The fare seems expensive to a Frenchman out East (5)
I believe the answer is:
cheer
'the fare' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'frenchman out east' is the wordplay.
'frenchman' becomes 'cher' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'out' is an insertion indicator.
'east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'cher' enclosing 'e' is 'CHEER'.
'seems expensive to a' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cheer that I've seen before include "Applaud vocally, hurray etc" , "Encourage - applaud" , "Cry of approval" , "Vocal sound of applause" , "sound of appreciative audience" .)