[Anonymous]

[MarcusUK]

A comment today on BT, brought an interesting point forwards.

What is the ACTUAL policy & charge rate for each Airline out of the UK?

Sure individuals see & feel the charges on various Airlines & flights, both EU & Med/Long Haul.

Perhaps we could share our information on individual Airlines, & whether these are hidden or cleary stated?

It would be very interesting if BT could analyse the charges within the EU, (% of the fare, by distance, or a set amount per sector), & perhaps some choice Long haul routes to US/ Asia?

Sure the information would be very interesting & helpful to many of the BT community?

[VintageKrug]

The best way to see the breakdown between the fees and taxes is to use the ITA fare tool.

[MarcusUK]

Sure it can be seen for each booking & via ITA, but it would be interesting for BT to analyse it for the readers?

I am sure not everyone has the time to make a worldwide sweep, it would be quite informative & telling of each Airline…Make an interesting read.
Regular complaints about them being hidden, & calculations not made clear…

Perhaps What are the surcharges on sample routes to compare Airlines?

[Senator]

My best example is from last year, when I booked flights ARN-EWR-CUN-EWR-ARN using my AF/KLM FB miles, but on services operated by Continental.

When pricing this ticket as a revenue ticket on continental.com, the total taxes, surcharges, and fees came out to $85. I then simulated the same booking looking at a CO OnePass ticket and it was the same.

However, AF/KLM managed to charge me €335 while not a single flight was on their metal. I complained of course, and got a very silly answer back. While this a large sum, I would have been ok with this had it been on their metal. However, to charge this for a ticket on flights not operated by themselves is madness.

By the way, LH will do the same on a ticket on SK metal.

[theworldtraveller]

i have heard that this charging is due to the codeshare rules – correct me if i am wrong, but AF/klm keep the surcharges and give the fare (part of the ticket) to the airline that you travel on – easy money for the AF gang, but would not make the other airline happy

[MarcusUK]

On KLM when i make bookings, there is a very specific detailing or all charges –
On a LHR-AMS for eg…

“”Ticket price £46.
Fuel surcharge £40 (This was £20 2 weeks ago???!).
Passenger service charge UK £21.57.
NL PSC £12.60.
Security charge (UK) £11.30.
UK APD £10.
Netherlands Noise Isolation charge £1.70.
Total price £143.17”.
————————-

So, how would BMI or BA charge, ie £40 on fuel surcharge?
Long haul, or trans-atlantic?

Etihad , Qatar, Emirates,for eg, charge very little Fuel surcharges compared to other Airlines Flying to the Emirates.

[Airpocket]

Its going to get a lot worse for passengers when the UK finally runs out of oil. Don’t be surprised to see massive tax increases on flights to compensate for oil imports from Norway, Russia (if they feel like selling it to us!), and the Middle East. I suppose as Gaddafi’s new lap-dogs we can always expect a steady stream from Libya eh!

[VintageKrug]

*rolls eyes*

[Airpocket]

Why don’t you toddle off to the Galleries Lounge VK, if you can’t contribute something constructive (to quote NTarrant)?

[OneA]

Yes, the whole extra charge issue is a complete mystery. I expect it is not made a compulsory exposure by our lousy government as it is the only way that airlines can add uncheckable costs willy nilly to compensate for the “free” flights which the gullible think they are getting!
I believe t. bliar did try to demand that UK airlines show all inclusive costs, so that the weak British Public could be wraped in more cotton wool and know precisely what advertised flights would cost. However ike all of theother 3000+ laws he left us in his legacy, it had loophole after loopholeand we are still none the wiser.
Aer Fungus, not being UK, have taken the biscuit this week. The fare advertised excludes a “5 Euro per person per sector HANDLING FEE”! What for Christ’s sake is a handling fee?! Just add it into the flight costs you idiots! To make matters worse, they add that the fee will be reflected as 5 Euros in local currency. So what do they think the conversion is with the GB£? Yes you guessed it 1 to 1, so the cost for 3 returns goes up by £30!! Don’t treat us like fools, Aer Fungus!

[MarcusUK]

I see KLM doubled their fuel service charge the other day looking to book on line.
£40 to Amsterdam, £80 to Budapest?!!
With the hike in Government taxes due in Nov in the UK, Airlines should come clean, or BT do it’s readers a favour, & expose the true fuel surcharges of our optons on a few key routes, east West, maybe a short haul & a few long hauls, with many other airlines…NOT just The BA Feature showtime!

The SQ fares at £399 advertised from LHR – SYD, was a £65 fare, the rest all the charges taxes, fuel surcharges etc.

No wonder we look to the EU more now to commence our long haul travel, the standards at LHR the charges are reaching the point where tolerance is dropping.
Good luck to BRU, AMS, FRA, it seems they take the business from the UK.

[VintageKrug]

I really don’t think LHR need overly worry.

With the introduction of T5, the airport itself has become much more efficient processing aircraft, and delays are down significantly.

There is the beginning of something of a Renaissance at LHR, with much construction which will replace the dowdy image in terminals other than T5 with something rather more innovative.

It is still the largest airport by passenger numbers by a good 10m pax:

Rank
2008 Country Airport City Code (IATA/ICAO) 2007 2008 Change
2007-2008

1. London Heathrow Airport London LHR/EGLL 68,068,304[1] 67,056,228 ?1.5%

2. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris CDG/LFPG 59,922,177[1] 60,874,681 ?1.6%

3. Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt FRA/EDDF 54,161,856[1] 53,467,450 ?1.3%

4. Barajas Airport Madrid MAD/LEMD 52,122,702[1] 50,846,104 ?2.4%

5. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam AMS/EHAM 47,794,994[1] 47,429,741 ?0.8%

6. Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport Rome FCO/LIRF 32,945,223 35,132,879 ?6.6%

7. Munich Airport Munich MUC/EDDM 33,959,422[1] 34,530,593 ?1.7%

8. London Gatwick Airport London LGW/EGKK 35,218,374[1] 34,214,474 ?2.8%

9. Barcelona El Prat Airport Barcelona BCN/LEBL 32,898,249 30,208,134 ?7.9%

10. Atatürk International Airport Istanbul IST/LTBA 25,561,357 28,553,132 ?11.7%

[Airpocket]

What we would all like to know is, when the price of oil evenually starts dropping, will the airlines do away with these spurious charges?I doubt it! Unfortunately, I think for the time being we’re stuck with these underhanded ways to extract extra cash from passengers.

[StephenJWhitworth]

Surely the truth is we never know. The time has come for airlines to quote the fully inclusive fare and then comparison of fares between airlines becomes the issue and frankly they can charge what they want, customers will choose based on the total and not a nominal basic plus incomprehsible additives. Equate this to going into your local petrol station attracted by a price of the basic fuel price and then being presented with a per litre price at least 80% more due to taxes, transport etc. etc. Philippine Airlines as an example where I live ( MNL, and by the way have absolutely no connection to!), have started to quote the total price of fares obtained over the phone in either dollars or the local currency (Pesos). It is a positive move and should be supported. Remember taxes are obligatory, but fuel surcharges are decided by the airlines themselves and vary according to commercial considerations. Aircraft cannot operate without fuel, just like cars, so its not as if they cannot supply it and to do so they have to buy it. When petrol goes up in price the consumer has to pay more at the pumps immediately. We don’t have a problem with that, fuel is a big component in an aircraft seat. As long as the price comes down when fuel does, and the decision whether or not to fly when fuel goes up is like whether or not to make a journey by car at the same time. Airlines have to accept that they are not a special case, they are partially a public service of course, but they are also mostly there to turn a profit and should be obliged to quote fares fairly and accurately.

[Author]

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