United Airlines Introduces Bag Drop Shortcut at London Heathrow

Great news for United Airlines passengers flying from London Heathrow as the carrier announces a bag drop shortcut service is now available at Heathrow, becoming the first international United station to offer this facility.

United’s bag drop shortcut was originally unveiled in 2021, initially introduced at the airline’s Chicago, New York/Newark, Washington D.C., Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco hubs and subsequently at a further 46 airports across the U.S.  Bag drop shortcut simplifies the lobby and bag drop process for customers, allowing them to skip the queue, check their bag in a minute or less on average, and get to their flight. According to customer surveys, the bag check process can be one of the more stressful and time-consuming parts of the travel experience and United was the first airline to streamline the process in this way.

Here's how bag drop shortcut works:

• Complete check-in on the United app or .com and select the number of bags before arriving at the airport
• Find the bag drop shortcut location at the airport designated in green with the bag drop shortcut icon. (detailed instructions available right in the app)
• At the bag drop shortcut location, customers place their bag on the scale and tap their phone using the United app (or scan their boarding pass at stations using scanners)
• The United team will check the customer's ID, apply the bag tag and they're on their way!
  

Since the initial unveiling of bag drop shortcut in 2021, more than seven million bags have been tagged using this facility and following the recent introduction at London Heathrow, Terminal 2, Zone D, more than 8,000 bags were tagged during the first two weeks alone.

“We're very excited to be United’s first international station to offer the bag drop shortcut service,” said Aaron Smythe, Director Airport Operations London Heathrow, United Airlines. “Travelling can be a stressful experience, and bag drop shortcut helps remove that stress by providing our customers with a quick and efficient process to drop their bag and be on their way in just a few minutes. Our customers are already telling us how much this new facility has improved their airport experience and in response to customer demand, we have already expanded the number of bag drop shortcut desks at Heathrow.” 

United in the U.K.

United Airlines has been serving the U.K. for over 30 years. The airline this summer is offering up to 23 daily flights from London Heathrow to its hubs at Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington/Dulles, as well as to Boston. United also offers year-round service from Edinburgh to New York/Newark and seasonal service from Edinburgh to Chicago and Washington/Dulles.

All flights are conveniently timed to connect at United’s U.S hubs with an extensive network of services to destinations throughout the Americas. Customers can book by visiting united.com or calling 0845 607 6760, or their travel agent.