E-Gates opening for US citizens in June

For Canadians too. Good news! It means not having to buy their annual frequent flyer entry plan.

It would be nice if the US government would recipricate in kind and do away with the ESTA requirement for us Brits.

Just to clarify then.......
No more customs lines? Just do what the article says and off we go?
That sounds sweet. We are going Mid-June so hopefully they are running at that time.
Thanks for the info!

"It would be nice if the US government would recipricate in kind and do away with the ESTA requirement for us Brits."

Yes, I find the ESTA thing a real embarrassment.

The other point as mentioned in this article is the elimination of filling out the archaic landing card, which has been pending for a couple of years. All information will be collected from the Advanced Passenger Information instead.

No more customs lines? Just do what the article says and off we go?

You will still go through customs but there isn’t really a line there.

"You will still go through customs but there isn’t really a line there."

Yes, always puzzled me why Americans call immigration "customs", immigration = people, customs = luggage. Is it because they're used to domestic flights in the US (no immigration).

Blockquote Is it because they're used to domestic flights in the US (no immigration).

Actually meant to say Immigration, just customs came out. I think anytime I fly I always say "Customs" and mean Immigration.
My Bad. I'll try and fix that.

It would be nice if the US government would recipricate in kind and do away with the ESTA requirement for us Brits.

Indeed!!! I agree wholeheartedly.

Here's another article detailing even further improvements to speed the process of getting through Heathrow airport:
https://www.godsavethepoints.com/2019/04/27/heathrow-biometric-passport-trial/

The author's source of this information can be read here:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-need-for-passports-as-heathrow-goes-hi-tech-l0x3lvdwr?

This will certainly benefit those that frequently traverse Heathrow as opposed to those, like me, that will be taking a only single trip this year.

According to the article “There will be no registration required to use e-gates as long as you have a passport with a chip. You’ll simply slide your passport onto the reader, step forward, take a picture, and you’ll be on your way.“

So I’ll ask the question, how do I know if my passport has the necessary chip?

I’ll ask the question, how do I know if my passport has the necessary chip?

Look at the front cover. If it has a gold rectangle below at the bottom, it has a chip.

Im wondering if anyone has heard of an update if and when this is happening? The article mentioned June and Im hoping it will start up on June 1. Probably help some in getting out of the airport sooner.

Went through Gatwick today and was told they were shooting for mid-May--Americans and Canadians using e-gates--but don't hold them to it. Expect a few weeks delay.

Was also told "Registered Traveler" would disappear.

Im wondering if anyone has heard of an update if and when this is
happening? The article mentioned June and Im hoping it will start up
on June 1. Probably help some in getting out of the airport sooner.

The article was published just last week.

Any updates on the official start date for US citizens? I will be flying into LHR 6 June. Fingers crossed!

@Davey just reported this: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/just-arrived-at-heathrow

And then there is this blog posting: https://onemileatatime.com/uk-e-gates-expanded-countries/