Airport ghosts: kill the $219 CLEAR renewal and the $1,400 lounge you stopped using
A 13-month audit for finding forgotten CLEAR+, airline-club and Priority Pass charges, telling which airport fees renew on their own and which never bill again, and canceling before the anniversary charge lands.
CLEAR+ costs $219 a year and renews itself 1. An Admirals Club membership costs $1,400 a year for an AAdvantage member with no status; the single membership American began selling on August 23, 2026 costs $750 2. United Club's All Access membership is $1,400, and Delta's Executive membership is $1,495 34.
One traveler can hold several at once. CLEAR+ at $219, Priority Pass Standard Plus at $329 and a United Club Individual membership at $750 come to $1,298 a year, before a flight is booked 135.
These get bought standing up. CLEAR enrolls people online or at a pod in the terminal, and charges the card that day 6. A lounge membership gets bought at the door, or in an airline app twenty minutes before boarding.
The category behaves like two things wearing one name. The government programs inside it run on a five-year fee — TSA PreCheck at $85 or less, Global Entry at $120 — paid once 78. The memberships renew every year on the anniversary of a trip nobody wrote down.
What the money adds up to
CNET's 2026 State of Subscriptions surveyed 2,522 US adults through YouGov, with fieldwork from April 29 to May 1, 2026, and publication on July 6. Adults who had paid for a subscription in the past year spent $111 a month, or $1,332 a year, and put $21 a month — $252 a year — on subscriptions they were not using 9. The 2025 survey put the waste at $17 a month 9.
C+R Research asked 1,000 US consumers between April 22 and May 2, 2022 to estimate their monthly subscription spending, then itemize it. Estimates averaged $86; itemized totals averaged $219. Seventy-four percent said recurring charges were easy to forget, 42 percent had kept paying for a service they had stopped using, and 72 percent had everything on auto-pay 10.
An airport membership sits at the expensive end of both findings. The price arrives in one lump, quoted once, at a moment when the reader is thinking about a flight.
Why the airport charge outlives the trip
The purchase happens in the queue. American Express publishes the flow from CLEAR's side: the membership fee is charged at enrollment, online or at the airport 6. Nobody reads a renewal clause standing in a security line with a boarding pass in one hand.
Renewal is silent by default. The same American Express page describes what happens a year later: CLEAR "will collect the then applicable Membership fee and any taxes by charging a card CLEAR has on record for you without notifying you unless such notification is required by applicable law" 6. CLEAR's member terms state the same rule in shorter words 11.
The clock runs before the notice. American processes automatic renewals 30 days before a membership term ends, and requires an opt-out at least 35 days before the end 2. The reminder email goes out at 60 days, which leaves a 25-day gap between the warning and the deadline 2. Priority Pass asks a member who wants to stop automatic billing to confirm in writing at least six weeks before the expiry date 12.
Half the category runs on a fee that expires. TSA PreCheck buys five years for $85 or less 713. Global Entry buys five years for $120 8. Those two are fees; the rest of the list is a subscription. A reader who cancels a PreCheck enrollment to save money has canceled the one item on the page that was never going to bill again.
Two products get sold as one. CLEAR verifies identity at the head of the line; TSA PreCheck is the screening lane behind it, and CLEAR+ gives no access to that lane on its own 14. TSA's enrollment page runs the pair as a bundle: complete a PreCheck enrollment through CLEAR for $84.95, and CLEAR issues a one-time code to join CLEAR+ at $134 for a new enrollment or $146 for a renewal 7. TSA's own footnote explains the arithmetic: those figures are the price of CLEAR+ minus the cost of PreCheck 7.
The card in the wallet may already pay for it. The Platinum, Business Platinum, Green and Hilton Honors Aspire cards each carry a $219 statement credit per calendar year for a CLEAR+ membership paid with the card, and the Corporate Platinum carries the same credit 6. The Delta SkyMiles Reserve card carries 15 Sky Club visits a year for its holder 4. The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Legend Mastercard includes Admirals Club access and carries a $695 annual card fee 2.
Non-refundable is the default term. United states that all Club membership purchases are final, non-refundable and non-transferable 3. Delta's House Rules make Sky Club memberships non-transferable and non-refundable 15. CLEAR refunds a term inside 14 days and nothing after that 16. Priority Pass refunds a first direct purchase inside 14 days 12.
In most of this category the kill switch is a date before the charge, and the date is set by a purchase the reader made on the way to a gate.
The 13-month statement audit
Pull 13 months of card and bank statements. Thirteen, because every membership here runs on an annual clock that started on the day it was bought, and a purchase made in one calendar year renews in the next.
Search these strings:
CLEAR, CLEARME, CLEAR PLUS, UNITED, DELTA, AMERICAN, AA, PRIORITY PASS, COLLINSON, TSA, IDEMIA, TELOS.None of these programs publishes the string that appears on a statement. Priority Pass comes closest: its Conditions of Use name the Priority Pass entities that act as merchant of record in each region 12. What the companies publish is where the record lives, and the record settles which membership a charge belongs to.
| Membership | Strings to search | Where the record lives | How it renews |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLEAR+ | CLEAR, CLEARME, CLEAR PLUS | The CLEAR account, where Membership then Payments lists the pay structure and the next billing cycle 17 | By itself, each year 11 |
| TSA PreCheck | TSA, plus the provider's name: CLEAR, IDEMIA, TELOS | The enrollment provider's record; the Known Traveler Number lookup identifies the provider when the reader has forgotten it 13 | A five-year fee, paid once 7 |
| Global Entry | CBP, GLOBAL ENTRY | The Trusted Traveler Programs account CBP names as the application route 8 | A five-year fee, paid once 8 |
| United Club | UNITED, UNITED CLUB | The MileagePlus account, where an automatic renewal can be scheduled; the digital card sits under Passes and subscriptions in the United app 3 | Only if the member scheduled it 3 |
| Delta Sky Club | DELTA | The SkyMiles account; the credential lives in My Wallet in the Fly Delta app 15 | Renewal is a purchase the member makes 4 |
| Admirals Club | AMERICAN, AA, AADVANTAGE | The Admirals Club account, where the opt-out button sits at the bottom of the page 2 | By itself, if the box was ticked at checkout 2 |
| Priority Pass | PRIORITY PASS, COLLINSON | The Priority Pass membership account, or the card issuer when the membership came with a card 12 | By itself, if automatic billing was agreed 12 |
One more page to open before calling anyone: the card's own benefit page. American Express states that the $219 credit can take up to eight weeks to post, and that a membership canceled or refunded reverses the credit with it 6.
The five owners of the charge
The program. CLEAR and Priority Pass bill their own memberships and take cancellations directly, by account, chat, email or phone 1217.
The airline loyalty account. A club membership is a record inside AAdvantage, MileagePlus or SkyMiles. American's opt-out lives in the Admirals Club account 2; United schedules renewals from the MileagePlus account 3.
The card issuer. The issuer pays part of this category back. Cancel or replace the card mid-term and the credit can be reversed with it 6.
The government enrollment provider. A PreCheck fee is paid to CLEAR, IDEMIA or Telos, the only three providers TSA authorizes, and each one sets its own price 7.
The family-plan holder. CLEAR's terms make the member who added the family the only one who can change or cancel the plan, and if that member stops paying, the whole family loses paid access 11. CLEAR's FAQ repeats the rule 17.
The kill drill, company by company
CLEAR+
Price. $219 a year for access to 150+ lanes at 63 airports. Add up to three adults at $125 each; children 17 and under join free; military service members and government employees pay $125 a year; the CLEAR Concierge escort service starts at $99 1. Four adults on one family plan come to $594 a year.
What stops working. Lane access. Cancel inside the 14-day window and access ends on the cancellation date 16. Cancel later and access runs to the end of the term already paid for 17.
The path. In the CLEAR account: Membership, then Payments, then the arrow beside CLEAR+ Membership, then Cancel Membership 17. The chat function, through the digital ambassador CLEAR calls Halo, runs the same cancellation 17. The member terms add email to Memberservices@clearme.com and the phone line +1.855.253.2763 11.
The traps. The 14-day rule governs the refund alone 16. Only the member who created a family plan can change it, and removing someone ends their access immediately 1117. A corporate rate ends with the job, and the member's access to paid services ends with it 11. CLEAR may raise the fee with notice, and staying enrolled past the notice accepts the new price 11.
The refund. The full fee for the current term inside 14 days of the charge, with access ending the same day; after 14 days the account is scheduled to stop at the end of the term 16.
The counter-script. Open the chat first, and before the conversation ends ask for the cancellation confirmation in writing and for the exact end date of access. When a retention offer arrives, ask two things: the price that applies after the offer, and the date it changes.
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry
Price. Five years of PreCheck costs $84.95 through CLEAR, $79.75 through IDEMIA and $85 through Telos. Renewal runs $72.95 online or $84.95 in person at CLEAR, $58.75 online or $66.75 in person at IDEMIA, and $69.95 online or $58.75 in person at Telos 7. Global Entry is $120 for five years 8.
What stops working. Nothing is billed, so nothing needs killing. PreCheck buys five years of the lane and then lapses 13. Global Entry buys five years of customs clearance and PreCheck with it 8.
The path. There is no cancellation route and no card on file to charge again. Renewal is a fresh application through one of the three authorized providers 7.
The traps. TSA warns that any site offering PreCheck enrollment that does not end in .gov is not an official TSA site, and that TSA will not reimburse anyone who enrolls through a lookalike 13. The FTC's consumer guidance gives the general form of that warning: a renewal notice that asks for card details is a reason to stop, because a genuine auto-renewal does not need them 18.
The refund. None. A fraudulent enrollment through a lookalike site gets nothing back from TSA 13.
The counter-script. Run the Known Traveler Number lookup before paying anyone, which shows which provider holds the enrollment and whether it has expired 13. Then renew at the cheapest of the three published prices.
United Club
Price. The Individual membership is $750 or 94,000 miles at every MileagePlus tier. All Access is $1,400 or 175,000 miles, falling to $1,300 at Premier Platinum, $1,200 at Premier 1K and $1,100 at Global Services 3.
What stops working. The Individual membership gives the holder access and no guests. All Access adds two adult guests, or one adult and dependents under 18, plus the Star Alliance partner lounges 3.
The path. Buy or renew online, at any United Club, or on 1-866-822-5827. Questions and cancellations go to unitedclub@united.com or the same number, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central daily 3.
The traps. United states that all Club membership purchases are final, non-refundable and non-transferable 3. Renewal is opt-in: a reminder email arrives before expiry, and an automatic renewal can be scheduled from the MileagePlus account 3. Renewal prices can change, and status pricing does not apply to gift memberships 3.
The refund. None. The page is explicit that purchases are final 3.
The counter-script. Treat the reminder email as the start of a decision, and check the card in the wallet first: the United Club card includes club membership for the primary cardholder 3. Paying $750 beside a card that already carries the benefit buys the same lounge twice.
Delta Sky Club
Price. The Individual membership is $695 or 69,500 miles; the Executive membership is $1,495 or 149,500 miles 4.
What stops working. Club entry, under rules tighter than the rest of the category: the membership works only with a same-day Delta or partner ticket, entry opens three hours before departure, and Main Cabin Basic fares are barred 15.
The path. Annual memberships and renewals are bought through the SkyMiles login at delta.com/sky-club/purchase-membership. The service center answers at DeltaSkyClubServiceCenter@delta.com 4.
The traps. Only Medallion members may buy an annual membership, a rule in force since January 1, 2023 15. Membership runs from the purchase date for the term bought, and a renewal bought early is added to the current expiry date 15. Delta's own pages describe renewal as a purchase made through the SkyMiles login, and publish no automatic-renewal term 4. From January 19, 2027, holders of Basic premium fares lose entry unless they carry another qualifying credential 15.
The refund. None. The House Rules make the membership non-refundable 15.
The counter-script. Count the Delta trips in the year ahead before renewing anything. The Reserve card carries 15 visits for its holder 4, and a year with few Delta flights turns a $695 membership into a card in a wallet, because the club opens only with a same-day Delta ticket 15.
Admirals Club
Price. $1,400 for an AAdvantage member with no status, $1,350 at Gold, $1,300 at Platinum, $1,250 at Platinum Pro and $1,200 at Executive Platinum, or 120,000 to 140,000 miles. The single membership introduced on August 23, 2026 is $750 or 75,000 miles at every tier and covers the member alone 2.
What stops working. Lounge access for the member and up to two guests on the full membership; access for the member alone on the single membership 2.
The path. Automatic renewal is opt-in at checkout. Opting out runs through the Admirals Club account, with the opt-out button at the bottom of the page, or by phone on 800-237-7971, daily 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern 2. The same number cancels a membership 2.
The traps. American runs the tightest deadlines in the category: opt out at least 35 days before the end of the term, expect the automatic renewal to be processed 30 days before the end, and expect the reminder email at 60 days 2. Household memberships were discontinued on August 23, 2026, and existing ones run to the end of their membership year 2.
The refund. Seven days after a renewal, provided no club has been entered in the new membership period, by phone 2.
The counter-script. Put the anniversary minus 40 days in the calendar, because 35 days is the deadline and the charge follows five days later. Keep the call to one sentence: opt out of automatic renewal, then read the confirmation back.
Priority Pass
Price. Standard is $99 a year with a $35 member visit fee and a $35 guest fee. Standard Plus is $329 with 10 free visits and then $35 a visit. Prestige is $469 with free member visits and a $35 guest fee 5.
What stops working. Lounge access ends with the term, and the visit allowance ends with it.
The path. Members who bought directly cancel with Priority Pass; members who hold it through a card cancel with the card provider, which its Conditions of Use state plainly 12. Written cancellation goes to the Priority Pass office that issued the membership, or by phone on +44 20 8680 1338 12.
The traps. Automatic billing is agreed at enrollment, and stopping it takes written confirmation at least six weeks before the expiry date 12. A member who misses that date can still cancel within 30 days of the renewal date, in writing 12. Renewal terms sit at Priority Pass's discretion 12, and fees can rise on 30 days' notice 12. A membership held through a card belongs to the card issuer, which is the only party that can end it 12.
The refund. A first-time direct purchase is refunded in full inside 14 days, less the value of any visits already used 12.
The counter-script. Write the six-week date into the calendar on the day of purchase, send the notice to the issuing office rather than a general support address, and keep the sent message.
The exit arithmetic
Every membership here is sold a year at a time, and every exit window is shorter than the year.
CLEAR refunds the current term inside 14 days, and access ends the day the cancellation lands 16. Priority Pass refunds a first direct purchase inside 14 days, minus visits used 12. American allows seven days after a renewal, with no club entered 2. United and Delta refund nothing at all 315.
The middle option is the day pass. American sells a One-Day Pass for $79 or 7,900 miles, and $1,400 buys seventeen of them 2. Delta sells no single-visit pass at all 15. United sells one through its app 3.
Priority Pass rewards the arithmetic. Below seven visits a year, Standard at $99 plus $35 a visit is cheaper than Standard Plus at $329; from the seventh visit Standard Plus wins; Prestige at $469 overtakes Standard Plus only past 14 visits 5.
CLEAR against the fee it gets confused with: $219 a year against $85 for five years, which is $17 a year 7. CLEAR costs about thirteen times as much per year and does a different job: it verifies identity at the head of the line, and the screening lane behind it still belongs to TSA 14. A family of four on one CLEAR plan pays $594 a year; the same four renewing PreCheck pay about $340 at CLEAR's $84.95 rate, once every five years 17.
If the charge already posted
Stop the payments. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says a customer can withdraw permission for automatic payments after granting it. Call the company, then follow up in writing; call the bank or credit union to revoke the authorization, and follow that in writing too. Once both sides have it in writing, later payments are errors the bank can be asked to refund 19.
Dispute the charge. On a credit card, call the card company and send a written billing error notice within 60 calendar days of the charge appearing on the statement. The card company then has 30 days to acknowledge the dispute in writing 20.
Keep the record the FTC describes. Its consumer guidance on free trials and auto-renewals asks readers to keep a copy of the cancellation request and notes of any conversation about canceling, then watch the statement for charges that arrive afterwards. If the company keeps charging, file a dispute, follow up by letter, and use certified mail with a return receipt so the record shows what arrived 18.
The same guidance describes the mechanism behind this category: a negative option is a business treating silence as permission to charge, and the trouble starts when the business does not say clearly that it will keep billing, or makes canceling difficult 18.
What the law gives you. 15 U.S.C. § 8403 makes it unlawful to charge a consumer through a negative option on the internet unless the seller discloses all material terms before taking billing details, obtains express informed consent before the charge, and offers a simple mechanism to stop recurring charges 21.
The FTC's 2024 amended Negative Option Rule, which would have reached auto-renewals across all media, was vacated by the Eighth Circuit on July 8, 2025. The FTC opened a new rulemaking on March 13, 2026, with comments closed on April 13, 2026 22. The rule still on the books, 16 CFR Part 425, covers prenotification plans for the sale of goods, and the vacatur reinstated the version first promulgated in 1973 2223.
One state's rule is stronger. California's Automatic Renewal Law was amended with effect from July 1, 2025. The state attorney general's summary of it lists an annual reminder to every subscriber, a cancellation route that uses the same method the customer used to enrol, an online enrollment that must be cancelable online at will with no steps that obstruct or delay it, notice 15 to 45 days before an annual renewal, and a complaint route through the attorney general's office 24. American's 35-day opt-out and Priority Pass's six-week written notice both sit outside what that summary promises a California member for an annual term.
Or hand it to an app. CNET lists Rocket Money and Trim among the services that track subscriptions, and notes that paid versions of both will cancel on the customer's behalf 9.
The prevention gate
Diarise the anniversary minus 45 days. That single date clears American's 35-day opt-out and Priority Pass's six-week written notice 212.
Buy the fee before the membership. PreCheck or Global Entry first, because five years of either costs less than one year of anything else on this page 78.
Check the card before paying the program. $219 back on the Platinum, Business Platinum, Green and Hilton Honors Aspire cards, 15 Delta visits on the Reserve, Admirals Club access on the Citi / AAdvantage Executive 246.
Treat a family plan as one decision. The member who created it controls every change and every renewal, and stopping payment ends everyone's access 11.
Put the membership on a card you can switch off. CLEAR renews by charging the card it holds 6; a virtual card with a spend limit or a merchant lock blocks the next charge without a phone call 25.
Buy at the program's price. NerdWallet's own sign-up link sells a first year at $169, and the membership renews at $219 14.
The kill list
- Pull 13 months of statements and search the twelve strings above.
- For every hit, open the account named in the table, and write down the plan, the price and the next renewal date.
- Decide which charges are fees that never renew and which are memberships that will.
- Check the card wallet and the loyalty account before renewing anything.
- Price each membership against one-day passes and against the government fee it overlaps.
- Cancel inside the 14-day or 7-day window where one exists, on the rail that owns the charge, and keep the confirmation.
- Put the anniversary minus 45 days into next year's calendar, and leave it there.
References
- 1CLEAR+
clearme.com
- 2Admirals Club Membership
aa.com
- 3United Club Membership
united.com
- 4Purchase Sky Club Membership
delta.com
- 5Airport Lounge Membership Plans
prioritypass.com
- 6CLEAR+ Membership Travel Benefit, American Express
americanexpress.com
- 7TSA PreCheck
tsa.gov
- 8Global Entry
cbp.gov
- 9
- 10Subscription Service Statistics and Costs
crresearch.com
- 11CLEAR Member Terms
clearme.com
- 12Priority Pass Conditions of Use
prioritypass.com
- 13TSA PreCheck FAQ
tsa.gov
- 14Is CLEAR+ Worth the Cost?
nerdwallet.com
- 15Delta Sky Club House Rules
delta.com
- 16CLEAR+ Membership Refund Policy
clearme.com
- 17How do I cancel my Membership?
clearme.com
- 18
- 19How do I stop automatic payments from my bank account?
consumerfinance.gov
- 20How do I dispute a charge on my credit card bill?
consumerfinance.gov
- 2115 U.S. Code § 8403
law.cornell.edu
- 22Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans
federalregister.gov
- 2316 CFR Part 425
ecfr.gov
- 24
- 25Virtual Cards
privacy.com
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