards offer CLEAR Plus credits of up to $189, including the Amex Personal Platinum Card, Amex Business Platinum Card, and Amex Green Card. This is a great perk, since a CLEAR membership will cost you nothing out of pocket this way.

If you have two or more cards with CLEAR credits, then you can always use the credits on the second card for a family plan, to add people for $60 each. Your $189 credit will cover up to three people that way.

If you have an Amex card with a CLEAR credit, what’s your strategy for maximizing value?

The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.