CLEAR® Plus Membership Price Increases (Again)

CLEAR is a technology company that helps with expediting clearing security at select US airports. The company stores the biometric data of members, allowing them to (typically) skip the ID check, and get straight into the security line. Combined with TSA PreCheck, this is the best setup you can have for clearing security in the US.

CLEAR has just increased the price of its CLEAR® Plus membership, both for the primary member, and for those added as part of a family account. The increases aren’t huge, but this is the second increase in less than a year.

CLEAR® Plus annual cost increases by $6-10

As of July 1, 2025, the cost of a CLEAR® Plus membership has been changed:

• An individual CLEAR® Plus membership has increased in cost by $10, from $199 to $209
• Adding someone to a CLEAR® Plus family account has increased in cost by $6, from $119 to $125 (you can add up to three people to your account, and they don’t have to be related to you)

The cost of a CLEAR® Plus membership has increased drastically over time, both for the primary member, and for members of a family account. For example, up until early 2023, adding someone to a family plan cost $60, then it was increased to $70, then it was increased to $99, then it was increased to $119, and now it has been increased to $125.

Keep in mind that several Amex cards offer CLEAR® Plus credits, and those credits have been updated to reflect the price hike. This means an eligible card could still cover the full $209 membership cost.

These price increases are whatever, but…

Nobody likes price increases, though based on my own experience, CLEAR® Plus just isn’t worth paying cash for. So if you’re getting a CLEAR® Plus membership through an Amex card, then there’s no price change, since the membership cost will continue to be covered.

My bigger issue isn’t with the price of a CLEAR® Plus membership, but rather that I find the whole CLEAR concept to be kind of dumb, at least in terms of its current reality:

• When CLEAR first started, it was a huge time saver, since not many people had it, so you actually saved a lot of time
• Now we’re at the point where basically everyone has CLEAR (tens of millions of frequent travelers), and when everyone can cut the ID check, no one can cut the ID check
• The TSA ID check is really simple nowadays — in many cases you just insert your ID into a reader, and you’re sent on your way, and don’t even have to show your boarding pass
• Meanwhile the CLEAR process just isn’t simple; the CLEAR ambassador has to fingerprint themselves with every passenger, has to ask whether you want to use your fingers or eyes for verifying your identity, then you have to scan your boarding pass, and then a good percentage of the time you still have to show the TSA agent your ID, and never mind the small space through which you have to navigate
• Airport security checkpoints are often so small, and I feel space could be better utilized by expanding other, more efficient screening methods

As someone who has CLEAR, I find myself skipping CLEAR and just using the standard TSA PreCheck line more often than not, and that usually ends up being fastest. That’s despite the fact that I’m cut by a countless number of CLEAR members in line. That means that on average, the existence of CLEAR slows me down rather than speeding me up, and that’s despite being a member.

TSA is working toward introducing a simplified biometric ID check process, and if you ask me, that can’t come soon enough. Hopefully it marks the end of CLEAR, at least in its current implementation at airports.

Bottom line

As of July 2025, the cost of a CLEAR® Plus membership has increased. The price has been upped by $10 for the primary member, and by $6 for someone added to a family plan. Fortunately Amex cards with an eligible credit continue to cover the entire amount.

What do you make of this CLEAR® Plus price increase?