It finally happened: Delta Diamond Medallions are losing their free CLEAR annual membership and instead need to pay for the benefit.

CLEAR removes free membership for Delta Diamond Medallions

Beginning June 1, 2026, some Delta members are going to be seeing some changes upon renewal of their CLEAR membership. Specifically, Delta Diamond Medallions will no longer get a free annual membership for CLEAR. Their benefit will be capped at an annual membership for $129/year.

To clarify:

• Renewals in 2026 that occur before June 1, 2026, will be free for one more year.
• Renewals in 2026 that occur starting June 1, 2026 will renew at the new $129 rate.

Delta 360 members will see no change to their benefit and will continue to get a free annual membership for CLEAR.

Granted, there’s one thing I need to point out: who is making the decision to eliminate the benefit from Delta Diamond Medallions? Is it CLEAR or Delta that’s driving the initiative? My hunch is that it’s actually CLEAR raising the price on Delta and Delta not seeing the value in paying. Why do I think it’s CLEAR? Well, Delta isn’t the first airline to remove the benefit from top elites.

This follows the trend of removing the benefit for United 1K elites

One year ago on May 1, 2025, United did something very similar. The partnership between CLEAR and United changed where 1K members no longer received a free CLEAR membership. We figured the partnership for Delta would change shortly after, but at least Delta Diamonds got another year of benefit than United 1K members did.

Maybe there was a connection between CLEAR and American Express that allowed Delta to keep the benefit longer than United did. American Express, as you might recall, still offers statement credits for CLEAR on some of its credit cards (Centurion, Platinum, Green, and Hilton Aspire). Delta and American Express are tied at the hip, so did that relationship translate to an extra year of benefit? Maybe, but in the end it doesn’t really matter much.

Clearly, the company is moving out of a growth phase and into profit

Puns aside, it seems obvious at this point that CLEAR is starting to care more about profit.

The trend with startups is generally to rapidly build up a large customer base generally built on discounts or other promotions. You need people to notice you, learn more about you, and get used to using it. The whole point is to get people using it so much that they don’t think twice about it and perhaps even develop a need for it.

At some point, someone needs to pay the bills. Investors eventually need a return that makes the venture worthwhile. When United and Delta offered CLEAR for free for top-tier elites, it still represented a growth phase. However, in the past year, we’ve seen both airlines stop handing out freebies for some of its top customers. The company has also raised prices for anyone paying cash.

Some might be thinking that American Express might be expanding credits for CLEAR, perhaps even adding to cover the fees for credit card holders. Unless Delta comes out with an even-more-expensive version of its Delta Reserve credit card, we don’t expect it. Instead, we expect the benefit to go away on the Green the next time it gets refreshed. Usually these merchant credits are subsidized either in part or in full from the vendor itself. Why would CLEAR do this for so many cardholders, and then add in more on top with Delta cardholders?

Why do we think the Green card will be impacted? It’s simple–the annual fee is $150 but it offers $189 in CLEAR Plus credits. Unless you’re a Delta Diamond or United 1K, you’ll benefit from just getting that card instead of paying for CLEAR. It has to be next on the chopping block, but the Green needs something else to make up for losing it.

What do you think of CLEAR’s recent pricing changes?

• CLEAR Plus: Is It Still Valuable?
• Life After Delta Diamond: All MQD Thresholds Above Diamond
• United Airlines Goes All-In: Get The Credit Card Or Suffer