News in brief:
British Airways now in TSA pre-check
British Airways has announced that the airline has signed up to TSA pre-check to speed up your experience when travelling from the US.
Passengers travelling on British Airways flights and codeshare partners who are Global Entry members will be able to:
- use fast track security lines at 200 US airports
- won’t need to remove anything from their hand luggage including liquids and
- can keep belts and shoes on
This can cut down the security check time to an alleged 5 minutes.
Initially TSA pre-check status will only be available if you select a printed boarding pass. Mobile boarding passes will follow in the Summer.
The TSA pre-check lane at BA’s JFK Terminal 7 will launch in the Summer once construction in the security area has been completed.
UK citizen can apply for Global entry on the TSA website and need to attend an interview at an one of the 380+ enrollment centres in the US or at the US Embassy in London during their interview periods. The last enrollment event in London ended early May but we will keep you posted on new appointment dates.
Virgin Atlantic to launch Manchester to Los Angeles
Virgin Atlantic has announced a new route out of Manchester.
From 26th May 2019 there will be three flights per week from Manchester to Los Angeles. This will put Virgin in direct competition with Thomas Cook, who also fly the route.
Los Angeles will replace the current Manchester – San Francisco route.
The Manchester routes to Las Vegas and Boston will also see increased frequency over Summer 2019. There will be four weekly services to Las Vegas from 31st March and three weekly services to Boston from 25th May.
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personally I would wait until they have transferred.
We were directed through the TSA pre line at JFK last October and tutted at when we tried to open our hand luggage for liquids! We are flying back from Seattle tonight and our boarding passes say TSA pre. We’ve never asked for this or had any interview , it just happened automatically!
The best way to avoid queues at US airports is simply to avoid going there in the first place. I hate Miami if transiting to Colombia, so never fly that route if I can avoid it but go via Madrid. The US immigration queues and some of the staff are pretty awful in the US and the concept that all I want to do is leave the country on another airplane seems to be lost on them. BA may be able to speed things on the way out of the US but getting through Heathrow T5 can also be bad news. The awful train from B and C gates is worth avoiding, dumping hundreds in passport control in one go. And why BA doesn’t have a fast-track inbound is beyond me. Unless you are not an EU citizen of course, and then you can fly though fast track with a business ticket.
My wife’s not an EU citizen and the immigration delays at Heathrow are often loooooooong. Every passenger’s entry seems to take far longer than if EU.
The UK has a programme similar to Global Entry – Registered Traveller.
That might be an option depending on your wifes passport
BUT if you are travelling together and you have a UK/EU passport then you can both go down the EU line and present yourselves together to the immigration officer
OT: IF I book flights on my gold credit card then later upgrade it to diamond (dont know if thats possible as no longer charge card), will I still be covered by various insurances as technically I would have “cancelled” the card I used?
Amex Platinum? Or diamond something else?
When they were both charge the gold number became your Platinum so would 100% count. I think since you paid with an AMEX issued card you would be covered by the Platinum insurance, atleast this is how I hope it works otherwise I would fall foul too.
How can I add my GE number to ensure it is printed on my boarding pass. Historically it was under Known traveller Number , but BA has been struggling to ensure this actually was printed on boarding pass. Have they now fixed this?
> won’t need to remove anything from their hand luggage including liquids and
> can keep belts and shoes on
Had those two flying out of Phoenix in the normal security line in March, so TSA pre-check might not give you much in all airports!
I flew from SFO – London mid-may, there was no advertising at check-in that BA were now taking part in TSA Pre-check until I asked the check-in agent on the off chance, and he stated since the beginning of May they were now part of pre-check (along with a few other non-US carriers too). Saves so much time! This was one of the only benefits of taking a US carrier until recently…..
Apologies as I know this post is a few days old now but can I just clarify whether TSA pre-check is available for non-US citizens? Reading the above, it would suggest that it is (hence the London based interviews) but unless I am being thick then all of the sites that I have found/read talk about this only being available to US citizens.
Thanks
If you have Global Entry then TSA-Pre is automatic, if you’re a non US citizen I’m not sure that you can get TSA-Pre on it’s own, but Global Entry is a worthwhile investment if you don’t mind paying the fee. I’m regularly through US immigration faster than my US citizen wife.