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Do I smell another statement credit opportunity coming to Delta credit cards?
Delta Air Lines emailed Diamond Medallion® members this weekend to say the carrier’s “partnership with CLEAR is changing.” Delta has (for now?) a stake in the biometric-identification verification company that operates at dozens of major US airports and entertainment and sports venues. For years, Diamonds enjoyed a complimentary CLEAR+ membership.
That changes in a few weeks.
“Members will no longer receive a complimentary CLEAR+ membership but will continue to receive the highest discount amount offered to Delta SkyMiles Members,” Delta said, adding:
If your CLEAR+ membership is linked to your SkyMiles account, this means that if your CLEAR+ renewal occurs:
- Before June 1, 2026, you’ll keep your complimentary benefit for that full renewal term, and the discounted rate will begin at the renewal after that.
- After June 1, 2026, your CLEAR+ membership will automatically renew at an annual discounted rate of $129, exclusively for Diamond Medallion® Members.
As usual, CLEAR will send you a notice in advance of your renewal date with more details.
Another Credit Card Tie-In?
(Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.)Both the American Express Platinum Card® (read our breakdown) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (read our breakdown) offer CLEAR+ membership statement credits.
Members can earn up to $209 in statement credits each calendar year for CLEAR+ membership costs charged to your card.
If you use and value the CLEAR+ benefit, that can go a decent way — even with the $129 special price — toward each card’s $895 annual fee. (Rates and Fees for the Platinum Card. Rates and Fees for the Business Platinum Card.)
That leads me to wonder if the four “premium” Delta SkyMiles® American Express Cards will include some kind of CLEAR+ statement credit. I’m talking about the:
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
I can’t see those cards offering a yearly $209 credit. Maybe it would top out at $129? Maybe $100? Maybe $50? Maybe nothing at all?
Is the CLEAR+ Benefit Worth It?
Here’s the thing with CLEAR+: you don’t need it until you do. There are times it’s saved me 90 minutes waiting in a security line. There are times when people with neither CLEAR+ nor PreCheck have zoomed past me because CLEAR was understaffed; it took CLEAR ambassadors too long to go back and forth between kiosks and TSA officers.
There was also the time CLEAR confused my wife — with herself.
Plus, Digital ID is rolling out to more airlines and airports—and is far superior. Some of my friends scream at me for letting anyone access my biometrics. (Then they go back to using the fingerprint and facial recognition ID capabilities on their electronic devices.)
Final Approach
Starting June 1, 2026, Delta Diamonds no longer receive complimentary CLEAR+ membership. Diamonds: what’s your take on this? Is it a major loss for you? How often do you use CLEAR?
For rates and fees of the American Express Platinum Card®, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, please visit this link.
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and and may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Clear is worthless even if it has a + sign. Pre is now badly oversubscribed in many places, but Clear is still slower. The terminals are buggy. Some of the staff seem like they are on sedatives and moving in slomo with no idea how the system works. And in some places once you get through Clear you uh, merge into the Pre lane for security? Yeah, that makes sense. Will be cancelling at next renewal.
If my wife and I didn’t have the CLEAR+ credit on our Amex cards, we’d drop it. CLEAR’s understaffing — at least, in our experiences – has gotten ridiculous.
Totally agree. I often skip Clear and just use the standard Pre line, especially since many airports have upgraded to Touchless ID. Mine renewed in October and I already cancelled it after getting the email.
I wonder who ended the partnership – DL or Clear. It is going to crush Clear.
Was about to submit the comment and noticed that @eyeoftheflyer you are using a light grey font against a white background in the text box and you can hardly see what you are typing in there.
Thanks, John. Which gray text are you talking about?
HH Aspire also offers a $209 CLEAR+ credit. It would be a logical addition to the DL Reserves.
From Amex’s perspective, their argument against that might be that the Reserves have 15 Sky Club entrances a year and the Companion Certificate offers more availability (FWTW…) than the DL Platinum Amexes.
Plus, it’s good way to get to more Amex Platinum members. Again, just trying to think like Amex here.
Clear E-Gates are great. One facial scan and no Clear agent escorting to the front of the line. I recently used a Clear E-Gate and got through in less than 30 seconds from boarding pass scan performed by the Clear agent to the facial recognition gate and to the front of the security screen lane.
What I don’t quite understand is the setup where you get a retina or facial scan at the Clear kiosk then queue again at the TSA touchless ID/photo check where the Clear agent scans a QR code on your behalf at the machine while the TSA agent takes the picture.
Where did you use this, Mr. Lee?
As a diamond, I was only paying $125 for my wife which the platinum card credit covered. now it will cost me $45 out of pocket (129+125-209). We think CLEAR is worth it. Although we had the most bizarre incident at PIT where a lane agent refused to take us to TSA. They actually forced us to use the regular TSA-Pre lane. I emailed CLEAR support who apologized and extended our membership an extra 2 months.
That is whacky, Bob! But I’m glad they extended your membership!
As above with Mr Lee I go thru Clear at SFO then have to wait in a shared line with Pre-check peeps then get digital ID -facial pix again and in many instances have to show ID again… At my home airport we only have Pre-check and facial ID no clear..
Sad the DM status keeps getting less and less each year. The 9 + levels of seats is even more frustrating.. =very little upgrades..