Air travelers across the US are facing hourslong security lines — and many are looking to a $209-a-year service to skip them.
CLEAR, a biometric identity service that lets travelers bypass the standard TSA ID check at around 60 airports, is seeing a surge in interest as airport delays worsen nationwide.
The app was downloaded an estimated 23,200 times on March 22, analytics firm Appfigures Intelligence told Business Insider. That’s a 630% increase over its average daily downloads in January and February.
CLEAR has already been downloaded 230,000 times in March, with more than a week to go. That’s up from the app’s 108,000 downloads in all of January.
Under normal conditions, CLEAR uses fingerprint or eye scans to verify a traveler’s identity and move them to the front of the ID-check portion of the TSA line.
These aren’t normal conditions.
A partial government shutdown has disrupted funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration. The lapse has left TSA officers unpaid, resulting in significant staffing shortages. Hundreds of security agents quit after their employer missed a mid-March payment.
For several days, travelers have reported waits stretching for hours, with lines spilling beyond security checkpoints and into terminal parking areas.
As wait times grow, travelers are reaching for digital tools that promise to make flying easier — even if those tools aren’t functioning normally.
Earlier this month, the app MyTSA — which provides checkpoint wait times and airport updates — saw what Appfigures described as a “genuine sudden surge” in downloads. Appfigures told Business Insider that the app was downloaded about 740,000 times over nine days, more than it typically sees in a full year.
MyTSA’s usefulness has been limited. Last week, a notice in the app warned that, due to the lapse in federal funding, it was not being actively managed.
CLEAR appears to be another possible workaround gaining traction.
“There is a similar surge taking place,” Randy Nelson, the senior market insights at Appfigures, told Business Insider.
There is one big difference: Interest in MyTSA has dwindled since its mid-March peak. CLEAR’s download momentum has “built more gradually, and is still accelerating,” Nelson said.
Search interest in CLEAR has also hit a multi-decade high, according to Google Trends, and app analytics firm Appfigures said it is tracking a spike in downloads.
One complication for hopeful travelers: CLEAR isn’t always available.
Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport — one of the airports hardest hit by long lines — said on X that its CLEAR lanes would not be operating on Monday.
In an emailed statement to Business Insider, CLEAR acknowledged that conditions are changing rapidly.
“CLEAR remains open and ready to serve our Members,” a spokesperson said. “Though due to circumstances beyond our control, airport conditions are changing rapidly and may affect service at some of our locations.”
The company added that travelers should check with their local airport for updates and thanked Transportation Security Officers for their work.
TSA and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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