Front-of-the-line security, for a price
A fingerprint scan can help you avoid long security lines. Credit: Getty Images
Clear, the private company that allows its members to whisk through airport security lines, is creeping back into business. For $179 a year, members who check in at participating airports can bypass the first layer of TSA screening and proceed directly through to metal detectors and X-ray baggage screening. Joining requires passengers to register biometrics with the company - an eye scan and fingerprint - which are verified at designated Clear security kiosks near security gates.
Operation is up and running at Orlando and Denver airports, and the company hopes to expand to about a dozen locations by the end of the year, says Gareth Edmondson-Jones, Clear's chief brand officer.
Launched five years ago, the company was operating in 18 airports until shutting down in 2009 in a dispute with creditors. The current ownership acquired the business in federal bankruptcy proceedings and relaunched the service in November.
Details at clearme.com or 855-253-2763.