They did for some locations already. I have never heard of FLO until today. Were they formed recently and waited for the demise of CLEAR?:confused:

So you're saying that the regular (or elite if you are eligible) security line was ALWAYS more than 20 minutes long?

I too am a frequent flier (not 2x a week every week), but I could count on one hand the number of times when I have had to wait more than 15 minutes in line. Sure, it always feels like you're waiting a half hour or more, but in actuality it's much shorter.

But irrespective of the actual time savings, CLEAR just wasn't a viable option for me given the limited number of locations in general, but also specific to my travel patterns. Specifically, I don't think there were any lanes at the CO terminal in EWR or the AA terminals at LGA/JFK.

saw it coming a long time ago.

I'd highly doubt they'd become an FC/Medallion line as it often fed into the crew line (at least at MCO). More likely to become nothing.

If FLO ends up doing that -- and in part I think they may consider doing just that on the cheap -- then just watch them charge CLEAR members a "promotional" yet still substantial fee and then go under themselves with the customers' money and info getting hived off to far more senior creditors than any customer who foolishly got bilked twice.

Some people will never learn and then they get burned again.

If not knowing any better, people make mistakes and get the wrong idea because they don't know any better about the best way to get landside when originating at ATL and flying domestically. Such FF elites who know better almost always got airside faster in less than 10 minutes without ever buying into the CLEAR scam -- this is even at the busiest times of the days and even when TSA was understaffing the checkpoints.

Well, I hate to say it, but I think it's for the best. Americans should not have to pay to avoid the insanity that their government imposes on them. It's a moral hazard. We need more people who are aware of the problems.. it's the same reason I think that pilots and FAs should be right there in the security lines with us.

For those of you dancing on Clear's grave today, please don't forget that Clear members subsidized additional TSA checkpoints at various airports. I am willing to bet the "Diamond" security checkpoint at IAD will be a casualty of Clear's death, for example.

So enjoy those even longer lines as you smirk in smug satisfaction! :rolleyes:

I agree with those who say that it was TSA and privacy freaks that killed Clear. Talk about an axis of evil!!

The reason that I've slammed Clear so hard in this case is because I object to having to show ID at all.

Paying for ID convenience does nothing to address the root of the problem: the TSA requiring that passengers show ID. This requirement should be abolished immediately, along with the Shoe Carnival, Liquids Idiocy, and other disgusting, un-American forms of harassment that we face at the hands of this scummy agency. In fact, the TSA itself should be permanently destroyed.

People who paid tribute to Clear in the form of money and personal infomation did damage to this nation: they tacitly approved of the requirement of ID for travel by commercial aircraft. That's what's really reprehensible about Clear and those who allowed themselves to be extorted.

Having to show ID at the airport to the government or a government actor, be it private or public is wrong.

Today, one of those actors is dead. Those who allowed themselves to be extorted by that actor should be refocusing their money and efforts on destroying the roots of the problem: having to show ID at all, and the disgusting, un-American agency that made that requirement.

Well this would be great if I originated in ATL and flew domestically, which I have done exactly once in the last three years of 100+ flight segments a year. I can tell you that in SFO, the "elite" UA line is often long enough at peak hours that it adds 15+ minutes to "dwell" time I detest the most (i.e. spent at airports).

Privacy advocates didn't kill this company. This company failed to make money to justify its existence as a going concern in the manner it had been run because customers weren't there in sufficient volumes willing to pay sufficient prices to keep this company alive without yet another feed paid for with debt.

Lol, that's like saying a person died because their blood stopped flowing.

The TSA did everything in its power to keep the company from being able to offer value-added services through the entire screening process, limiting Clear's services to pre-screening. Why? Because government bureaucracies do not appreciate being shown how things can be done more efficiently.

Privacy nuts railed about how dangerous and stupid it was for people to use Clear's services. Why? Because they forgot their tin foil hats as well as the reality that to some folks, efficiency is more valuable than some potentially naive notion of 'privacy.'

Those forces prevailed.

So it is back to the elite lines for me, and having to stand there while a civil servant shines his blue light at everyone's license for a full minute looking at all the pretty colors.

Spiff, your point about ID is meaningful and correct. But that ship has sailed. The stupid meaningless wall is in place and it ain't going anywhere. Now the only question is the easiest way over, under, around or through it. And the traffic-free toll tunnel just closed. :(

Clear proved themselves that they can misplace a laptop with personal and private information.

It's funny to read this thread and outside news sources where people are all of a sudden concerned about privacy now.

The overall model they had was unsustainable. Yes, the TSA had a role in that, but to charge that kind of money when I would beat the Clear folks about three or four out of five times via the elite line, and no other Clear benefits did not make long-term sense.

Rats
 

Well, I for one am bummed. I understand all the philosophical reasons why Clear should not have been allowed to exist, but I find myself living in the real world. It was a huge help to me, especially at SFO and EWR. Would I have liked the reduced screening that was promised. . . of course. But just getting to the head of the line was worth the money. As for the personal information most of it was out there already. My company (as well as the FBI, the US Treasury Department, the US Army and my local sheriffs office all have my fingerprints) and my company and a couple of government offices have my iris scanning records.

It’s cute to think that if we had all complained instead of joining Clear that TSA and/or the government officials would change things. . . except I remember lots of people complaining for a long time, nothing changed and then Clear came along.

I will miss them.