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"Registered Traveler" Expands to More Airports

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 23, 2007

The high-speed security system, offered by competing companies under different names, is expanding to numerous new airports – and attracting new members.

The New York firm that created the pilot program for Orlando International two years ago has expanded to five other airports with plans for another nine by year’s end.

Verified Identity Pass calls its program "Clear" because it provides pre-screened passengers with the ability to pass through special security lanes quickly.

In addition to Orlando, it has active lanes at John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty, San Jose, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis.

Service at Albany International will start next month, with the central terminal at LaGuardia ticketed for September, thanks to a partnership with AirTrain Airways.

Clear will then focus on San Francisco, Denver, Little Rock, both Washington, D.C. airports, and Westchester County (White Plains, NY), all expected to offer the system by the end of this year.

Also in the works is a system that will enable Clear members boarding at Toronto Pearson International to pass through a verification kiosk that features shoe-scanning technology created in concert with General Electric. That express-lane security system will be Canada’s first.

Although membership in Clear costs about $100 per year, the time saved at busy airport security lines can be substantial, especially for frequent travelers.

To access high-speed security lanes, members need to show a biometric identity card, issued after they are pre-screened and approved by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Unlike Sirius and XM Satellite Radio, whose equipment is not compatible, Registered Traveler cards issued by competing companies are interchangeable, opening many more express security lines to card-holders without additional cost.

Launched in Orlando on July 19, 2005, Clear has 48,000 members, making it the largest of the Registered Traveler programs.

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