TSA PreCheck Vs. CLEAR+ Vs. Global Entry: Which Program Saves The Most Time?

Published Oct 30, 2026, 3:01 PM EDT Brandon's passion for aviation started at a young age. He became involved in the flight simulator and VATSIM communities, which sparked his interest in aviation and eventually led him to earn his private pilot license. Outside of work, he continues to build flight hours, explore new airports, and stay involved in the aviation community. TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR+ are routinely discussed as three versions of the same thing. They are not. Two are government security clearances, and one is a private subscription with no vetting behind it. TSA PreCheck is run by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and changes how you are screened. Global Entry is run by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and covers both screening and your return into the country. CLEAR+ is operated by a publicly traded company and verifies your identity before screening, without changing the screening itself. The pricing follows from that structure. PreCheck costs $76.75 to $85 for five years, depending on the enrollment provider. Global Entry costs $120 for five years and includes full PreCheck benefits, which means the customs element costs under $9 per year on top. CLEAR+ costs $219 annually, having risen from $209 on July 1, 2026, its fourth increase in four years. A traveler who already holds Global Entry and adds CLEAR+ is paying for two products that solve different problems at the same checkpoint. Three Programs, Two Governments, And One Private Company Credit: Shutterstock The most useful thing to understand about these three programs is that only two of them are security clearances. TSA PreCheck is run by the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security. Global Entry is run by US Customs and Border Protection, a separate DHS agency. CLEAR+ is operated by CLEAR Secure, a publicly traded company, and involves no government vetting. Two programs determine how you are screened. The third determines how quickly your identity is verified before screening begins. The fee structures reflect that split. PreCheck and Global Entry are one-time payments for five-year memberships, covering the background check and biometric enrollment each agency performs. PreCheck runs $76.75 to $85 depending on which of the three approved enrollment providers handles the application, with IDEMIA, CLEAR, and Telos all authorized to process it. Global Entry costs $120 for five years. CLEAR+ is an annual subscription at $219, renewed every year for continued access to the company's kiosks. Coverage differs as well. CLEAR+ operates at more than 50 US airports along with stadiums and entertainment venues, limited to locations where the company has installed equipment and negotiated access. AAA describes TSA PreCheck enrollment as available at more than 630 centers nationwide, and notes that Global Entry has fewer interview centers than PreCheck. A traveler whose home airport has no CLEAR+ lanes receives nothing from the subscription, a risk that does not apply to either government program, since PreCheck lanes operate wherever TSA has established them and the PreCheck benefit included with Global Entry works identically everywhere. What Each One Actually Lets You Skip Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection TSA PreCheck changes the screening itself. Members use a dedicated lane where shoes, belts, and light jackets stay on, and laptops and compliant liquids stay inside the bag. The divestiture step that creates most of the delay at a standard checkpoint largely disappears. Approved members receive a Known Traveler Number, which must be entered when booking for the benefit to appear on a boarding pass. Global Entry does everything PreCheck does and adds the return journey. Arriving members skip the manual passport inspection queue, using biometric portals that capture a photograph before directing them to a CBP officer for streamlined clearance, with no arrival paperwork to complete. AAA notes the benefit applies to travelers returning by air, land, and sea. Because Global Entry includes full PreCheck benefits, a member holds both without enrolling separately, and receives a Known Traveler Number covering each. CLEAR+ does not touch screening. It verifies identity biometrically at a kiosk, replacing the document check where a TSA officer inspects your ID and boarding pass, and then directs members to the screening lane they qualify for. That is the part most often misunderstood. A CLEAR+ member without PreCheck reaches the front of the standard lane and still unpacks their bag and removes their shoes, which is why CLEAR markets itself as an addition to PreCheck rather than an alternative. CLEAR also sells PreCheck enrollment, listing a new five-year membership at $84.95, which means a traveler can obtain both through the same company while the two remain entirely separate products with separate renewal cycles. Global Entry Includes PreCheck, Which Changes The Math Credit: CBP Every approved Global Entry member receives full TSA PreCheck benefits at no additional cost. That single fact determines the sensible choice for most travelers who hold a passport. Global Entry costs $120 for a five-year membership. PreCheck alone costs between $76.75 and $85 for the same term depending on the enrollment provider, with IDEMIA at the low end, CLEAR at $84.95, and Telos at $85.00. The customs benefit therefore adds a modest amount across five years, well under $10 per year on top of what PreCheck alone would cost. CBP raised the Global Entry fee from $100 to $120 effective October 1, 2024, under a fee rule that also set SENTRI at $120 and confirmed the five-year membership term. A substantial amount of published comparison material still quotes the old $100 figure, so the current price is worth confirming directly at ttp.dhs.gov before applying. AAA's own guidance, written before the change, referred to the $100 fee as scheduled to increase in October. The practical consequence is that PreCheck-only enrollment suits a narrower set of circumstances than its popularity suggests. A traveler who never leaves the country gains nothing from the customs element and should take the cheaper option. Anyone crossing a border even once across five years is paying very little for a benefit that applies to every return journey, and Global Entry carries the additional advantage that CBP waives the $120 fee for minors under 18 whose legal guardian is enrolled or has an application pending. CLEAR+ Is A Different Product, Not A Cheaper One Credit: CLEAR CLEAR+ costs $219 per year, having risen from $209 on July 1, 2026. Thrifty Traveler noted it was the service's fourth price increase in four years. American Express, which offers statement credits covering the fee on cards including the Platinum and Hilton Honors Aspire, raised those credits to $219 to match. The company's own page confirms the $219 annual fee and the option to add up to three adults at $125 each, bringing a four-person household to $584 without credits. Discounted rates are widely available and worth knowing before paying list price. Frequent Miler, which updated its CLEAR+ guide in July 2026, lists active duty military and veterans at $125, a government employee rate of $125, members of free Delta, United, or Atmos frequent flyer programs at $209, and holders of Delta or United credit cards or elite status at $179. Children aged 17 and under travel free with a member. Delta Diamond Medallion members no longer receive a complimentary membership and now pay $129 per year. What the money buys is narrower than the price suggests. CLEAR+ verifies identity biometrically at a kiosk and moves members past the document check at more than 50 US airports, plus stadiums and entertainment venues. It does not change the screening itself. A CLEAR+ member without PreCheck reaches the front of the standard lane and still removes shoes, belts, and laptops. The experience also depends on staffing rather than technology. Thrifty Traveler's Kyle Potter reported that at Salt Lake City it took him longer to get through with CLEAR+ than the standard TSA line, because members wait for an ambassador to escort them. Enrollment itself is fast, taking roughly five minutes to finalize in person. How Long Each Takes To Get Credit: Long Beach Airport The three programs differ as much in how quickly you can obtain them as in what they do, which matters if travel is already booked. CLEAR+ is the fastest. Enrollment begins online and finishes at an airport kiosk in about five minutes, with no background check and no government vetting involved. Members can use the lanes the same day. TSA PreCheck sits in the middle. AAA describes the process as a five-minute online questionnaire followed by a roughly 10-minute in-person appointment for fingerprinting and identity verification at one of more than 630 enrollment centers nationwide. Approval follows the background check rather than the appointment, and the density of enrollment locations means most applicants can find an appointment without traveling far. Global Entry takes substantially longer. Applicants need a valid passport, submit an application through the Trusted Traveler Programs system at ttp.dhs.gov, and must complete an in-person interview after receiving conditional approval. AAA advises applicants to expect four to six months for approval, and notes that Global Entry has fewer interview centers than PreCheck, with applicants asked additional questions about their travel history over the previous five years. One workaround exists for travelers facing long interview waits. Those unable to schedule at an enrollment center before an international trip can complete the interview through Enrollment on Arrival when they land back in the United States. Children require their own Global Entry membership regardless of age, including infants, each with its own application and interview. That timeline is why a traveler with a trip six weeks out may be better served applying for PreCheck now, even where Global Entry is the stronger long-term purchase.