Get FREE airport fast track security with Mastercard – why didn’t we know about this?!

In a discussion on HfP yesterday about the value of the Fast Track airport security passes that you get at Gatwick when you pre-book the No1 Lounge, reader Keith mentioned that you can get free Fast Track security at selected airports if you have a Mastercard.

This includes London Gatwick and London Luton, plus five other UK airports.

This was news to me, and is probably news to you too.

You need to register here for Mastercard Travel Experiences.

How does Mastercard Travel Experiences work?

It’s very simple:

• you register your ‘participating’ Mastercard at the Mastercard Travel Experiences website here, or via their app

• you receive THREE Fast Track airport security passes every 12 months

• you receive discounts at selected airport restaurants when you show your Mastercard Travel Experiences ‘e-Cert’ or the app

The only catch as far as I can see is that only the named cardholder can use the Fast Track passes. Your family or partner can only accompany you if they register a Mastercard of their own.

Which Mastercard cards are ‘participating’?

It isn’t clear, so you need to use trial and error.

My Curve Card was accepted. Our reader yesterday said that his Barclaycard Avios card was refused, but this was very shortly after launch so the situation may have changed.

If you don’t have a card that works, you can order a free Curve Card here. Curve will even give you £10 for ordering it via our link. It doesn’t show on your credit file as it isn’t a credit product.

Please post your successes or failures in the comments.

(EDIT: Reader feedback below is mixed and confusing. Curve cards seem to work for some people but not others. The same goes for Currensea. Other UK cards seem to fail, but cards issued in the EU seem to be OK. It is all very odd.)

Which airports offer Fast Track security to Mastercard holders?

You cannot see the full list of 177 participating airports on the Mastercard Travel Experiences website. It shows the first 15 alphabetically but you can’t see the rest. The app doesn’t show any of the 177 airports and insists that you plug in random airport names to search.

However, I tried the major UK airports with manual searches.

You can get free Fast Track security passes for the following airports:

• Aberdeen

• Glasgow

• Liverpool

• London Gatwick

• Luton

• Newcastle

• Southampton

It doesn’t work for Belfast, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Derry, Doncaster Sheffield, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Humberside, Inverness, Isle of Man, Jersey, Leeds Bradford, London City, London Heathrow, London Stansted, Manchester, Newquay, Norwich, Southend or Teesside.

What restaurant discounts are available?

The list of airports with restaurant discounts is far bigger than the list of airports which offer Fast Track.

At Heathrow, for example, you have:

• 10% off at Leon (T2)
• 15% off at Giraffe (T5)
• 15% off at The Curator (T3)
• 15% off at The Prince of Wales (T4)
• 15% off at Wonder Tree (T2)
• 15% off at Spuntino (T3)

Remember that, whilst I have focused on UK airports here, you can use it at airports globally.

I haven’t tried it out yet but I can see it being useful for low cost flights from Gatwick and Luton. If you have used Mastercard Travel Experiences, please let us know how it went in the comments.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – September 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.