Clear Passenger Registration System Helps Travelers Move Through Security

Part of the problem with being a freelance writer is that I have to travel, albeit usually at others expense but I have to travel which means trains, planes and automobiles, the middle of the three being the most bothersome. Denver International is a good 45 minutes away from the city anyway and then between the check in lines and the security lines a good 2 or 3 hours can be wiled away in any airport. However in these post 9-11 days the lines are lengthening and in response airlines have done web check-in so you only have to drop your bags (in a shorter and separate line of course).

Now it appears that the TSA and Homeland Security have taken a page out of the airlines playbook and created a system for travelers to save time in security lines. With online registration, a kiosk visit, and $100 for a year membership, the traveling public can shorten their security wait. The process goes like this (from their site, http://www.flyclear.com/) "Clear's simple, two step enrollment process begins online. Applicants create an account and fill-in basic biographic information. Then, applicants must go to a Clear enrollment location, where our attendants will verify two forms of government-issued identification, and capture a photograph, your fingerprint images and your iris images." Along with that you also get a clear "Clear Card" that has all this info on for your use at the check point.

Then when you fly next you don't herd like cattle into the main security line you go into the special line for CLEAR, again from their own site "

The Clear lane is a designated lane at the security checkpoint. Clear Members must verify a fingerprint or iris image (collected during enrollment) in order to enter the lane. At the Clear lane, a Clear attendant will greet you and check your boarding pass, Clear card and government-issued photo ID. You will be asked to insert your Clear card into the kiosk, which also verifies the fingerprint or iris image that you selected during enrollment. When everything is verified (which takes just a few seconds), you will receive a receipt indicating that you are a Clear member.