British Airways has signed up to TSA pre-check

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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.

British Airways BA Amex American Express

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards. Both have increased sign-up bonuses until 2nd November 2021:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

10,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 241 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

40,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

60,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies. This card has a limited time offer of 60,000 Avios when you sign up:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

60,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

Dave says:

3 Jun3 June 17:09

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.
- ankomonkey says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 20:33
  
  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.
  - ChrisC says:
    
    4 Jun4 June 15:33
    
    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
Boi says:

3 Jun3 June 20:39

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?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 22:12
  
  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.
Marc says:

4 Jun4 June 08:00

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?
john says:

4 Jun4 June 09:25

> 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!
ChrisC says:

4 Jun4 June 15:24

the title ‘enrolment on arrival’ is a little misleading as you will have had to have already passed UK Home Office checks and had conditional approval from the CBP.

‘Interview on Arrival’ would be a better description.

As to pre they still prefer you not to have a load of metal – keys / coins / phone in your pockets.
Nick O'Callaghan says:

4 Jun4 June 16:30

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…..
Steve says:

6 Jun6 June 12:58

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
- timds says:
  
  11 Jun11 June 13:24
  
  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.