A charge from clearme.com on your credit card is a subscription fee for CLEAR Plus, the biometric identity-verification service used at airport security lanes and some sports venues. The standard price is $209 per year, billed as a single annual lump sum.1CLEAR. CLEAR+ — Airport Fast Pass and Airport Quick Pass If you weren’t expecting it, the charge almost always traces back to a free trial that converted to a paid membership or an annual renewal you forgot about.
Why the Amount May Not Be Exactly $209
CLEAR’s terms require you to pay applicable state sales tax on top of the membership fee, so the final total can run a few dollars higher depending on where you live.2CLEAR. CLEAR Membership Terms Discounts pull it lower.
Delta SkyMiles members pay $199 at the base level, $169 at Silver, Gold, or Platinum Medallion status or as a Delta SkyMiles Amex cardholder, and nothing as a Diamond Medallion member.3Delta Air Lines. CLEAR United MileagePlus members pay $199 at the base tier, $169 at Silver through Platinum Premier or as a United credit cardholder, $129 as a Premier 1K member, and nothing as a Global Services member.4United Airlines. CLEAR+ Membership These discounts only apply if the loyalty number is linked to your CLEAR account before the billing date.
Active-duty military and government employees qualify for a reduced $125 rate, but only through in-person enrollment at an airport CLEAR location.1CLEAR. CLEAR+ — Airport Fast Pass and Airport Quick Pass A primary member can also add up to three adults at $125 per person per year, and each add-on may show as a separate line item. That’s why some statements show more than one clearme.com charge in the same cycle.
If you carry the American Express Platinum Card, watch for a matching credit. Amex Platinum reimburses up to $209 per year in CLEAR Plus fees paid on the card, and the Amex Green and Business Platinum offer similar credits.5American Express. $209 CLEAR+ Credit – Platinum Card Benefits The credit typically posts a few days to several weeks after the charge, so both transactions appear separately on the statement.
Why the Charge Appeared Now
Nearly every surprise charge falls into one of two buckets.
A Free Trial That Converted
CLEAR runs a free two-month trial that requires a credit card at signup and converts automatically to the full $209 annual fee if you don’t cancel before it ends. People who signed up at an airport kiosk before a flight are the ones most often blindsided, sometimes months later when they’ve forgotten the enrollment entirely.
An Annual Renewal
Existing members are billed once every 12 months on the anniversary of enrollment or the date a promotional period ended. Because the charge appears only once a year, infrequent travelers routinely miss that the subscription is still alive. CLEAR keeps membership active until you cancel.
How to Cancel CLEAR Plus
The fastest way to stop future billing is through your account:
- Sign in at my.clearme.com using your cell phone number.
- Select “Membership” from the left-hand menu.
- Click the arrow next to “CLEAR+ Membership.”
- Select “Cancel Membership” and follow the prompts.6CLEAR. How Do I Cancel My Membership
If the website won’t let you in, you can email memberservices@clearme.com or use the live chat on CLEAR’s support page. The chat bot, Halo, runs around the clock, and live agents are available from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.7CLEAR. How Do I Contact CLEAR There’s no published customer service phone number; chat and email are the primary channels.
Save the cancellation confirmation email or screenshot the confirmation screen. If a renewal somehow processes after you cancel, that documentation is what a bank dispute will turn on.
Whether You’ll Get a Refund
Timing controls everything here. Cancel within 14 days of being charged and you get a full refund for that billing period, though your access to CLEAR lanes ends the day you cancel.8CLEAR. What Is Your Refund Policy for CLEAR+ Membership
Cancel after that 14-day window and you get nothing back. There is no prorated refund. The membership stays active through the end of the annual term you already paid for, and it won’t renew after that.8CLEAR. What Is Your Refund Policy for CLEAR+ Membership Someone charged in January who doesn’t notice until March gets no money back but keeps access through the following January.
Free-trial users have to cancel before the last day of the trial to avoid the full $209 charge. Once the trial converts, the same 14-day refund window kicks in.
Disputing the Charge With Your Bank
If CLEAR won’t issue a refund and you believe the charge was unauthorized or the result of a billing error, you can dispute it through your card issuer. The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you 60 days from the statement date to submit a written dispute, caps your liability for unauthorized charges at $50, and requires the issuer to acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within two billing cycles.9Legal Information Institute. Fair Credit Billing Act
If the charge hit a debit card or bank account instead, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act applies. You can stop a preauthorized recurring transfer by notifying your bank at least three business days before the next scheduled payment.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1005.10 – Preauthorized Transfers Credit card disputes are generally the easier path, because the money hasn’t left your account yet; debit disputes mean clawing back funds already withdrawn.
Your cancellation confirmation is the key evidence. If you canceled before the charge date and were billed anyway, the dispute is straightforward. If the enrollment was legitimate and you simply forgot, that’s a much harder case, and CLEAR’s own 14-day refund window is the better first move.