CLEAR Plus in 2026: The New TSA PreCheck Partnership, Shutdown Aftermath, and Whether $209 Still Makes Sense

CLEAR Plus runs $209 a year in 2026 and now bundles TSA PreCheck enrollment for $79.95 through a new partnership that skips the in-person appointment. It is available at 60-plus US airports, replaces the ID check with a biometric scan, and pairs with Global Entry or PreCheck rather than competing with them. The math works if you fly out of a CLEAR airport more than five or six times a year, especially if a premium credit card covers the membership fee.

I get asked about CLEAR Plus more than almost any other travel topic, and the answer in 2026 is genuinely different than it was a year ago. The Department of Homeland Security funding lapse in February briefly froze Global Entry, the new TSA-CLEAR enrollment partnership has changed how people get PreCheck, and CLEAR Plus pricing has settled into a clear position alongside the government programs rather than as a replacement for them. Here is everything I wish I had known before paying for my first year.

*Information here is summarized from publicly available sources, including the Transportation Security Administration, US Customs and Border Protection, and the official CLEAR member portal. Fees, enrollment partnerships, and lane availability can change without notice. Always verify the current rules on the TSA, CBP, and CLEAR official sites before paying for membership. Images are illustrative and may differ from actual lounges.

What CLEAR Plus Actually Does at the Airport

CLEAR Plus replaces the document checker at the front of the security line. Instead of handing your boarding pass and ID to a TSA officer, you walk to a CLEAR kiosk, place your fingers on a scanner or look into a camera for an iris read, and an ambassador walks you to the front of the screening line. You still go through the physical screening, which is exactly where PreCheck helps you. CLEAR shortens the wait at the document podium, and PreCheck shortens the wait at the body scanner. The two together is the point of pairing them.

That distinction matters because new members occasionally pay for CLEAR and expect to skip taking off their shoes. CLEAR is purely an identity service, so a CLEAR-only member at an airport without PreCheck still goes through the standard security lane after the kiosk. At airports like Salt Lake City, Denver, and Atlanta, where CLEAR has dedicated walk-up lanes, the time savings are real, often five to twenty minutes on a busy morning. At smaller airports with one shared screening lane, the savings collapse.

The 2026 Price and the New TSA Bundle

CLEAR Plus costs $209 a year for a single adult membership. The same household can add up to three additional family members at $70 each per year, and children under 18 travel free with an enrolled adult. The bigger 2026 shift is the new TSA enrollment partnership. CLEAR Plus members can now apply for TSA PreCheck at a participating CLEAR enrollment lane without booking a separate in-person appointment at a government office or an IdentoGO center.

Here is how the partnership works in practice. You submit the PreCheck application online, pay $79.95 directly to TSA, walk into a CLEAR Plus enrollment area at a participating airport, and finish the biometric capture there. TSA processes the background check and most applicants get a Known Traveler Number within three to five days. That removes the most painful step of PreCheck enrollment, which historically meant booking a weeks-out appointment at a Staples or USPS location. If you already pay for CLEAR Plus, treat the new $79.95 as the PreCheck fee folded into the bundle.

Official details on the partnership live on the CLEAR support portal and on tsa.gov/precheck. Both pages are worth a quick read before you commit, because participating airports vary.

What the February Shutdown Actually Changed

The DHS funding lapse that started on February 14 created a brief but messy stretch for trusted traveler programs. Global Entry was paused on the morning of February 22, restored at 5 a.m. Eastern on March 11, and reopened with a backlog of pending applications that took several weeks to clear. TSA PreCheck was announced as suspended, then reversed within a day after a public outcry, and continued operating throughout the shutdown. CLEAR Plus, as a private service, was unaffected at the lane level, though some enrollment locations inside federally operated buildings had limited hours.

What that meant for travelers was a flood of last-minute pivots. People with pending Global Entry interviews were rebooked into late spring slots. New enrollees who needed PreCheck for an immediate trip leaned harder on the CLEAR bundle path. And longtime CLEAR Plus members who had relied on Global Entry kiosks at international arrivals found themselves back in the regular customs line for a few weeks. The lesson, which I now repeat to anyone asking, is that having two of the three programs gives you a backup. One alone is fine until it is not.

CLEAR Plus vs Global Entry vs TSA PreCheck

The three programs sit in different parts of the airport. TSA PreCheck costs $77.95 directly with TSA or $79.95 through the CLEAR partnership, runs for five years, and gives you the expedited domestic security lane where shoes, belts, and laptops stay packed. Global Entry costs $120 for five years, includes PreCheck, and adds expedited US customs clearance on international arrivals through a dedicated kiosk that uses facial recognition or fingerprints. CLEAR Plus at $209 a year is the identity-verification layer at the front of the security line and is private rather than government issued.

For a domestic-only traveler who flies five to twelve times a year out of a CLEAR airport, PreCheck plus CLEAR is the combination that compresses curb-to-gate time the most. For anyone who takes even one or two international trips a year, Global Entry replaces PreCheck-only enrollment because it includes PreCheck and adds customs clearance for $120 over five years, which works out to $24 per year. CLEAR Plus is then the optional add-on. Our full NEXUS, Global Entry, and TSA PreCheck guide compares the three government programs side by side.

Canadian travelers should also consider NEXUS, which costs $50 USD for five years, includes Global Entry benefits, and adds expedited US-Canada border crossings. It is the cheapest path to Global Entry-equivalent access for Canadian citizens and permanent residents, with the catch that interview slots can be slow in some regions.

Credit Cards That Cover the Fees

CLEAR Plus reimbursements come from a smaller pool of cards than PreCheck or Global Entry credits, but the ones that do offer it cover the full $209. The American Express Platinum Card includes a statement credit of up to $209 a year for CLEAR Plus membership, on top of its $120 Global Entry credit and a separate $85 PreCheck credit through compatible enrollment paths. A handful of Delta co-brand cards from Amex offer a partial CLEAR credit tied to a SkyMiles login, with the discount applied at the CLEAR checkout page.

For PreCheck and Global Entry, the list is much longer. Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Capital One Venture and Venture X, the Bank of America Premium Rewards line, and most Amex Platinum variants all reimburse the application fee, usually once every four to five years. The Amex Platinum has a quirk worth knowing about, which is that companion Platinum cardholders on the same account each get their own Global Entry or PreCheck credit, which makes it the rare credit that scales for families. Browse the cards directory for the products that match your spend profile.

If you pay the $209 CLEAR Plus fee out of pocket, the breakeven point is roughly six flights a year through a CLEAR airport, assuming you value your time at about $25 to $30 an hour and save fifteen to twenty minutes per trip. Below that, the math is harder to justify. Above that, especially if you connect through major Delta or United hubs, the membership pays for itself.

Where CLEAR Plus Lanes Are Worth It and Where They Are Not

The 60-plus airports where CLEAR Plus operates are not all created equal. The lanes are most valuable at airports where the document podium queue is consistently slow because of high traffic and limited PreCheck staffing. Salt Lake City, Denver International, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Seattle-Tacoma consistently show meaningful savings during morning and evening peaks. JFK Terminal 4 and LAX Terminals 1, 2, 4, and 7 also have strong CLEAR coverage.

Smaller airports with low natural wait times, like Austin on most days or Nashville outside summer peaks, gain less from CLEAR because the PreCheck line is already short. If you fly mostly out of those, the membership math gets harder. Check the airports list on clearme.com/locations before paying for the first year. Some travelers also combine CLEAR with a lounge access card to chain together speed at the front and comfort at the gate, with Priority Pass, LoungeKey, and DragonPass covering the lounge side at most US hubs.

Enrollment Tips That Save Time

CLEAR Plus enrollment itself is fast, typically under five minutes at any participating airport once you have completed the online application. Bring a passport or a REAL ID compliant driver's license, walk to the enrollment area near the CLEAR lanes, and the ambassador handles the biometric capture. Members can use the lane on the same day. For the bundled TSA PreCheck path, complete the TSA online application first at universalenroll.dhs.gov, save the application number, and bring it to the CLEAR enrollment lane.

For Global Entry, schedule the interview as soon as you submit the application, because the post-shutdown backlog has stretched wait times in several US cities into the late summer. Some travelers have found shorter waits at airports of arrival, where the Enrollment on Arrival program lets you finish the interview when returning from an international trip. Houston Intercontinental, Chicago O'Hare, and Miami are useful options if your local interview slot is months out.

The Bottom Line

CLEAR Plus at $209 is worth it for frequent domestic flyers who depart from CLEAR airports and want to stack it with PreCheck, and it is genuinely improved by the new TSA enrollment partnership that ends the in-person appointment hassle. Global Entry remains the highest-value single program for anyone who flies internationally even occasionally, because the $24-per-year effective cost is hard to beat and it includes PreCheck. PreCheck on its own is fine if you fly under five times a year and skip the CLEAR airports.

The February shutdown is a reminder that overlapping coverage helps. If your only expedited credential is Global Entry and the program pauses, you are back in the standard queue. If you carry Global Entry plus CLEAR Plus, you still walk into the building faster on a domestic departure. For frequent travelers, the cost of redundancy is small once a credit card absorbs the fees. Browse the cards directory for products that reimburse CLEAR, PreCheck, or Global Entry, and pair the right credit card with the right program for your travel mix.

For more practical airport speed tips, see our guide on when to check in, when to arrive, and how premium cards skip airport crowds, the full NEXUS, Global Entry, and TSA PreCheck guide, or browse the airport directory to see which CLEAR airports are on your typical route.

Information is reviewed periodically. Always verify CLEAR Plus pricing, the TSA PreCheck enrollment partnership, Global Entry program status, and credit card reimbursement terms on the official CLEAR portal, TSA PreCheck site, and CBP Global Entry page before applying. Program lane availability, credit card benefits, and post-shutdown processing times can change.