February 2008
Clear card: A shortcut with serious trade-offs
The Web site for Clear has the answer to every traveler's dream: "Avoid the hassle of airport security every time you fly."
For $128 a year, you can be screened and issued a card that will put you in the fast lane at the airport. "Clear members pass
through airport security faster, with more predictability and less hassle," says the site, at www.flyclear.com.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Transportation Security Administration has offered a slew of programs to ease passengers through airport security lines. One of the most controversial is Registered Traveler, in which passengers undergo background checks in exchange for an ID card that gets them through security lines faster at some airports. RT is a federal program administered by five TSA-approved vendors. The best known of these is Verified Identity Pass, the operator of Clear.
The real deal
To get a Clear card, you sign up online, then go to an enrollment station for photographs, fingerprinting, and iris scanning. "This is E-ZPass on steroids," says Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travelers. "All it takes is one missed flight for a Registered Traveler membership to pay for itself, and it could pay for itself 10 times over." But the American Civil Liberties Union sees it differently, calling RT "ineffective, impractical and/or unfair, dangerous, and unnecessary."
Opponents to Registered Traveler often cite three issues:
The bottom line
Aside from such big-picture concerns, does Clear deliver on its promises? For one thing, the program isn't widely available. In mid-January, Clear was in use at just 13 airports—in some cases only in certain terminals or for specific airlines. And RT will not relieve you of having to remove your shoes, coat, or laptop at the gate.
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports Money Adviser and this Web site, recently examined airport security wait times over several months. We found many that did not seem onerous. But Steven Brill, CEO of Verified Identity Pass, says that average waits don't determine the value of RT. "The reason our members buy Clear is that it's predictable. No one at Orlando stands in line for more than four minutes or I hear about it."
So is Registered Traveler worthwhile for infrequent flyers? "If you travel once a year, maybe not," says Luke Thomas, executive vice president of the FLO Corp., another RT vendor. "If you travel for vacation four times a year, you might consider it."
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Transportation Security Administration has offered a slew of programs to ease passengers through airport security lines. One of the most controversial is Registered Traveler, in which passengers undergo background checks in exchange for an ID card that gets them through security lines faster at some airports. RT is a federal program administered by five TSA-approved vendors. The best known of these is Verified Identity Pass, the operator of Clear.
The real deal
To get a Clear card, you sign up online, then go to an enrollment station for photographs, fingerprinting, and iris scanning. "This is E-ZPass on steroids," says Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travelers. "All it takes is one missed flight for a Registered Traveler membership to pay for itself, and it could pay for itself 10 times over." But the American Civil Liberties Union sees it differently, calling RT "ineffective, impractical and/or unfair, dangerous, and unnecessary."
Opponents to Registered Traveler often cite three issues:
- Security. Some people worry that RT provides a false sense of security-and could be used by terrorist sleeper cells. "From a terrorist's
point of view, at least one member of a team should be a trusted traveler," notes Bogdan Dzakovic, a TSA employee and former
Federal Aviation Administration Red Team leader.
- Privacy. In testimony before Congress in 2005, Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, warned that
unscrupulous RT vendors might use travelers' personal information for purposes other than aviation security.
- Elitism. Others say that RT benefits only a privileged group of wealthy travelers. But Mitchell disagrees. "For about $100, any American
can choose to participate," he says. "It's absolutely egalitarian."
The bottom line
Aside from such big-picture concerns, does Clear deliver on its promises? For one thing, the program isn't widely available. In mid-January, Clear was in use at just 13 airports—in some cases only in certain terminals or for specific airlines. And RT will not relieve you of having to remove your shoes, coat, or laptop at the gate.
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports Money Adviser and this Web site, recently examined airport security wait times over several months. We found many that did not seem onerous. But Steven Brill, CEO of Verified Identity Pass, says that average waits don't determine the value of RT. "The reason our members buy Clear is that it's predictable. No one at Orlando stands in line for more than four minutes or I hear about it."
So is Registered Traveler worthwhile for infrequent flyers? "If you travel once a year, maybe not," says Luke Thomas, executive vice president of the FLO Corp., another RT vendor. "If you travel for vacation four times a year, you might consider it."
This article was also published in Consumer Reports Money Adviser.
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