A new bill, the first of its kind in the U.S., would ban security screening company Clear from operating at California airports as lawmakers take aim at companies that let consumers pay to pass through security ahead of other travelers.
Sen. Josh Newman, a California Democrat and the sponsor of the legislation, said Clear effectively lets wealthier people skip in front of passengers who have been waiting to be screened by Transportation Security Administration agents.
“It’s a basic equity issue when you see people subscribed to a concierge service being escorted in front of people who have waited a long time to get to the front of TSA line,” Newman told CBS MoneyWatch. “Everyone is beaten down by the travel experience, and if Clear escorts a customer in front of you and tells TSA, ‘Sorry, I have someone better,’ it’s really frustrating.”
If passed, the bill would bar Clear, a private security clearance company founded in 2010, from airports in California. Clear charges members $189 per year to verify passengers’ identities at airports and escort them through security, allowing them to bypass TSA checkpoints. The service is in use at roughly 50 airports across the U.S., as well as at dozens of sports stadiums and other venues.
Clear isn’t a security service, it’s a paid line cutting service so you can go through security in front of people who didn’t pay. They’d never pay for doing actual security, they just want your money and then you still go through TSA.
Your “people who don’t know the process” will still be in front of you, trying to figure out the bins. You paid to be behind other people doing exactly the same thing.
A shorter wait is a shorter wait for one, and the time saving is more valuable than the dollar price. And for two, the TSA isn’t doing security either if we are splitting hairs. Clear is no different than pre check except everybody and their brother isn’t paying for clear yet: they paid to cut the line, just not as much money.
IDGAF what clear is or is not, and if I gotta pay everybody in line $5 to not have to wait to scan my single shoulder bag I would do that. I would rather spend the extra hour at home with my kids thanks.