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British Airways has signed up to TSA pre-check

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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

British Airways joins TSA precheck

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.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 2024)

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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (51)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Wally1976 says:
    3 Jun3 June 08:46

    OT – just confirming that when transferring Amex MR to Radisson Rewards, you only need to enter the last 10 digits of your RR number. The transfer I made (of 3 points) arrived in my RR account yesterday.

    • TripRep says:
      3 Jun3 June 09:13

      Good tip Wally, I had to phone AMEX to process mine and they told me the same.

  • Craig says:
    3 Jun3 June 10:03

    OT: How long do SPG point transfers take between household members?

    • Andrew McLoughlin says:
      3 Jun3 June 11:14

      Ithink Rob mentioned a in comment recently that it was around five days. I’m still waiting for mine which were sent on 31/05.

  • Paul says:
    3 Jun3 June 11:34

    Should be careful not to confuse Global Entry with TSA Pre…

    Global Entry does give you TSA Pre access, but TSA Pre can be purchased separately and is available through other schemes too.

    Security times through TSA Pre can be far less than 5 minutes!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      3 Jun3 June 15:36

      Thought that UK citizens could on get via Global Entry. US citizens can buy it separately?

      • Mycity says:
        3 Jun3 June 16:30

        Agreed, my understanding is you can’t buy TSA pre unless your a US citizen.

  • rams1981 says:
    3 Jun3 June 12:12

    OT anyone else having issues getting to combine my Avios page?

    • the real harry1 says:
      3 Jun3 June 12:34

      loads

      phone

      • Stu N says:
        3 Jun3 June 16:35

        It’s been really flaky but got it to work to move IB-Avios-BA last week after quite a few tries. Using private browsing seemed to help.

  • Down the Back says:
    3 Jun3 June 12:32

    OT: Wife was going to cancel her BA Amex today as her supp on mine has arrived. She has 9k points in it, what is the best thing to do not to lose the points, do we wait until they transfer then cancel or can we call and have them moved now to BA or would Amex even move them to her Amex MR account if we called ?

    Thanks
    DtB

    • Jon says:
      3 Jun3 June 13:19

      I cancelled mine a while back, before the remaining points had cleared, and sure enough, come the final statement, the points didn’t go across. I called Amex and customer services were very helpful, explaining that they do try to send them but sometimes if the card has been cancelled it fails, apparently. They suggested the easiest option was to credit my Membership Rewards account – fine by me! 🙂 They even rounded them up “for the inconvenience of having to call” – only a few hundred points, but it was a nice (and unexpected) gesture, I thought.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      3 Jun3 June 15:37

      Must wait for them to transfer across before cancelling or you’re highly likely to lose them

  • Mark2 says:
    3 Jun3 June 12:37

    personally I would wait until they have transferred.

  • Chris Jackson says:
    3 Jun3 June 15:10

    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!

  • 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

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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