The Clear program comes to Denver...

...and we can each get a free month. Read on...

If you travel with any type of frequency, and if you fly out of an airport which participates in Clear's Registered Traveler program, you really have no excuse for not belonging to Clear.

Assuming you value your time, of course.

If you're not familiar with Clear, you can learn more at their website. I've been a member for more than a year, and have saved a huge amount of time and worry, particularly at my home airport of San Jose. I've used Clear probably thirty times, and have saved anywhere from a minute to an hour on each occasion. Clear pays for itself with a single use on a Monday morning at San Jose--by allowing me to sleep a little later, to not worry (as much) about traffic, and/or to avoid queueing in an hour-long line stretching to the parking garage to get through security.

Of course, if you don't mind spending an extra hour per trip trying to waste time (er, be productive) at an airport, be my guest. Otherwise, join Clear.

Some folks have stated that they have concerns about the fact that the Clear program gathers a bunch of information to perform background checks on potential members. That's an accurate statement. However, having studied Clear's data privacy policy, and also knowing a little bit about the background of Steven Brill (Clear's founder), I have minimal concern about Clear's ability to keep my data safe. Are their systems unbreakable, or unable to be compromised? Anyone who believes a statement like that is a fool (whom I pity), and obviously knows little about information assurance or risk mitigation. But, do I believe that they're taking more than the necessary precautions to ensure the continued security and privacy of member data? Yes, I do. In life, everything is a tradeoff. Trading off a bit of personal data (which other locations like my bank, employers, and others already have) for Clear's efficiency and convenience benefits is more than fair.

(Anybody catch the Mr. T and Mike Ditka references in the same paragraph? Wow.)

Clear's Refer-a-Friend program allows new enrollees to receive an extra month on their membership, while also providing me an extra complementary month, too. THAT, my friends, is how referral marketing is supposed to work.

So, if you decide to sign up for Clear, please use my Refer-a-Friend code of SCA74333. We'll each earn an extra month.

See ya airside.