Unlikely. At most airports (I am not sure about those with single security checkpoints), the elite lines are based on the wishes of the airlines. Ultimately it doesn't cost them any real money (it just inconveniences non-status pax a bit more in exchange for inconveniencing status pax a bit less) so there is no motivation for them to remove the perk.

Airport authorities thrive on money paid by concessionaires. Unless there is something in the airline contract with the airport that specifies elite lines, the airport authority may sell the right to special screening lines to a concessionaire like CLEAR.

Having seen what kinds of deals the airports drive, I would not be at all surprised if they eliminated Elite in favor of CLEAR when and where there is enough revenue involved.

There isn't revenue if we don't sign up :D

And if there's no elite line (MCO), then people will be forced to sign up or stay in the cattle pen.

Point of fact: most of the public-private partnerships to build toll roads contain contract provisions that prohibit the state/local government from building any new roads or highways that will reduce traffic and/or revenue on the toll road. In San Antonio, they have proposed to convert a 6-lane highway to "service road with traffic lights" when the new, parallel, toll lanes are built.

Same concept here.

Ah, but there is a solution to that. Clear is going to start putting photographs on the Clear cards! :D

If only that would work. Actually this gets to the core of what I personally find offensive about the TSA (not the airport employees, but the organization itself):

Clear has invested in in a system of authentication that works not only as well as the current system of seeing if you look somewhat like a 5 year old drivers license, but is actually is far superior to it. And not only does it authenticate that a given person has the name as on the boarding pass, it goes beyond that by telling you which individual "John Smith" the person was.

So they go to the TSA and ask - "So our clients don't need to go through ID checking do they?"

And the TSA says that everyone needs to have ID checked by someone in the line.

Clear spends a bunch of money on a shoe clearing device that makes it easier on the passenger but still screens the shoes (and if it fails, it notifies the staff so the TSA can do a secondary if warrented).

And clear goes to the TSA and says "So our customers won't have to take their shoes off, right?"

And the TSA informs them that everyone needs to take their shoes off.

So clear says, well hey, we had you guys vet our customers, we have (with much higher degrees of both certainty and precision than you are able to otherwise provide) confirmed their identity and we have precleared their shoes - Shouldn't that streamline the process for you to check them?

The TSA answers: "No, but maybe you can have them cut in front of the rest of the line before they get to us. That would be ok with us."

Cynical counter productive bureaucrats.

Funny thing is, if you travel often enough to think about Clear, you travel often enough to access an elite line, obviating the need to think about Clear.

I signed up for Clear because my employer pays--having held off previously when it was my money--but it's never saved me a minute in clearing TSA. I do think it may be a time-saver, someday, though--as things security-wise will get worse before they get better, and the screening process can't get worse but has to get better (and the stratification Clear contemplates makes some rational sense and has to be part of that improvement process). I'm not sure any improvement is likely any time soon, but until I'm footing the bill, the cost-benefit of realizing that future benefit is pretty easy.

Interestingly enough, a federal agency I used to work for told us NOT to sign up for that as they thought it was a security risk.

Feds all on the same page ... :rolleyes:

If another plane drops out of the sky, you can bet that there will be new, more rigid "security" setups employed by the TSA (who are masters at fighting the last war). Yes, the "security" setup would get MUCH worse.

INS Pass went away after 9/11, and you can bet things like NEXUS and Clear would go bye-bye as well if another plane fell out of the sky.

I had imagined that another terrorist incident would make Clear MORE likely to be useful--though I hear you, maybe it means the reverse. Even so, the cost benefit is pretty easy, as long as the employer is footing the bill--a longshot chance that Clear might survive, and actually prove to be useful in saving time, translates into a positive expected return on my zero investment.

If the employer is footing the bill, then it's an okay waste of resources? :confused:

That's a different question--I was just talking about my out of pocket cost, which is largely unrelated to what's good for the company. Fact is, my employer is actually encouraging its travelers to sign up. Why? One theory is that Steve Brill, head of Clear, has some sort of relationship with the boss, and is tapping that relationship to gain some market acceptance of Clear by our buying in; a further theory is that we have some sort of rebate coming back to us (I do come out of pocket initially, but am then reimbursed by the company--this theory would posit a further reimbursement by Clear to the company). No idea whether either point is true, but the fact is, my employer is encouraging Clear, and evidently has come to the view that it isn't a waste.

See, I would do it once/if ATL gets it. ATL is too much of a mess with the lines, Medallian members get one line that feeds into ALL the lines, its just no fun there.

Check.

That's the case in ALB. 3-4 people standing there and I've never seen anyone go through.