TSA PreCheck vs Global Entry vs CLEAR: Which One Should a Sales Traveler Actually Buy?
Three logos, three prices, and one very confused security line. Only one of them is actually a bargain.
Three programs, three logos, and one very confused security line. TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR get bundled together as "the thing that gets you through the airport faster," but they solve different problems, cost wildly different amounts, and only one of them is a genuine bargain. Here's what each actually buys — on published fees only — and which one belongs in a sales traveler's wallet.
Cost per year, compared
Published fees, annualized · as of July 2026
One year of CLEAR Plus costs about what nine years of Global Entry does.
| TSA PreCheck | Global Entry | CLEAR Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price / term | $76.75–$85 · 5 years | $120 · 5 years | $219 · per year |
| Cost per year | ~$16 | $24 | $219 |
| What it speeds up | Security screening — shoes, belt, light jacket stay on; laptop and liquids stay in the bag | U.S. customs & immigration on arrival — and everything PreCheck does | The ID / boarding-pass check — biometric, straight to the front of the line |
| Faster arrival from abroad? | No | Yes | No |
| Includes TSA PreCheck? | — | Yes | No |
| A screening pass? | Yes | Yes | No — a line-skip to screening |
| Enrollment | Apply online, then in-person background check & fingerprints | Apply online, background check & interview (or Enrollment on Arrival) | Sign up online, finish biometric enrollment at the airport |
| Where it works | 200+ U.S. airports | U.S. arrival halls + all PreCheck lanes | 50+ U.S. airports & select venues |
| Best for | Purely domestic flyers | Anyone who flies internationally even once a year | Frequent flyers at a CLEAR airport — or who get it free via a card |
The fastest way to read the chart
Each one shortens a different line, and that's the whole game.
TSA PreCheck — the screening shortcut
PreCheck puts you in a faster security lane where you keep your shoes on and your laptop packed. It's cheap (about $16 a year once you amortize the five-year fee) and it covers domestic flights and international departures from the U.S. What it doesn't touch: coming back into the country.
Global Entry — the one that quietly includes the other
Global Entry speeds you through U.S. customs and immigration when you land from abroad — and it bundles TSA PreCheck at no extra cost. For $120 over five years, you get both the arrival shortcut and the screening shortcut. That "includes PreCheck" line is the most valuable four words on the whole chart.
CLEAR Plus — the line-skip, not the screening pass
CLEAR uses your eyes or fingerprints to verify your identity and walk you to the front of the document-check line. Then you still go through screening — faster if you also have PreCheck, the same as everyone else if you don't. It's the most expensive option by an order of magnitude, and it's the only one that isn't actually a screening pass.
So which should a sales traveler buy?
Get Global Entry. If you cross a border even once a year, it's the obvious pick: $24 a year, and PreCheck comes free inside it. You'd be paying almost the same for standalone PreCheck while leaving the international benefit on the table.
Get PreCheck alone only if you truly never fly international — and even then, the price gap over Global Entry is small enough that most road warriors should just take the passport-line insurance.
Add CLEAR only if the math is different for you: your home airport is CLEAR-heavy, you're constantly cutting it close, or — most often — a premium travel card reimburses the fee. Paid out of pocket at $219 a year, it's a luxury; pair it with PreCheck and it's a genuinely fast combo. On its own, you're paying to skip the line to the line.
The standard
Don't buy the logo; buy the line you actually stand in. For the traveler who ever leaves the country, Global Entry is the whole answer at $24 a year — screening and customs in one. CLEAR is a speed upgrade on top, worth it mostly when someone else is paying. Everything here is on published fees, so the only variable left is your own itinerary.