[April 22, 2024] CBS News: California could ban Clear from California airports, which lets travelers pay to skip TSA lines

[MDCrabCakeFan86]

CBS News has reported that California has in its legislature, a "first of its kind in the U.S." bill that if passed, would ban security screening company Clear from operating at California airports:

California could ban Clear, which lets travelers pay to skip TSA lines

A "concierge service" that lets paying members bypass airport security lines is unfair to other travelers, California lawmaker says.

www.cbsnews.com

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.

A media representative for Clear declined to comment on the proposal to ban the company's service in California.

"We are proud to partner with nine airports across California — creating hundreds of jobs, sharing more than $13 million in annual revenue with our California airport partners and serving nearly 1 million Californians," the company said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. "We are always working with our airline and airport partners as well as local, state, and federal governments to ensure all travelers have a safer, easier checkpoint experience."

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[chefbags]

That would be wild lol, got hired from them recently and didn't go cause hours just didn't work out. Would be crazy if this passes.

 

[Becks']

EDIT: wrong thread

 

[the lizard]

I dont know much about this but first instinct is great - privatization of airport security isn't good for anyone

 

[Ring Dings and Pepsi]

I'll need to look into it more but it's wild to me ONE company got to install itself in the entirety of the US as the "fast travel concierge" security checkpoint lane, surpassing even that of TSA, and gets to collect an absolute trove of extremely sensitive travel data that includes biometrics. The sheer amount of favors, connections, bribes, blackmail material, all the above and more, that this company must have on the entirety of the US government must be unprecedented to get this kind of unique favorable treatment.

 

[MDCrabCakeFan86]

Here's the website for this security screening company, Clear: https://www.clearme.com/

 

[CupOfDoom]

Yeah, people shouldn't be able to pay clear to skip the line. They should only be able to pay the TSA directly for pre-check.

 

[MDCrabCakeFan86]

Here's a page that has a list of airports that have specific lanes for Clear Plus and an explanation of what Clear Plus is: https://www.clearme.com/clear-plus

CLEAR Plus Pricing

Individual
$189 / year
Enjoy friction-free travel without waiting in line to show your I.D.

Access 100+ CLEAR Lanes at 55+ airports nationwide

Secure digital identity to prove you're you at the airport and beyond

Family members under 18 can join you in the CLEAR Lane

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What is CLEAR Plus—and where can I use it?

CLEAR Plus is our paid airport Membership. With CLEAR Plus, you can move faster through airport security nationwide in our designated CLEAR Lanes at TSA checkpoints. Before you fly, our friendly Ambassadors help you verify your identity at a CLEAR Pod to save you time.

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[TheYanger]

Eh as a Californian with clear at my local airport, I don't see the issue either way. It's so rare that it actually looks like it saves more than 2-3 minutes tops. Then of course it's silly when tsa pre check exists, which is WAY more valuable imo

 

[carlsojo]

Fuck that lol let me skip the lines

 

[B'z-chan]

Everywhere I've been that has this service it's made for a poorer overall experience for others traveling. TSA precheck isn't perfect either but at least it's not giving money to airlines like Clear is.

 

[danm999]

I guess it's some naive fantasy of mine that air travel could ever go back to more relaxed security that it was pre-911 and instead it's now some Byzantine hierarchy of public private partnerships that just annoys everyone and if you ever wanted to commit a terrorist attack you can just pay $200 to skip TSA checkpoints

 

[firehawk12]

I guess it's some naive fantasy of mine that air travel could ever go back to more relaxed security that it was pre-911 and instead it's now some Byzantine hierarchy of public private partnerships that just annoys everyone and if you ever wanted to commit a terrorist attack you can just pay $200 to skip TSA checkpoints

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Alternatively, everyone travels naked and is not allowed luggage.-

 

[CupOfDoom]

I guess it's some naive fantasy of mine that air travel could ever go back to more relaxed security that it was pre-911 and instead it's now some Byzantine hierarchy of public private partnerships that just annoys everyone and if you ever wanted to commit a terrorist attack you can just pay $200 to skip TSA checkpoints

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you don't even need to do that. audits have shown that TSA does an extremely poor job at stopping people getting weapons through security.

 

[danm999]

you don't even need to do that. audits have shown that TSA does an extremely poor job at stopping people getting weapons through security.

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it is a cost of living crisis after all, every penny counts

 

[Zoator]

Yeah this is really stupid. By banning Clear without an equivalent alternative, you're just forcing those people to go through the TSA checkpoint, increasing the wait times for everyone (including non-Clear customers). I thought this was going to be about some security lapse regarding Clear, but it sounds like it's just spite on the part of people without Clear because they feel bad when someone skips the checkpoint.

 

[Darknight]

Why would Clear get banned but not TSA Pre?

 

[TheYanger]

Why would Clear get banned but not TSA Pre?

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Because TSA Precheck is run by the federal government

 

[danm999]

Why would Clear get banned but not TSA Pre?

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i would assume California has the power to ban a private company but not to fuck with the TSA Pre-Check

because you're right otherwise, either you get rid of all preferential treatment or you make things easier for everyone

 

[NinjaScooter]

I wonder if a lot of the post-9/11 security/TSA screening shit that bogs down airport travel has outlived its usefulness and rebooting that could be one way to make air port travel more efficient, and thus lessening the need/impact for things like Pre Check or Clear in the first place. Like, are we really not at a point where we don't need to take our shoes and belts off anymore?

 

[GalaxyDive]

If you actually read the source article, "banning" Clear is clickbait. The bill would just force Clear to operate their own, separate screening line (which they would presumably have to pay for all the costs themselves) instead of the current arrangement, in which Clear members are escorted directly past the unwashed masses standing and waiting in the regular TSA screening line.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Fuck that lol let me skip the lines

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TSA precheck?

 

[StillEdge]

What about FasTrak then.

 

[zashga]

I honestly had no idea clear was a private company. I've never really looked into it since TSA pre is already more or less what I wanted, i.e. a return to pre-9/11 security. Just walk through a metal detector and go. It doesn't cost $200 a year either.

 

[Malleymal]

I pay for clear but will be canceling soon. Last few flights last month, I went to regular tsa precheck line because it was faster than clear.

 

[Cantaim]

I wonder if a lot of the post-9/11 security/TSA screening shit that bogs down airport travel has outlived its usefulness and rebooting that could be one way to make air port travel more efficient, and thus lessening the need/impact for things like Pre Check or Clear in the first place. Like, are we really not at a point where we don't need to take our shoes and belts off anymore?

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Pretty much any TSA procedure that involves you stopping to take out anything should go. Just return to us walking through a metal detector and move on with our days. We got a better chance of dying in a car accident on the way to the airport than anyone actually trying something on the plane. And that ain't because TSA works.

 

[TJG662]

I used them once. Got late to the airport. The line was super long. The lady said she could get me and my wife signed up and threw in like 3 min. She actually did. Problem is I'm skipping the normal line and making people wait longer. If they had there own section like tsa pre check then maybe it would make sense. But I'm sure that wouldn't be cost effective for them.

 

[t26]

But Express Lane is some how okay?

 

[construct]

Yeah this is really stupid. By banning Clear without an equivalent alternative, you're just forcing those people to go through the TSA checkpoint, increasing the wait times for everyone (including non-Clear customers). I thought this was going to be about some security lapse regarding Clear, but it sounds like it's just spite on the part of people without Clear because they feel bad when someone skips the checkpoint.

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clear does not skip TSA checkpoint, it skips the TSA line. they're still going through the regular (or TSA Pre if they also have that) line

 

[Maz]

You can pay to skip lines like a disney theme park??? That's just wrong and feels scummy.

I've been on business class and in some airports they get a separate line, which I also think is wrong. We should all suffer equally.

 

[davepoobond]

You can pay to skip lines like a disney theme park??? That's just wrong and feels scummy.

I've been on business class and in some airports they get a separate line, which I also think is wrong. We should all suffer equally.

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Universal health care
Universal line waiting

What next

 

[Zoator]

clear does not skip TSA checkpoint, it skips the TSA line. they're still going through the regular (or TSA Pre if they also have that) line

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I see, so Clear bypasses the ID/boarding pass check, but you still need to go through the same bag screening as everyone else? But generally the bottleneck is the bag check, not the ID check, so Clear isn't really helping with overall bandwidth. In that case I can kind of understand the pushback. I'm generally in favor of offering expedited service or convenience for extra money, but I think that money should be used to improve the overall experience (e.g. staffing additional lanes).

I still don't feel like this is something that the CA legislature should be weighing in on, but at least it sounds like not much would be lost if it passes.

 

[construct]

I see, so Clear bypasses the ID/boarding pass check, but you still need to go through the same bag screening as everyone else? But generally the bottleneck is the bag check, not the ID check, so Clear isn't really helping with overall bandwidth. In that case I can kind of understand the pushback. I'm generally in favor of offering expedited service or convenience for extra money, but I think that money should be used to improve the overall experience (e.g. staffing additional lanes).

I still don't feel like this is something that the CA legislature should be weighing in on, but at least it sounds like not much would be lost if it passes.

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it just skips the line to the ID/passport check

IIRC on rare occasions you get lucky and they'll let you into TSA-precheck but it's completely random and probably just to help with congestion

 

[Mozendo]

This just seems silly when TSA Precheck is a thing and is cheaper.
When my girlfriend and I were leaving on our vacation from LAX I remember we were aggressively being sold Clear by an employee on our way to the TSA Precheck line which was already in a different area than the normal line.

 

[Mindwipe]

I mean, this isn't happening. Getting rid of Clear would be the quickest way for a Californian governor to lose all his major campaign finance contributors I can think of. It would definitely be vetoed.

 

[Jakisthe]

Genuinely ridiculous.

Spending money for less friction is no small part of the point of having money. Should it be illegal to spend money to be able to board planes faster? Illegal to spend money to have a car instead of using public transit? I'm all for making the experience as a whole better for everyone, but there's no great evil in "spend money to not have to deal with ___". That's insanity.