Fuel surcharges….here we go again!

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)

  • openfly
    Participant

    With Qatar Airways hinting that we could see fuel surcharges return, may I remind the airlines that the original fuel surcharges are still in force and part of the fares…they were never removed when the oil prices dropped significantly! It now looks like a double surcharge.
    I give it a week before the bean counters at BA jump on the band-wagon…


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    You make a very good point Openfly. The airlines have been creaming it in with the low oil price, though in fairness I guess some did hedge at much higher prices. Let’s hope they also hedged at the lower prices though I very much doubt we’ll see the benefit.


    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    It is astonishing, isn’t it?

    When you do some flight searches on, say, economy flights to and from JFK the level of carrier-imposed charges is astonishing.

    I put a screen grab from both BA and Virgin on the piece.

    Fuel surcharges imminent – Qatar Airways chief

    £203 for Virgin and £217 for BA – and this is nothing to do with APD and the rest which is in a separate section. It’s a lot of money.


    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    Searching for the lowest fare with BA on this route (HBO) and I get £347.36 return of which £317.36 is “Taxes, fees and carrier charges per person”.

    Charges applied to your flight
    There are certain taxes, fees and carrier charges that are applied to your booking by British Airways, airport operators, governments or other authorities. Here you will find a full breakdown and explanation of the taxes, fees and carrier charges applied to your booking.
    Government, authority and airport charges
    Per adult
    Air Passenger Duty – United Kingdom
    GBP 78.00
    Passenger Service Charge – United Kingdom
    GBP 13.96
    Customs User Fee – USA
    GBP 4.20
    Transportation Tax(Departure) – USA
    GBP 13.70
    Transportation Tax(Arrival) – USA
    GBP 13.70
    Animal & Plant Health User Fee (Aphis) – USA
    GBP 3.00
    Immigration User Fee – USA
    GBP 5.20
    Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee – USA
    GBP 4.20
    Passenger Facility Charge
    GBP 3.40
    Total government, authority and airport charges*
    GBP 139.36

    British Airways fees and carrier charges
    Per adult
    Carrier imposed charge
    GBP 178.00
    Total British Airways fees and carrier charges
    GBP 178.00


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    [quote quote=867851]Carrier imposed charge
    GBP 178.00[/quote]

    Tom, I imagine that’s the fuel charge in disguise???
    I really don’t know why they can’t just charge a fare and be done with it, or are they trying to compete on how much the surcharges are??


    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    Yes, exactly, the carrier-imposed charge is what they call the fuel surcharge, for the reasons I detail in the piece.

    It’s more if you have checked bags (£217), I guess because you’re using more fuel if you have a bag, but I think the reason for separating it out is to do with reward redemptions (you pay these fees even though you get that £30 flight for “free”).


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    I booked a return economy ticket for someone from New York to Teesside Airport via Amsterdam on KLM, here is the cost breakdown for your interest:
    Ticket price GBP 157.11
    US international transportation tax (US) GBP 12.95
    US APHIS fee (XA) GBP 2.80
    Airport taxes and fees (XT) GBP 362.79
    Currency conversion surcharge (DU) GBP 15.99
    Total ticket price GBP 548.84


    capetonianm
    Participant

    The XT is not a tax, it’s the total of several taxes which will be shown after the fare calculation line. The biggest will be the so-called fuel surcharge. It’s probably shown as QR.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Or YR or YQ


    Edski777
    Participant

    I am not interested in all the nonsense of breaking down a fare into so many components.
    As far as I am concerned they can include the doorman’s lunch money or the pilot’s daughter’s tuition fee as well,
    The only thing that matters to me is the total price of a ticket, convenient flight times and route and who I fly with (safety). And in this order.

    Whatever story the airlines or the government create about what is and what is not included: I don’t give a damn.
    If I want or have to go to a certain destination I will have to pay the ticket price.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=867885]I am not interested in all the nonsense of breaking down a fare into so many components.

    As far as I am concerned they can include the doorman’s lunch money or the pilot’s daughter’s tuition fee as well,

    The only thing that matters to me is the total price of a ticket, convenient flight times and route and who I fly with (safety). And in this order.

    Whatever story the airlines or the government create about what is and what is not included: I don’t give a damn.

    If I want or have to go to a certain destination I will have to pay the ticket price.[/quote]

    I agree with that, Edski777, however when cashing in Avios it is a different matter, as Tom rightly said in post #867863. What looks like a bargain (free flight to New York) can suddenly become very expensive when you add the YQ charges on to the airport/govt fees.

    The exception, as Martyn Sinclair has pointed out many times, are short haul reward flights where the redemption fee is sub £50 – these are very good value if you live near London, much less attractive in the regions.


    Edski777
    Participant

    FDOS, what would be the solution then for your Avios? Save them for a better period, when fuel charges are down again?
    After all, we all know by now that “a free lunch” doesn’t exist. So why expect an airline to come close?


    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    You can’t avoid them, but when making redemptions instead it’s better to redeem against higher value tickets (business class) so proportionally the taxes are a smaller percentage of the overall ‘price’.

    You’re right. There’s no free lunch. But if you have a 2-4-1 on an Amex credit card and can get two first class flights somewhere on the long haul network using the avios for one of the flights and the other as part of the offer, which many of thousands of BAEC members do each year, it’s not far off…


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=867893]FDOS, what would be the solution then for your Avios? Save them for a better period, when fuel charges are down again?

    After all, we all know by now that “a free lunch” doesn’t exist. So why expect an airline to come close?[/quote]

    I’m not suggesting there is a solution. Since the great devaluation of 2-3 years ago, unless you are prepared to book very far forward and spend potentially a lot of time and effort searching for flights (and I don’t disagree with what TominScotland posted), then better to shop around and buy on value, rather than chase Avios.

    e.g. I’m on 1,800 tier points and could have chased an upgrade voucher, but preferred to take advantage of some good offers from Emirates for most of my recent flying, rather than follow the points and spend more cash.


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    [quote quote=867885]I am not interested in all the nonsense of breaking down a fare into so many components.As far as I am concerned they can include the doorman’s lunch money or the pilot’s daughter’s tuition fee as well, The only thing that matters to me is the total price of a ticket, convenient flight times and route and who I fly with (safety). And in this order. Whatever story the airlines or the government create about what is and what is not included: I don’t give a damn. If I want or have to go to a certain destination I will have to pay the ticket price.[/quote]

    I understand your point, of course, but the breakdown does matter to me. I want to know what I am paying and why I am paying it. For example, if the price of eggs suddenly went up to 10 quid a dozen in every shop I would want to know why, because as consumers we can usually have some effect on pricing (no matter how minimal). Thanks!

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