TSA Allows You To Add Your Passport To This Apple Wallet Alternative

The airport is most likely not your favorite place to be, but the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is hoping to make things a little less tedious by allowing you to upload your passport to CLEAR ID. However, not every traveler feels it’s worth doing. 

CLEAR ID is a mobile app that lets you upload your passport, so you can use it at TSA checkpoints in the airport instead of taking out a physical copy. CLEAR states that you must still bring a REAL ID with you while traveling, but you can keep it in your bag. Meanwhile, the CLEAR will send your information out to a partner to verify what you’ve submitted on the app is accurate and to ensure there was no device fraud while uploading. 

While it’s an officially accepted form of ID by the TSA, it’s not recognized at every airport. It’s currently accepted at 60 airports — you can double-check which airports recognize CLEAR on the official website, which also includes over 150 stadiums and arenas. 

While the CLEAR ID app is free, a CLEAR+ membership is a little over $200 a year. CLEAR+ members get access to designated CLEAR lanes, called CLEAR Pods, at 150 locations across the country, including at major airports. The idea of having your own lane sounds enticing for some, but current CLEAR users have mixed feelings about the membership. 

Even though many travelers have experienced the CLEAR+ line being shorter than the main security checkpoint, the line tends to move a lot slower. This has led a lot of frequent fliers to prefer pre-check instead. “I travel a ton and have had CLEAR for years,” said one user on Reddit. “[…] It takes almost as long to go through three people at CLEAR as it does 25-50 at Pre-Check.” Other CLEAR users noted that you still have to remove your shoes and other time-consuming procedures if you don’t have TSA Pre-Check, which also has its own digital ID system.

However, CLEAR+ can still come in handy if the other lines are extremely long. If there are hundreds of passengers in line, skipping to the front of the line with CLEAR+ can save a lot of time even if the Ambassadors are a bit slower. We recommend CLEAR+ if you are a very frequent flyer, since $200 or so a year for a few trips can be quite pricey.