Signing up for TSA PreCheck no longer means hunting down a government enrollment centre. Clear, the paid biometric security line you've probably seen at busy US airports, is now an official TSA PreCheck enrollment provider — and it has rolled the service out at dozens of airports plus hundreds of retail spots, including many Staples stores.
The two programs are still completely separate. TSA PreCheck is the government-run expedited screening program that gets vetted flyers into faster checkpoint lanes for five years at a time. Clear is a private, membership-based service that uses facial recognition to cut you to the front of the security line. But since becoming an authorized enrollment provider in 2024, Clear has made it possible to sign up for PreCheck — or renew an existing membership — at its airport locations, usually with no appointment needed. You start the application online, then finish it in person with your documents.
The pricing is where things get interesting. New applicants can bundle a five-year TSA PreCheck membership with the first year of Clear+ for $219 total. Since Clear+ on its own costs $219 a year, anyone who was planning to pay for Clear anyway is effectively getting their PreCheck enrollment for free. Renewals can be bundled the same way, and existing PreCheck members can renew through Clear even if they originally signed up elsewhere — most renewals can be done entirely online, starting up to six months before expiry.
There's a catch, though: if you have zero interest in Clear+, this isn't necessarily the cheapest route. Clear is one of three authorized PreCheck enrollment providers, alongside Idemia and Telos, and prices vary between them, so it pays to compare. It's also worth checking your wallet before paying anything — several travel credit cards offer statement credits that cover PreCheck application fees, and premium cards like the Amex Platinum offer up to $219 a year toward Clear+, which would make the bundle essentially free.
For frequent US flyers, this is a genuinely useful bit of housekeeping. PreCheck membership lasts five years, so the enrollment method you pick now follows you through every airport visit until the end of the decade. If you're already sold on Clear's shorter lines at hubs like Atlanta, Denver or Dallas-Fort Worth, the bundle is a no-brainer. If you just want the PreCheck lanes and nothing else, a cheaper provider or a credit-card-covered enrollment will do the same job.
Story via The Points Guy.
