Clear Plus Airport Experience: Money, Privilege, and Market Regulation

I want to rewrite this article. What I want to express is that I feel pleasantly surprised because I rarely use money to enjoy privileges. This privilege was actually obtained for free through my Uber annual membership. Originally, I wouldn’t have paid over a hundred dollars a year for this service. It was only because Uber’s annual membership gave me this privilege for free that I had the opportunity to experience this privilege that money can’t necessarily buy. Therefore, I’m quite pleasantly surprised.

Austin Airport: 10-Minute Security Clearance

At Austin airport, I used Clear Plus and cleared security in 10 minutes, while the regular line took 20 minutes. This is a rather unusual record. I went straight to Clear as soon as I entered the airport, and after entering, they said “OK, good,” and we just went straight through. It was done almost instantly, with no obstacles, no waiting, very smooth. Someone checked my passport, waited for guidance, and then literally escorted me to cut in line. It really felt like being led to skip the queue.

San Francisco Experience

We’ll see how it goes in San Francisco. For San Francisco, since this trip is already over, there’s not much to worry about, so we’ll see how Clear works there. Alright, that’s fine, no need to worry too much.

Money and Privilege

America is truly a place where money can make the world go round. If you have money, you can absolutely pay for services like Clear to have someone help you cut in line. You don’t need to feel embarrassed or awkward about it. I haven’t seen business class offering free line-cutting services, right? This is sold separately - I don’t see business class including this as a complimentary service. But with Clear, even if you’re not flying business class, you can still pay to skip the line. I think this design is reasonable - it allows for separate payment options. It might cost more to pay separately than if it were bundled, but the pricing seems transparent.

Observations in San Francisco

On the contrary, in San Francisco, we see many wealthy people. They cut in line, and even compared to regular queuing, they might queue even slower. This actually shows that in San Francisco, there are too many people, too many wealthy people. So this doesn’t mean wealthy people are taking excessive privileges. On the contrary, wealthy people can appropriately obtain privileges, but social rules won’t allow them to obtain them without limits. This is actually healthy market regulation.

Money and Privilege

I think being able to enjoy this privilege shows that money can effectively mobilize social resources, which is a useful thing. Moreover, airports being crowded is something everyone needs to be mentally prepared for. It’s not that having a privilege means you can cut in line - that wouldn’t be good.

Transparency and Fairness

I think this design is acceptable. It allows for separate payment, but it might also be said that paying separately might cost more than bundled payment, but the various fees seem relatively transparent. Transparency is what makes this reasonable in America - they even separate taxes and fees for you to see individually. Of course, most places around the world probably calculate things separately like this, making it more transparent.

Conclusion

This experience made me realize that money can indeed mobilize social resources, but the market also has its own regulatory mechanisms. In San Francisco, even wealthy people using Clear might be slower than regular queues during peak hours, which shows the market is self-regulating, preventing privilege abuse.

This made me understand that privilege is not unlimited - the market has its own regulatory mechanisms. When too many people buy privileges, the value of the privilege itself decreases, which is actually a healthy regulatory mechanism.