There's nothing quite like a long line at airport security to seriously dampen the excitement of a trip or a vacation. To get through airport security as quickly as possible, you can try your best to avoid peak travel time, pack efficiently, pre-bag your liquids, and make sure your electronic devices are easily accessible until the cows come home. But at the end of the day, the power is out of your hands.
While some airports offer fast-track passes to skip longer lines through airport security, it's not the ideal option if you’re looking to save money to spend at your destination. Finally, one airport is testing out a way to remove the potential of facing endless queues at security—for free. So much of the flying experience involves hidden fees or convoluted processes designed to catch travelers unawares, so this is a nice exception to a rather frustrating rule.
London's Heathrow Airport has launched a six-month trial—aptly called “Heathrow Timeslot”—where travelers can pre-book a security slot, meaning that you may be able to avoid facing any lines whatsoever at security and effortlessly zoom straight through to the lounge.
The process seems fairly easy to use. First, check whether your flight is eligible for the service: The trial is only operating out of Heathrow’s Terminal 3 for passengers flying with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, and Virgin Atlantic. So if you are flying with a different airline, you won’t be able to book a slot. (At least not yet. There are plans to incorporate other airlines at a later date during the trial.)
If you are eligible, you can then book your time slot. You can make a booking up to three days before your flight, and (if there is availability remaining at short notice) the slots should remain open until 90 minutes before long-haul flights and 60 minutes before short-haul flights. The booking site stipulates that travelers won’t have to go through any registration processes or add any further details. You’ll just need your email address and flight number.
You’ll then be sent an email with your booking confirmation and a QR code that you’ll need to have scanned to access your slot. The time slots allow for 15 minutes on either side of your time, so you don’t have to be exact, but make sure you’re as prompt as possible; since it's a trial, any buffer time could come in handy. This security time slot does not apply to airline check-in or bag drop queues, so remember to leave yourself ample time in case you need to go through those areas.
The Heathrow trial began on October 3 and will run for the next six months as the airport attempts to further expedite the process for travelers at the congested airport—a much-appreciated attempt after the delays, cancellations, and travel chaos of this summer in London.
Other UK airports have introduced similar time-saving measures recently. London City Airport became the first to use CT scanners this year, which allows passengers to avoid unpacking liquids and electronic devices for security; a host of other airports have plans to scrap the rule banning liquids over 100ml in hand luggage by 2024.
A version of this article originally appeared in Condé Nast Traveller UK.
