Cheap Holiday Expert founder, Chelsea Dickenson, put London Stansted Airport’s FastTrack security service to the test against a standard queue – and the result was surprising
With the school summer holidays upon us, travel experts have put fast-track airport security to the test to establish whether paying extra to “skip the queues” is actually worthwhile.
Cheap Holiday Expert founder, Chelsea Dickenson and her video editor, Jack, headed to London Stansted Airport to conduct their experiment.
“Is it worth paying extra for FastTrack security in the school holidays?” she asked in a TikTok video. As part of the test, Chelsea revealed she would be going in the “normal” queue in a “race” against Jack in the FastTrack lane.
The pair sped off to their respective queues, with Chelsea immediately met with a choice of two lanes. After making her decision, she explained: “So, FastTrack cost Jack £9.34 and I have always said it is not really worth it if you are travelling off peak.”
However, 10:30am on weekday [Thursday, July 23] during the first week after the kids broke up is very much a peak time. Chelsea said: “It’s really busy. The queues have started already. It has really filled up behind me.”
Jack, on the other hand, shared footage of his surroundings, reporting that his experience was going “very quickly”.
Happy that she had “absolutely chosen the right queue”, the race appeared to be truly on as Chelsea pointed out it was “moving constantly”. She continued: “I’m nearly at the front so I think I’m in with a chance here.”
By now, Jack was emptying his pockets as he prepared to walk through the metal detectors, but unfortunately for Chelsea she was subjected to a search which resulted in a delay until she was reunited with her shoes.
“I’m done in record time [seven minutes], but I don’t have my shoes!” she exclaimed in frustration. Once they appeared in a tray on the conveyor belt, Chelsea sprinted to the finish line – but alas – that was where she found Jack who had arrived there just seconds earlier.
“Technically we may have finished at the same time,” she was left to ponder. “But because FastTrack is further up, you got out in front of me.”
Chelsea closed: “So we’re calling it £9.34 for literally 12 seconds.”
Writing in response, one TikTok user said: “Was there today just went through the accessible queue and went through within five minutes with a family of nine, but two bags got pulled for a search so made it longer.”
However, a second person praised the concept, writing: “I always do FastTrack what ever time of year l travel. Its a lot calmer, no rush, staff more patient and nicer. It’s worth the money in my opinion.”
While a third said: “I’ve done FastTrack a few times and every time the rest of the baggage hall has been dead – even when travelling at the same time.”
All you need to know about Stansted Airport FastTrack
FastTrack at London Stansted Airport costs £6.49 per person. This lets you into a dedicated security lane, speeding up your journey. You may then get extra time to relax, enjoy a meal, or shop duty-free before your flight.
You can book your spot via this FastTrack page. All you need to do is insert the departure and arrival dates, along with the number of guests, and press Search.
Select FastTrack Security for flying in and/or Passport Control FastTrack for flying out. Press continue to proceed to payment.
As you can see by the experience mentioned above, FastTrack doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get through security at record speed. However, it can be a lot less stressful than navigating the busy regular queue system.
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
