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Airline Fuel Surcharge

Airline Fuel Surcharge

Old Dec 11th 2014, 3:59 pm
  #16  
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

Originally Posted by rpjs
That was with a 10% discount for using my Chase BA card, a special offer to the end of the year.
Saw that offer in my inbox and it looks pretty good.
Originally Posted by rpjs
And BA remains, for now, full service even in economy.
Would have to agree with the reminder about BA being full service. I just flew on a minor route (from RDU) with AA, and while it is technically full service on a 767-300, the IFE was distinctly 1980s (shared CRTs). At least flying BA in cattle class gets you your own screen...
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Old Dec 11th 2014, 4:16 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

Originally Posted by dinosaur
Which ones don't ? afaik, all the major US carriers, plus BA and Virgin all have the surcharges.
Do any of the major US carriers separate out a "fuel" surcharge? I didn't think so. On the SFO->LHR route, for example, United separates out $236 in taxes, but they really are all government imposed taxes.

"Fuel" surcharge seems like a scam to devalue award tickets. Which is why I don't use my BA miles for award travel on BA...

Last edited by Giantaxe; Dec 11th 2014 at 4:18 pm.
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Old Dec 11th 2014, 4:29 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

I flew from Montreal to London Thanksgiving week with Air Canada. My last minute ticket was a $704. I purchased on the Sunday and left on Tuesday night before Thanksgiving and returned Sunday. The only good thing about this flight was the price and that the plane was only 1/3 full.
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Old Dec 11th 2014, 6:42 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

Originally Posted by DebzinUS
I flew from Montreal to London Thanksgiving week with Air Canada. My last minute ticket was a $704. I purchased on the Sunday and left on Tuesday night before Thanksgiving and returned Sunday. The only good thing about this flight was the price and that the plane was only 1/3 full.
Yeah we just got back from England this Monday, YOW-LHR. Ours were about 700 US. I like Air Canada, good service and wine a plenty. Both our flights had plenty of empty seats...
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Old Dec 11th 2014, 11:45 pm
  #20  
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

Originally Posted by dinosaur
Which ones don't ? afaik, all the major US carriers, plus BA and Virgin all have the surcharges.
That's not true - there are several that don't. United for example (but there are others too). The question is why does it matter? It won't necessarily make your ticket any cheaper as the base fare will usually be higher. The only real reason to try to avoid fuel surcharges is if you're trying to book using miles.
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Old Dec 12th 2014, 12:39 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

I never had to travel for work, I don't enjoy flying, so my airline experience has been limited to one or occasionally two trips to England or Europe each year and the occasional holiday in North America. However, my Air Canada miles did add up over the course of living near Ottawa for nearly twenty years. In that time, they've progressively whittled away at Aeroplan until it is pretty much a worthless scam. You used to get actual miles, so one way to LHR was about 3,200 miles. Now I look at my statement, you only get half, 1,600 mile YOW to LHR. Then the fuel surcharge thing, so if your flight would cost $650 rountrip in cash, it still costs $300 with Aeroplan. You saved $350, big deal. Then, a few years ago, they introduced a system whereby you lose all your accumulated miles if there is no activity for twelve months. So a couple of times I've had to donate 1000 miles to Medecins sans Frontieres just to keep my miles from disappearing...
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Old Dec 12th 2014, 1:44 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

I recently booked 2 tickets to Brussels for next spring, the actual airfare part was only $27 each way and the taxes and fees were $632. I guess the airline makes most of its money on the fess part.
Here's the break down from the reservation...

TPA to BRU (ELXEY0EU) $27.00
BRU to TPA (ELXEY0EU) $27.00
Taxes and fees $632.60
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Old Dec 12th 2014, 3:55 pm
  #23  
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

I was doing some research with AA fares flying to LHR and found the following breakout in addition to the base ticket price:

CARRIER-IMPOSED FEES $458.00 USD

PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE $65.80 USD UNITED KINGDOM
Air Passenger Duty (APD) $108.00 USD UNITED KINGDOM
US APHIS USER FEE $5.00 USD UNITED STATES
TRANSPORTATION TAX $35.00 USD UNITED STATES
PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGE $13.50 USD UNITED STATES
US FEDERAL INSPECTION FEE $7.00 USD UNITED STATES
US SECURITY FEE $11.20 USD UNITED STATES
US CUSTOMS USER FEE $5.50 USD UNITED STATES

My take would be that "Carrier Imposed Fees" is the same as the fuel surcharge, so agree that technically, US airlines don't have a fuel surcharge. But they still have an independent element of a ticket price that mean FF miles cannot be used without cost.

I also wondered if the fees related only to AA when being flown by BA, but this was for a wholly AA flight.

The tax breakdown also gives an insight to British vs US taxes - in the UK, a simple big lump sum....in the US, multiple, small, complex "fees" and "charges".
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Old Dec 12th 2014, 4:13 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

A relatively recent writeup to which airlines impose fuel surcharges on frequent flyer tickets:

How to Avoid Fuel Surcharges on Award Travel | The Points Guy
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Old Dec 13th 2014, 12:10 am
  #25  
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

Originally Posted by dinosaur
I was doing some research with AA fares flying to LHR and found the following breakout in addition to the base ticket price:

CARRIER-IMPOSED FEES $458.00 USD

PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE $65.80 USD UNITED KINGDOM
Air Passenger Duty (APD) $108.00 USD UNITED KINGDOM
US APHIS USER FEE $5.00 USD UNITED STATES
TRANSPORTATION TAX $35.00 USD UNITED STATES
PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGE $13.50 USD UNITED STATES
US FEDERAL INSPECTION FEE $7.00 USD UNITED STATES
US SECURITY FEE $11.20 USD UNITED STATES
US CUSTOMS USER FEE $5.50 USD UNITED STATES

My take would be that "Carrier Imposed Fees" is the same as the fuel surcharge, so agree that technically, US airlines don't have a fuel surcharge. But they still have an independent element of a ticket price that mean FF miles cannot be used without cost.

I also wondered if the fees related only to AA when being flown by BA, but this was for a wholly AA flight.

The tax breakdown also gives an insight to British vs US taxes - in the UK, a simple big lump sum....in the US, multiple, small, complex "fees" and "charges".
Yes - carrier surcharge = fuel surcharge. You picked AA, which is an American carrier that levies fuel surcharges. Not all carriers levy fuel surcharges. As I said, it's usually moot anyway unless you're using miles.

I'd use AA miles for domestic flights, or flights to Asia, where flights are low-surcharge or surcharge-free. Trans-Atlantic I tend to use United miles to avoid the surcharges altogether. If I use AA or BA miles trans-Atlantic then I tend to use them for first class. Because of the surcharges I tend to look at that as a heavily-discounted ticket rather than a free one (e.g. $500 for a ticket that would otherwise cost $5,000).
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Old Dec 14th 2014, 10:22 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

Probably not because the exchange rate for the pound to the dollar is shit so fuel costs are still quite high.
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Old Dec 15th 2014, 3:54 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

Senator Calls For Investigation Into Why Airfares Increase While Costs Sink – Consumerist
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Old Dec 15th 2014, 5:25 pm
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

I'm flying to the UK in the summer, probably June/July time frame.
Normally i book in January but now i might find myself waiting for the drop as it could potentially be significant, especially with 4 flying PHX-LHR. That cost me almost $8k last time

I've been trying to earn points by putting all of my spending on my AMEX gold card but 160,000 point isn't going to get me anywhere.
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Old Dec 15th 2014, 5:37 pm
  #29  
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Default Re: Airline Fuel Surcharge

ooh, it's Monday morning, and a US Senator is calling for an investigation into something. Don't tell me - let me guess! Yes, I was right - New York's very own Chuck Schumer!
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