CLEAR Plus Promotions: Bonus Alaska Miles, Plus Ways to Get CLEAR for Free

AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.

Offers for the American Express^® Green Card are not available through this site. All information has been independently collected by AwardWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers.

For frequent travelers, CLEAR Plus is an excellent way to save time when going through the airport. Plus, CLEAR often offers additional promotions to take advantage of when signing up for a new CLEAR membership. A current promotion offers Alaska Mileage Plan elites 1,250 bonus miles, plus a slightly-discounted enrolment rate. Additionally, travelers have several ways to claim a free CLEAR Plus membership through credit card perks and top-tier elite status.

Here are all of the current ways that you can get CLEAR for free — plus ways to at least get a discount if you don't qualify for a free membership.

What is CLEAR?

CLEAR is a paid service that uses biometric data to verify your identity at airport security. Once verified — which takes as little as a few seconds — you're escorted to the front of the TSA security line. That means speeding through security without having to wait in the standard lines.

In rare cases, CLEAR lines are longer than the regular security line or TSA PreCheck. But, my own experiences with CLEAR at the Denver and Seattle airports were fantastic, as I was (somehow) the only person in the line both times.

Although CLEAR is only available within the United States, it includes more than just airports. In fact, it supports services at 50+ stadiums and event centers as well. Here's a full list of the locations where you can find a CLEAR kiosk:

For more personal takes, check out this post in our Facebook community “AwardTravel 101” to read about members' experiences with CLEAR.

CLEAR Plus Enrollment Promotions

Alaska Mileage Plan elite members will get 1,250 Alaska miles for linking their accounts and renewing at the slightly-discounted $179 rate. You can link your accounts at this page.

At this time, there aren't any bonus offers to get points or miles for signing up for CLEAR Plus for the first time. Check back later for updates.

Past CLEAR new membership promotions

Over the past few years, CLEAR has offered several membership promotions. For reference, here are some that we've seen:

• Anyone could claim a free 6-month CLEAR membership in December 2020
• 5,000 bonus United miles in November 2021
• $100 United TravelBank credit in February 2022
• Free 1-Year CLEAR Membership with $100 United Spend Promotion in April 2022
• United MileagePlus Members Get up to 15,000 Miles with CLEAR Membership through July 2022
• Up to 50% off CLEAR enrollment using a targeted Amex card through August 2022
• Three months of free membership for enrolling through Kayak in December 2022
• 1,000 bonus miles for Alaska Mileage Plan members enrolling for the first time

As you can see, it's been quite a gap since the last promotion.

How to Get a CLEAR Membership for Free

A standard CLEAR Plus membership usually costs $189 per year. However, there are various ways you can get your membership for free — or at least at a discounted rate.

First, here are all of the ways you can get a CLEAR Plus membership for free:

• United Global Services and Premier 1K members get complimentary CLEAR Plus membership.
• Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion elites also can enjoy a free CLEAR Plus membership.
• Cardmembers who hold The Platinum Card^® from American Express or The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express can enroll and use their card to pay for a CLEAR Plus membership to get the fee reimbursed in the form of a statement credit. Make sure to enroll first, as enrollment is required for this specific benefit.
• American Express^® Green Card holders also can enroll to get up to $189 per calendar year in statement credits when paying for a CLEAR Plus membership with their card. This enhanced benefit now covers the entire cost of a CLEAR Plus membership.

Discounted CLEAR membership with cards and elite status

If you don't qualify for one of the ways of getting CLEAR for free, there are also a couple of options to pay a reduced rate for your CLEAR Plus membership.

• United MileagePlus members can get an annual membership for $179. Even better, you can drop that price to $149 if you have a United credit card or United Premier Silver, Gold, or Platinum elite status.

• Delta SkyMiles members with Medallion elite status can get a discount on their CLEAR Plus membership. Platinum, Gold, and Silver Medallion elite status members can get $40 off their CLEAR Plus membership ($149 per year). The same discount applies if you have an eligible Delta credit card. Even general SkyMiles members can get $10 off their CLEAR Plus membership ($179 per year).

• Alaska Mileage Plan is the newest airline program to partner with CLEAR. All Mileage Plan members get the same price regardless of their status level: $179. However, the advantage of this partnership is that you can earn up to 1,500 bonus miles by enrolling through an Alaska link. That makes this a better option for travelers who will offset the CLEAR membership price using a credit card.

Our Take

The new partnership between Alaska Airlines and CLEAR isn't that exciting. Travelers already could enroll in CLEAR Plus for $179 just by being a general Delta SkyMiles member or United MileagePlus member. The best part of this new promotion is the ability to get 1,250 Alaska miles if you have elite status with Alaska Airlines.

Regardless of the mileage program you link to CLEAR, make sure to enroll and pay with an eligible Amex card to get statement credits to offset your membership fee.

If you don't already have an eligible Amex card, the Amex Green Card is an ideal option. The card's $150 annual fee is less than the $179 discounted CLEAR Plus membership rate. Plus, the card currently offers a welcome bonus of 40,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. .

American Express^® Green Card

Learn More

American Express^® Green Card

Annual Fee$150

Welcome Offer Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

Show more

Earning Rates

• 3x Membership Rewards^® on travel
• 3x Membership Rewards^® at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S.
• 3x Membership Rewards^® on transit including trains, buses, ferries, subway, and more
• 1x Membership Rewards^® on other purchases

AwardWallet Tip of The Day

Did you know that if someone else accesses your AwardWallet account, you will see an alert at the bottom of the page? Clicking that alert will show you all the current sessions accessing your account. If you see something that doesn’t make sense, you can log the other sessions out and change your AwardWallet password. We highly recommend enabling two-factor authentication on your account for increased security.
Show me how

Hide image