Moderator: Travel Technology, Travel Photography and JetBlue
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 29,452
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssullivan
No wonder it's offered at so few airports.
It is only offered at a few because it was artifically limited in the initial testing. There are 12 now and more coming, but it is still a complete waste of money. If you're flying enough to get value out of it, just use the elite line. One thing I did notice is that the scanner machine at MCO did the shoes, so the Clear pax just walked through the detector without taking of their shoes. I don't think that's worth $100/year to me, especially when there is still a fair amount of waiting around involved, but it is a minor improvement.
There's no reason that efficient and reasonable security screening should only be available to those who pay even more to travel. Remember that we all pay the 9/11 security fee and PFCs and all those other taxes to fund the security operations. And the TSA has decided that instead of operating more security lines at airports, they're going to slow everything down by hiring ID checkers
Programs: CO PL, SPG PL, UA 3P, HILTON DIAMOND, BEST WESTERN DIAMOND, SIXT DIAMOND, AVIS PRESIDENT
Posts: 257
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbm12
And the TSA has decided that instead of operating more security lines at airports, they're going to slow everything down by hiring ID checkers
I agree with you here especially when the ID checkers are not running it through a verified system anyone with $100 can buy an ID on the street which would pass all scanners except when the number is run through the DMV. The entire ID check is a waste of time.
Programs: La Ministreuse de Surréalisme, CO Plat, MR Plat, SPG Plat
Posts: 6,776
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbm12
It is only offered at a few because it was artifically limited in the initial testing. There are 12 now and more coming, but it is still a complete waste of money. If you're flying enough to get value out of it, just use the elite line. One thing I did notice is that the scanner machine at MCO did the shoes, so the Clear pax just walked through the detector without taking of their shoes. I don't think that's worth $100/year to me, especially when there is still a fair amount of waiting around involved, but it is a minor improvement.
There's no reason that efficient and reasonable security screening should only be available to those who pay even more to travel. Remember that we all pay the 9/11 security fee and PFCs and all those other taxes to fund the security operations. And the TSA has decided that instead of operating more security lines at airports, they're going to slow everything down by hiring ID checkers
For me, it's worth the money alone to deal with MCO - it's the only airport I fly out of that uses CLEAR but I'm there every three weeks and saving 45 minutes (peak times) is well worth the $100 a year to me. I'm usually through in 5 minutes.
Location: Former Houstonian; now in Atlanta, for better or worse
Programs: CO Plat, UA 1P, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite
Posts: 11,361
I could see it if you had to deal with MCO on a regular basis. (Ugh, I'm in Orlando now and get to look forward to that mess tomorrow night...) But as the program stands now, I can't see paying that much for the handful of airports it serves. I've never even set foot in 25% of the current roster of airports, and of the rest, none are airports that I fly to more than once or twice a year, except EWR, which is only at Terminal B.
I want a safe, reliable, and consistent experience every time I fly. Programs like FlyClear impose costs on the system without making air travel more safe or reliable. I'm not a member on principal. Elite lines make sense because they separate travel pros from amateurs unfamiliar with the hoops to jump through.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin
Moderator: Travel Technology, Travel Photography and JetBlue
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 29,452
Quote:
Originally Posted by baglady
For me, it's worth the money alone to deal with MCO - it's the only airport I fly out of that uses CLEAR but I'm there every three weeks and saving 45 minutes (peak times) is well worth the $100 a year to me. I'm usually through in 5 minutes.
I've never waited more than 10 minutes to get through at MCO, and I was commuting weekly at the beginning of the year and have been back a few times since. Maybe I just got lucky, but it never seemed necessary to me there.
Programs: La Ministreuse de Surréalisme, CO Plat, MR Plat, SPG Plat
Posts: 6,776
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbm12
I've never waited more than 10 minutes to get through at MCO, and I was commuting weekly at the beginning of the year and have been back a few times since. Maybe I just got lucky, but it never seemed necessary to me there.
You're lucky
There have been times I've gotten through relatively quickly (prior to clear) and other times where it's been 45 minutes. Sometimes that 45 minutes makes the difference between me spending another night in Orlando or getting home. For some reason, I tend to get stuck there at peak times several times a year. For most people, I agree, CLEAR isn't worth it - for me, it is.
Programs: CO Plat, DL Plat, US Gold, Natl Exec, Hertz #1, Avis Preferred, Elite w/ All Major US Hotel Programs
Posts: 370
I have a Clear Card, love it and will be happy to renew despite the fact that there isn't a registered traveler line at my home airport. It's worth every penny, especially on early morning flights because you never have to guess how long the security line will be and can sleep in accordingly.
Never, ever ever. I will not give a company a retina scan and my information in that manner. Will definitely not pay.
And to any apologists out there, I say if you've got a problem with it, the solution is fixing TSA, not resorting to CLEAR.
By the way, it's an iris scan, not a retina scan. I'm a CLEAR user, and my hesitation was much more about giving my fingerprints than my iris. Your iris doesn't leave marks anywhere to place you at the scene. I decided it didn't matter that I gave them my fingerprints, since the government has them already for some background check I needed to go through before coaching kids.
Anyway, it's somewhat useful at SJC where the gates I use have no elite lines. It's also useful at some parts of SFO. Also, as far as the shoe removal part, eventually that will go away for CLEAR users.
__________________
My profile only lists status I've earned (not Centurion amenities)
Once you try Red, you'll never go back to Ted
I have a Clear Card, love it and will be happy to renew despite the fact that there isn't a registered traveler line at my home airport. It's worth every penny, especially on early morning flights because you never have to guess how long the security line will be and can sleep in accordingly.
Assuming it is successful (which I hope it is not): You are right until there are 100,000 more people thinking of themselves like you, at which point your system breaks because you will have to guess.
More likely, unless this bad idea is nipped in the bud, Clear will be happy to lower its fees progressively and lobby DHS / Congress to grease its path as it signs up more people. The usefulness of the service, for those possibly egotistical people that pay for it, will gradually degrade; but Clear's database and influence will wax.
Net result in a bad case scenario: A de facto national ID card for flyers with no discernable security benefit. And all of us have to pay both the government and private companies for the same service, unless we want to subject ourselves to rigorous body cavity searches for those "suspicious" people who philosophically object to Clear.
Big thumbs down.
__________________ My flight memory (mid '06-present) may contain forward-looking (but ticketed) statements.
Location: EWR-land -- You are in a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike...
Programs: CO & NW forum moderator
Posts: 19,131
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbm12
One thing I did notice is that the scanner machine at MCO did the shoes, so the Clear pax just walked through the detector without taking of their shoes.
I use MCO regularly and have the Clear card and believe me during the high season coming the lines can get ugly. With all the money I spend on travel in a given year an extra $79 or now $99 is worth it just to skip the line.
The system is FAR FAR from perfect and the shoe scanner news is disappointing but oh well...I did manage to skip a massive queue at JFK with the card back in July and I know what MCO can get like.
As for everyone that's afraid to give their data to Uncle Sam I have a nice laugh as you crawl back in your nuclear proof bio dome and say get real.....this is Bush's world now and if the govt. doesn't have your fingerprints already and they wanted them - they would get them.
Excuse me while I go outside and check for approaching meteors......
