How to get CLEAR® Plus membership for free or at a discounted rate

Other links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission that helps contribute to the running of the site. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card welcome offers, earning rates and benefits and some credit card benefits will require enrollment. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page.

CLEAR® Plus is an expedited security program based around facial recognition and fingerprint software that’s currently available at over 55 airports around the United States and at several entertainment and sports venues as well.

Since 1 August 2024, an individual CLEAR® Plus membership costs $199/year and a family membership costs $199/year for the first adult and then $119/year/person for up to three more adults.

There are ways, however, that you can get membership for free, get the full cost of membership rebated, or get a discounted rate.

Note: Family members of CLEAR® Plus members who are under the age of 18 can join them in the expedited lanes at no extra cost.

How CLEAR® Plus works

Enrolled members simply need to scan their boarding pass and their eyes or fingerprints at a CLEAR Pod in an airport where the program is operating, and a member of CLEAR staff will then escort them to the front of the security line to be screened by TSA.

Essentially, it’s a program that allows members to skip to the front of the regular security line.

CLEAR® Plus pricing

Since 1 August 2024, an individual CLEAR® Plus membership costs $199/year and a family membership costs $199/year for the first adult and then $119/year/person for up to three more adults.

Family members of CLEAR® Plus members who are under the age of 18 can join them in the expedited lanes at no extra cost.

Get a full rebate of CLEAR® Plus membership

Full rebate through credit cards

The following five publicly available American Express cards now offer a statement credit of up to $199 (was $189) when a CLEAR® Plus membership is purchased using their eligible card (terms apply and enrollment is required).

• The Platinum Card® from American Express
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
• The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• The American Express® Green Card
• The American Express Corporate Platinum Card®

Note: All information about the American Express® Green Card, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and the American Express Corporate Platinum Card® has been collected independently by Traveling For Miles. The American Express® Green Card, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and the American Express Corporate Platinum Card® are not currently available through Traveling For Miles.

Get free CLEAR® Plus membership

• Delta SkyMiles Diamond and 360˚ elites can enjoy free membership when they enrol on this page.
• Hawaiian Airlines Pualani Platinum elites who have flown 75,000 or more flight miles can enjoy free membership when they enrol on this page.
• United MileagePlus Premier 1K and Global services elites can enjoy free membership when they enrol on this page.

Get discounted CLEAR® Plus membership

If you don’t hold one of the card mentioned above or one of the elite statuses, you may still not have to pay in full for CLEAR® Plus membership.

Discounts through airlines

Alaska Airlines

• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75k and MVP Gold 100k elites can purchase membership for $189/year and can renew at $179/year (link).

At the time of writing, MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75k and MVP Gold 100k members will receive 1,500 miles for enrolling in CLEAR® Plus for the first time at the $189 rate, and 1,250 miles for renewing/reinstating their CLEAR® Plus accounts at the $179 rate.

Delta Air Lines

• Delta SkyMiles members without elite status can purchase membership for $189/year
• Delta SkyMiles Silver, Gold and Platinum elites can purchase membership for $159/year

Link to Clear®/Delta partner page

Hawaiian Airlines

• Hawaiian Airlines members without elite status can purchase membership for $189/year
• Hawaiian Airlines Gold and Pualani Platinum* elites as well as Premier Club members can purchase membership for $159/year

*Pualani Platinum elites who have not flown at least 75,000 flight miles.

Link to Clear®/Hawaiian partner page

United Airlines

• United MileagePlus members without elite status can purchase membership for $189/year
• United MileagePlus Silver, Gold and Platinum elites can purchase membership for $159/year

Link to Clear®/United partner page

Discounts through credit cards

• Holders of a Delta SkyMiles American Express card can purchase membership for $159/year via this link.
• Holders of a United Airlines MileagePlus credit card can purchase membership for $159/year via this link.

Government, military and veteran discounts

Active duty military and veterans as well as government employees (federal, state, and local government) can all get discounts on CLEAR® Plus membership when they visit a CLEAR® airport location.

The CLEAR® website doesn’t currently state what the discounts look like, but we believe that a discount of up to $80 is available ($119/year).

Bottom line

CLEAR® Plus membership can be very useful to have when you’re passing through the busier airports (especially if you also have TSA Precheck), but at $199/year it can feel expensive if you’re not a frequent flyer.

Fortunately, there are several ways to get a discount or to effectively pay nothing for an annual membership, and that should make CLEAR® Plus more interesting and more accessible to a lot of people.