Clear's familiar blue kiosks are starting to disappear from airport security checkpoints, and most flyers won't miss them. The identity-verification company has spent this year installing automated e-gates across its US network, and as of this week the gates are live at 53 airports — roughly 80% of the hubs where Clear operates. By the end of the year, the company expects the technology to cover nearly all of its Clear Plus locations, just in time for the holiday travel crunch.

The old process involved a two-step shuffle: you'd stop at a kiosk for a photo, then wait for a Clear ambassador to walk you to the front of the TSA line. It worked, but not always smoothly — kiosks could be busy, staff unavailable, and the whole thing occasionally added friction rather than removing it.

The e-gates trim that down to a single motion. You walk up to a gate, a camera verifies your identity, and the doors open. Clear claims verification takes five seconds or less, and says that at airports already running the new gates, 96% of members clear the process in five minutes or under. Early users generally report a walk-through experience with only a brief pause for the photo — no staff hand-holding required.

For anyone new to the service: Clear is a paid membership that skips you past the general ID-check line at TSA, dropping you at the baggage screening stage. It's most effective when paired with TSA PreCheck, so you shortcut both the ID check and the liquids-and-laptops ritual.

Clear Plus now costs $219 a year. That price stings less if you carry the right credit card — the Amex Platinum offers a statement credit of up to $219 annually for the membership, effectively making it free for cardholders. Delta, United and Alaska also offer discounted rates through their loyalty programmes, and promotional first-year discounts are common.

Worth knowing: Clear has real competition now. The TSA's own PreCheck Touchless ID lets members pass through security without showing an ID or boarding pass at dozens of airports, at no extra cost for PreCheck and Global Entry members — you just need to opt in through your airline profile. If you're a PreCheck member, it's worth trying both to see which moves faster at your home airport.

Who should care? Frequent domestic flyers who already pay for Clear will notice the difference immediately, especially during peak periods when staffed kiosks used to bottleneck. Occasional travellers doing the maths on a $219 membership should weigh how often they fly and whether a credit card or airline perk can offset the fee — and whether free Touchless ID might do the job instead.

Via The Points Guy.