[Anonymous]

[nathinfor]

Hello,

I made a booking for myself and a friend. However it is likely my friend will not be able to be on the flight. I will only find out on the departure date if he can make it so cannot really cancel right now.

Does anybody know if I could be able to claim back the airport/fuel/other taxes for the unused ticket?

Also, if I check in my friend online (but then he does not fly), would that have an impact?

Thanks in advance. Every penny helps… 🙂

[AMcWhirter]

Tricky question to answer without knowing the airline, route, class of travel and price of ticket.

Have you contacted the airline or your travel agent for advice ?

[nathinfor]

Well, I posted in the British Airways section so it is with British Airways. 🙂

Ticket bought straight from the BA website. Longhaul to Bangkok in economy so not flexible. Although it did cost me a fortune (£1600 return for one person!!!!)…

However, I thought that it was possible to recover at least some taxes when cancelling a ticket, even if it is not flexible. Not sure I can do it after the departure date though…

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

If you have date and fare basis I could check.

On a nonrefundable ticket you canget airport taxes back and passenger surcharges but not the fuel surcharge. If on a partially refundable ticket then you get this back as long as you cancel before scheduled departure minus the cancellation fee.

[AMcWhirter]

You’ll also get back the APD (quite expensive on LHR-BKK) but the fare rules will tell you whether or not you will get back the fuel surcharge.

As Tim says, the fuel surcharge is non-refundable on restricted tickets but £1,600 seems a lot. Crikey, as we wrote last week you can fly with Thai ex-Copenhagen on a flat-bed business class seat for less than that !

But BA, in common with other carriers, levies a service fee when actioning refunds of taxes/fees/charges.

[MartynSinclair]

to answer your question about checking in online and then your friend not flying, when the fight comes to close, your friend will be a no show and just cancelled off the flight….

I was a no show for a flight on Sunday evening, but told BA in advance I would be a no show (avios ticket), due to the late arrival. I felt I had more chance of a “refund” by telling the airline – which they have subsequently changed the ticket for me..

[nathinfor]

I can’t really find the exact fare. The manage your booking section says “class B”. My e-ticket receipt gives the following details (for two passengers)

Government, authority and airport charges Per adult
Air Passenger Duty – United Kingdom  GBP83.00
Passenger Service Charge – United Kingdom  GBP39.75
Passenger Service Charge (Domestic) – Thailand  GBP13.90
Total government, authority and airport charges* GBP136.65
> More information  
British Airways fees and surcharges Per adult
Carrier imposed charge**  GBP239.00
Credit Card/PayPal Surcharge  GBP4.50
Total British Airways fees and surcharges GBP243.50
> More information  

Total taxes, fees and surcharges per person

[SimonS1]

My understanding is you will get back £83 plus £39.75 less an admin charge.

The Thailand charge will probably be a write off as will the BA charges.

[capetonianm]

It’s probably a BHNCGB fare. The base fare is GBP1184.00 and the total with the ‘fuel surcharge’ and taxes is £1558.95.

Fuel surcharge GBP 239.00YQ (non ref)
Airport tax GB GBP 39.75UB
Thailand tax GBP 13.20TS
UK APD 83.00GB

Therefore Simon’s figures above are correct.

The base fare is non-refundable, as is the so called fuel surcharge which ought to be shown as part of the base fare.

TICKET IS NON-REFUNDABLE.
NOTE –
———————————————-
WAIVED FOR DEATH OF A PASSENGER AND PASSENGERS
TRAVELLING COMPANIONS

———————————————–
REFUND OF UNUSED TAXES FEES AND CHARGES PAID TO THIRD PARTIES PERMITTED. FUEL AND INSURANCE
SURCHARGES WILL NOT BE REFUNDED

[nathinfor]

Aw I see… so not really worth bothering asking 🙁

well, next time i will probably get that travel insurance (although these never really work by experience)

Thanks for your help anyway

[capetonianm]

Travel insurance for cancellation typically covers you against certain eventualities such as death or illness of a family member or business associate, accident, delays en route to the airport, professional constraints, jury service and so on.

I am not aware that you can take insurance against simply deciding not to travel.

My limited experience of claiming against travel insurance when not able to travel has been positive.

[nathinfor]

So good news: I tried a dummy cancellation online and found out the return flight is fully refundable so I would get back more money than expected (£1, 000 roughly, which explained why that booking was so expensive!)
My last question is: if my friend doesn’t fly and I cancel in the middle of the booking, I.e. after the departure date but before the returning date can I still get a full refund for the return flight? Can I still get the taxes back for the departure flight?

In other words, I see no benefit in canceling now and realise I’d better hope my friend can make it since I’d get the same refund. Am I correct?

I tried to call BA twice but after hanging on the phone 40 min each time (!!!) I gave up. Thanks so much in advance for your help.

[SimonS1]

If your friend doesn’t travel he/she should get back the taxes and APD per above.

If you take the outward flight then clearly you won’t get back the UK taxes and APD. Whether you get anything back in the fare will depend on the t&cs. If you fly one way you may conceivably find the ticket repriced which will affect what you could recover.

Forget the Thailand taxes, likely to be hard to recover as the airline will wash its hands of that.

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