brummie_babe

I booked flights in October 2006 with Zoom airlines, to officially become a PR of Toronto at the beginning of April this year... Yippee!

On the 18th December I received a telephone call from Zoom Airlines to say that my flight had been cancelled. Arrangments' have now been made to travel one day earlier.
At the time of the conversation I was told that I would be given the same seats and the fees were the same, however I have since noted that the flights are £10 cheaper per person, this has not been refunded!

The following day I was sent an email stating the following:

Reference: Air Passenger Duty (APD), United Kingdom
Dear Valued Passenger,

HM Revenue and Customs Treasury board announced on December 7, 2006 that they will be doubling the Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax. This increase in tax will affect all airlines with departures scheduled out of a UK airport. The new rates will come into effect on February 1, 2007 and apply to the carriage of a passenger on an aircraft which begins on or after that date.

As such, all passengers who are currently booked with a departure from a UK airport on or after February 1, 2007 will be required, by UK law, to pay the increase in the fee.

What is Air Passenger Duty (APD)?

APD is an Excise duty which is charged on the carriage, from a UK airport, of chargeable passengers on chargeable aircraft.

What is the amount of the increase in APD that you are required by UK law to pay?

Economy Passengers: £20 / $46 CAD / £35 Premium Economy Passengers: £40 / $92 CAD / £70

Payment of the increased APD is required in full prior to departure. You may proceed with payment by contacting us by telephone at 1-866-359-9666 (North America), 0870-240-0055 (UK) or 0800-213-266 (France), or by logging into the My Account feature on our websireceived

My question is can they slap this charge on, as I've already paid for the flights?

Judy in Calgary

You could always refuse to pay Air Passenger Duty and wait to see what happens.

Do keep us updated.

Atlantic Xpat

If I read your post correctly you have not been refunded 10 quid that you feel entitled too and have to pay the extra 20 quid in APD. So 30 quid per person of which 10 is already paid.

Might I observe that in the greater picture of the costs and stress involved in moving to Canada that 20 or 30 quid per person isn't going to materially affect your life to good or ill. Perhaps taking a philosophic approach to whether 'they' can or should do this and focussing on the upcoming adventure of moving to Canada would lead to a less stressed existance?

AX

getoutofbritainquick

Unfortunately you do unless the airline has a sympathetic ear and will waiver the tax. It was announced in GB's mini budget recently in the name of the environment and applied retrospectively to all flights (even already booked)after 1st Feb. This was apparently against the treasuries advice which wanted it applied from the beginning of the new tax but GB's reasoning was he gets more money by including the school half term period.

If he could tax the air we breath he would. The other little stealth tax he wants is if the price of petrol drops he wants the money not a reduction at the pumps bless him.

angelic_fruitcake

Unfortunately, because the extra charge is tax, they can charge you after you've bought your tickets. There is likely to be fun and games at the airports when the extra charge besomes law, as people who haven't paid it in advance will be made to pay it on the day they fly, at check-in. I'd personally pay up now if I were you.

If there's two things you can be sure of, one of them is taxes..as they say...

burton bunch

hi Brummie Babe

We have had the exact same email - hubby flies gatwick to calgary on feb 4th - so we are only a couple of days later than the charge applies.

Pretty sure that there is nothing that you can do with this as the airlines have got to charge this extra by law.

Mountain Girl

Very ture

Dave0692

Hi BB,

I've already looked into this. Most of the budget carriers, Easyjet, Ryanair etc. are doing this at the moment. What they say is that their margins are so slim that they have to apply the tax to all flights after the effective date, whether booked in advance or not. Apparently, HMR&C are applying the tax from that date, so if the carriers don't collect it from you, they have to pay it.

The bad news is yes, they can do this. The even worse news is that if you don't pay up, they will cancel your ticket and you're back to square one.

Sadly, I think you have no option but to smile and pay up. Sorry.

MarkG

To be fair, it's Gordon Brown's thievery that's the real problem; I'm sure the airlines would rather not have to collect even more money from their passengers to hand over to the government.

Dave0692

Exactly.

Like much of UK tax law, the Chancellor forces other people and businesses to be his tax collector and prosecutes them if they get it wrong. PAYE/Nat Insurance and VAT are prime examples.

Like you say, the airlines have to pay it, whatever they do, so they have no option but to pass it on to the long-suffering consumer or stump up themselves. And guess what.........

Another example of ripoff Britain, I'm afraid.

JAJ

You're likely in for a shock in Canada then as things are done pretty much the same way there.

JAJ

This is interesting.

US/Canada : Toll free number

France : Toll free number.

UK : Not merely a standard 01/02 number, but a Premium rate number (0870).

http://www.saynoto0870.com

the big burp

unless youve already paid the flights in full, then you have to pay up. it also happened to a friend of mine who only paid a deposit then the fees went up.
best wishes for the flight to TO.

britsnake

It doesn't matter whether you've already paid in full. You will still have to pay the extra tax. Some of the more expensive airlines are absorbing the costs but some of the cheaper carriers are threatening not to let you fly unless you pay in advance.

Some airlines are even taking the money automatically from passenger’s credit cards and it seems that this is perfectly legal.

MarkG

Basically Brown should have made the tax increase only apply to tickets bought after that date, rather than people flying after that date, and all these problems would have been avoided. But that would have left us with more money in our pockets rather than the government's, and he can't be having that.