The U.S. has ESTA – the Electronic System for Travel Authorization – the visa that foreigners eligible for a visa waiver still have to get to come here. The European Union keeps putting off its version of this, ETIAS or the European Travel Information and Authorisation System.
Britain, though, launched its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) this month. Americans, and other visa-exempt citizens, wishing to travel to the U.K. must apply and pay in advance now. And this new requirement was even being applied to transfer passengers.
- That’s a huge pain for British Airways, because it means they’ll lose a lot of business to Air France, Lufthansa, and other carriers – connections at Heathrow become more cumbersome than they already are.
- And it’s a huge pain for passengers because it means that if you haven’t planned ahead, Heathrow and British Airways are out as options last minute rebookings, even.
I hadn’t gotten a U.K. ETA yet, though I’ve been talking about how much I need to (a UK ETA is valid for the earlier of two years or when the approved passport expires) – even without plans to be in London until late summer. That’s because I fly American Airlines. I may have no intention of visiting London, but if I have flight delays or cancellations going anywhere else in Europe there’s a good chance my rebooking option is going to take me through London and connect onto BA.
Fortunately that worry has been suspended because Heathrow connecting passengers will not have to get a UK ETA after all, as long as they remain in transit do not enter the country.
[T]he Home Office has now caved to pressure from Heathrow and airlines. In a statement, it said: “Following feedback from the aviation industry, the government has agreed a temporary exemption for passengers who transit airside, and therefore do not pass through UK border control.”
While the Home Office insists “the exemption will be kept under review,” few in the aviation industry believe that the demand for an online permit for connecting travellers will ever be brought back.
That means having to follow purple “Flight Connections” signs at Heathrow, rather than using the e-gates to clear immigration and taking the tube between terminals which can be faster.
You’re still going to need an ETA if you’re connecting on separate tickets with an airline that won’t through-check bags (like British Airways), because collecting bags and re-checking them will require passing through immigration. But for most, this is a big improvement.
I’m sure it’s not the case for everyone, but when I applied earlier this week I got a pending review notification within a minute and an approval within another minute. Took longer to fill in the form.
Soon after the UK ETA became supposedly mandatory, I transited LHR on a trip between one part of the EU Schengen area to another part of the EU Schengen Europe without an ETA. The airline agent asked if I had an ETA for the presented US passport that I used and I said I am good. No validating that I had an ETA for the passport shown and no problems transiting LHR. I am going to do the same thing again soon and then just decide to try to go landside at LHR and have lunch in town while using a US passport without an ETA. I expect I will be having lunch over in Mayfair.
UK ETA approvals for most US passport users is pretty much near instant — like a few minutes. It can even be applied for and approved while at LHR itself.
Several years ago UK made a visa necessary for transit passengers. I was traveling from NY to Thailand and skipped using British Airways and used Emirates which didn’t have a stop over in Heathrow.
I already have my ETA, and it’s a lucky thing because I have two European trips this year that connect back to the US through London Heathrow, and for both of them American has me flying into LHR at 7 PM and not leaving until 8 the next morning. And that was the only option. So I have to get a hotel room in London, because I didn’t realize Heathrow is not even open 24 hours. So no matter what I’m going have to go through immigration. I think it’s really weird that American and British Airways set up these weird flights that have 12 hour overnight layovers in a place without a 24 hour terminal.
It almost makes me sorry that I decided to get my status with American Airlines/one world because London Heathrow is fairly terrible and it sounds like I’m going be there all the time.
I used to clear customs all of the time whenever I was connecting via AA/BA through Heathrow.
The customs officer would ask “how long will you be in the UK?” and my response was “about three hours.”
A good start, now if the US got rid of transit visas we’d have some genuine progress. But why couldn’t the British coordinate having a 3 year electronic form since the European one is that length? Did they even think about this?
I applied on the 6th and I was approved about 3 minutes after I completed the in-app form. My facial recognition didn’t even work and when I flew to the UK on the 9th nobody even asked for my ETA at check-in. Way more has been written about this ETA than is necessary. It is just really not a big deal.
Jerry, you can’t present your ETA at immigration because it’s electronically linked to your passport. There’s no physical paperwork.
GUWonder – if you go landside you’ll need an ETA when trying to get airside to your connecting flight. You can get it on the UK government website, there’s nothing to print.
It’s £10 and good for 2 years. While I certainly prefer saving the $12+ and not having filling out more forms, it’s not that much trouble, especially if you transit through the UK regularly. So, it’s not like we cured cancer here or anything. Still, ‘woohoo’ for connecting travelers who remain in-transit on the same ticket.
Side note: A friendly hello to the lady of Indian descent working security at the LHR T3 transfer security station who inevitably takes at least one unopened toiletry from me (and others) every freakin’ time. Doesn’t matter that the item is under 100ml or that fits in the larger zip-lock. Nope, it’s not about security, she’s just hoarding stuff from travelers, presumably to use herself. Someone should look into that.
The Brits are probably already planning to hike up the fee.
And the ETA is a nuisance with its 2 year validity period given a lot of standard duration passports out there are only valid for 3-5 years and the ETA is only valid until the passport expires.
The Brits are great at own-goals nowadays. Brexit, for example, but also this ETA thing. Rescinding the ETA “requirement” for transit (for now) is an improvement but it’s still worse than the pre-2025 situation to transit or visit the UK on say a US passport. And just wait until it’s mandatory for Schengen country citizens, as that will perhaps make check-in cutoff times worse.
Ref 1990 comment,
So you single out an Indian person and accusing of stealing passengers items.
You are a racist.
This is hilarious with the British government clown show: “Electronic Travel Authorisation ( ETA ) fee rising to £16.”
I will still be getting the visa even though I only have plans to transit. Never know when something might happen and all of a sudden you are spending the night at an airport hotel. If it were $100 I’d probably not but at this price, it’s a no-brainer.
The other issue with ETA for US/UK dual nationals on AA is that there is not an option to have two passports in an AAdvantage account. As a dual-citizen, I refuse to pay for ETA since I pay for my UK passport and the principle that I do not need authorization to travel to a country of which I am a citizen.
It cost me more than £10 in lost time to read this article….it really is a drop in the ocean for the convenience as LHR (or other UK POE) as a euro backup option. You’ll be paying more for the EU version soon
Transiting LHR is a more general nuisance than transiting the major Schengen hub airports to go between the US/Canada and most of the world.
Adding the nuisance of cost in time, money and mind-space for an ETA doesn’t make LHR and the UK more attractive for travelers.
It seems I wasted £10 times 3 for our family who will be transiting LHR on Jan 26.
People are so naïve. Yeah it’s instantaneous now at the beginning of it all, but this can change as a drop of a hat.
The issue is we now have to account for more bureaucracy in our travels. That too to a country that has been kept safe with American taxpayer dollars.
I try and avoid LHR solely because they make you go thru security on connecting flights, even if it is BA to BA, and then are lunatics about everything fitting into a sealed plastic bag.
@norita – but it’s valid for two years, so you may actually go to london at some point at least, maybe not a total loss
It’s valid for 2 years from approval or the duration of the ETA-affiliated accepted passport for the trip, whichever of those two is shorter. Add in that there are countries where you need 3 or 6 months of “remaining” validity on a passport for it to be accepted for entry to some countries, and this 2 year ETA thing is another nuisance best avoided as much as is conveniently possible.
While transiting flyers will welcome this policy retreat, will it lead to even more confusion? Can ALL international connections at LHR be made post-security, even if a change in terminals is involved? We’ll be flying AA from JFK to LHR in April and connecting there on BA to CDG; will I need a UK ETA? How will I know? If we “…follow (the) purple “Flight Connections” signs at Heathrow, rather than using the e-gates to clear immigration and taking the tube (to transfer) between terminals” can we skip the UK ETA? What if our onward flight gets canceled and we end up having to get an airport hotel to wait for a next-day flight?
There are transit buses at LHR to get between all the LHR terminals without clearing the UK Border.
But if you’re on separate tickets with luggage to claim at LHR before they can be checked to the next destination, then you generally need to clear the UK Border to get to baggage claim to get the bag and take it to a land-side check-in counter. [Maybe you can file a baggage irregularity report in absentia to try to get the bag sent where you want, but there is no guarantee that will go over well and that you will see the bag when and where you initially wanted to have it be for the trip.
In the event of IRROPS and being stuck overnight at LHR, it’s possible for US passport users to apply online while at LHR and probably get the ETA approved within a couple of minutes. Even otherwise, an airline and the UK Border folks can come to an understanding to provide entry to passengers subject to IRROPS involving an overnight LHR area hotel stay.