dinosaur

So, I was thinking, with crude oil the cheapest it's been in years, we're going to see the fuel surcharge on flights to London dramatically reduced, right ?

rpjs

There was a thread about this over on Flyertalk, and people were pointing out that BA, for one, has quietly re-named the fuel surcharge as a "carrier surcharge" so I'm going with not any time soon...

dinosaur

Ah ! I hadn't noticed that. It's at least more realistic description.

Am assuming the reason to parse out the "carrier surcharge" from the core fare is to prevent more widespread use of frequent flyer points for coach class travel on transatlantic routes.

Since the introduction of this surcharge (sometime after 9/11), don't think any trip back to the UK has cost me less than $900. I recall it used to cost $500-600.

While realizing that taxes are now more, it makes me wonder what is a realistic expectation for the lowest transatlantic fair cost, given the rapidly decreasing fuel cost. Maybe $700 ? Of course, any reduction would need some level of competition...we don't see too much of that.

LondonSquirrel

I saw a flight from Boston to London on Iceland Air travelling in Feb for $730. Involves a change of course.

Is the BA surcharge still 215 Pounds? To be honest I find the surcharge so outrageous that we have not flown transatlantic since 2011.

tonrob

Why not fly with a carrier that doesn't levy a surcharge?

Michael

I assume the main reason is that when fuel prices go back up, they can add back the fuel surcharges and have both carrier and fuel surcharges.

SanDiegogirl

Anyone tried Norwegian Airlines yet from US to UK?

They are currently offering a return flight in January to/from Gatwick for $805.00. (Lowest Economy)

Of course meals, check in baggage and reserved seats are all extra.

It would be interesting to know what the flights are like.

dinosaur

Which ones don't ? afaik, all the major US carriers, plus BA and Virgin all have the surcharges.

Mrs Danvers

From Denver, Iceland Air is offering $930. Which is the cheapest I've seen for a while.

robin1234

I always fly nonstop to LHR from Ottawa, Ontario, which is our closest airport. Has always been more expensive than Boston or New York, since there is no competition (one daily AirCanada nonstop.)

However, I see it is now $620 US (all inclusive) for many dates in January and February, I'm surprised it would be so cheap compared to all these US prices people are quoting ....

LondonSquirrel

Perhaps they just weren't selling the seats because peeps refuse to pay through the nose?

rpjs

For all BA's faults, I'm popping over to Blighty after Xmas for just over $800 r/t, all in (JFK - MAN via LHR). That was with a 10% discount for using my Chase BA card, a special offer to the end of the year. I've also been pricing up flights for March and they seem to be coming in on BA at around $825 r/t NYC-LON all in without any discounts, and I have quite a lot of Avios points to spend which could drive that down a bit further.

The TATL market is very competitive and every airline more or less matches everyone else. BA may levy surcharges where others won't, but the overall sticker price works out much the same. And BA remains, for now, full service even in economy.

Yorkieabroad

Just for giggles I went on Travelocity to see what a Christmas ticket would be for our normal route to Teesside......IAH - MME via AMS. It's coming in at $2832. Ouch!

March flights for the same route are closer to $1300, but that is still considerably higher than the "old benchmark" which we had for a good few years, around $1000 give or take, even during periods when Brent was north of 90

LondonSquirrel

My first flight to Boston in 1999 cost the [princely sum of £188. Just the surcharge is more now.

robin1234

Also, partly a consequence of the exchange rate fluctuation, now that I think about it. The Canadian dollar is exceptionally low just now, so expressed in US dollars the price of a round trip ticket to the UK is less than it has been for several years.