Taxes and Surcharges - A rip-off?

[Robert5988]

I always use American Airlines to the USA to fly from Manchester to Orlando – they are of course indirect flights via either Boston, Chicago or Miami. Depending on the route I pay just over £60 in taxes; in fact £61.80 next month via Chicago, and £62.20 in April via Boston.

I was checking the Virgin site for a friend and was astounded to find how much was added in taxes and surcharges. So I entered in the dates I am travelling in February for a comparison and the total was £142.10 for the direct flight. The total price was well over £200 more than AA.

For interest I checked the BA site for the same dates and the total for tax and surcharges came to £155.40 for the trip via London. Although the total fare was only £70 more than AA.

The major surcharge is for fuel. Presumably AA pay the same for fuel as Virgin and BA so it is difficult to see how the latter airlines can justify a difference of £80 and £90 more – especially as the AA flights are longer.

I try not to subscribe to the rip-off Britain debate, but I really dislike the way fares are ‘padded’ with extra charges.

[alastair]

The total figure will vary depending on the airports used as each airport has there own rate of airport tax that is included in these additional costs. eg Heathrow and Gatwick are more expensive than Stansted or Luton.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by alastair
The total figure will vary depending on the airports used as each airport has there own rate of airport tax that is included in these additional costs. eg Heathrow and Gatwick are more expensive than Stansted or Luton.
[/quote]

I'm sure that's true but, as I read Robert's post, he is comparing surcharges from the same airport so that shouldn't be a factor.

Virgin's 'extras' always seem to be much higher than the other major carriers. I have no idea why.

[jolliffee]

It's an assumption but since a significant part of the trip is from US airports were the fuel cost and tax will be a lot less. The UK direct flights have to buy the full fuel load at UK Prices.

But I tend to agree that UK based airlines (including low cost) seem to be using the airport tax as a means to add on hidden cost over their published price.

[dawn]

Airlines also buy their fuel 'forward', so it can depend on when they purchased it and the exchange rate when they did - its a bit of a gamble for the fuel buyers, as when you are talking the quantites needed a fraction of a cent makes a huge difference

[pieman790]

We have flown BMI from Manchester for the past couple of years. They always seem to be alot cheaper than others especially Virgin who on our last trip wanted £900 more for a family of 4.
Yes we do travel during the busy school holidays but how can Virgin justify this extra charge. I would love to fly direct with Virgin like we used to before the kids came along but £900 goes along way in Florida.
Just wish BMI would fly direct to Orlando instead of the Las Vegas route they have recently introduced and give Virgin a run for their money.

Interesting article..............

Cheap air fares 'hide high charges'

Press Association
Wednesday March 23, 2005


Taxes and charges added to low air fares on the internet vary considerably between airlines and are in danger of "spiralling out of control", a report from an air passengers' group said today.

The amount of charges specified during the booking process varies considerably on identical routes between airlines. But, the Air Transport Users Council's report said that consumers could be misled into thinking they were standard and might not "shop around" to get the best deal.

The taxes, fees and charges include air passenger duty departure tax, local airport taxes, fuel surcharges and booking fees.

In some cases the charges cost more than the basic fare and sometimes appeared not to relate to the actual cost to the airline. For example, the AUC said, Ryanair imposes a "wheelchair surcharge" on its passengers even if they do not need a wheelchair.

"There is a danger that taxes, fees and charges might spiral out of control as airlines separate out more and more of their costs in order to apparently seek a competitive advantage over their rivals," the report said. It called on airlines to stop separating out charges from the basic fare during the booking process and to quote prices inclusive throughout their websites.

The report found that the charges quoted on airlines' websites have increased considerably in recent years and are now accounting for an ever-increasing proportion of the total price. In some cases, base fares have gone down, appearing more competitive, when in fact the total price has remained the same due to the rise in charges.

The AUC said: "Our research shows that there are considerable discrepancies in the levels of taxes, fees and charges quoted on websites during the booking process by airlines operating similar or identical routes and the amount of charges quoted by airlines in general is increasing.

"This separation out of charges appears not to be in the interest of consumers, who might be enticed into purchasing a ticket with an airline on the basis of what appears at first glance a cheap fare, which is in fact, more expensive than its competitors.

"Passengers, who might assume that the charges they would have to pay on a particular route would be the same (or virtually the same) whichever airline they chose to fly with, might, as a result, not get the best deal."

How the airlines compare on extra taxes, fares and charges
(prices in November 2004).

Southampton to Edinburgh: British Airways (BA): £35.70, FlyBe £40.60
Glasgow to Bristol: EasyJet: £10.00, BA: £39.10
London Gatwick to Geneva: EasyJet £14.00, BA: £33.90
London Gatwick to Barcelona: EasyJet £9.50, BA: £28.90
London Gatwick to Amsterdam: EasyJet: £10.00, BA: £41.00
London Gatwick to Nice: EasyJet: £14.50, BA: £38.50
London Gatwick to Inverness: EasyJet: £16.50, BA: £34.50
London Gatwick to Dublin: Ryanair: £28.16, BA: £37.70
London Stansted to Valencia: Ryanair: £22.02, EasyJet: £9.50

Taxes, fees and charges as a proportion of the total price on selected routes

KLM Bristol-Amsterdam: fare: £94.70, charges: £52.70, proportion: 56%
British Airways Heathrow-Paris: fare:£68.20, charges: £43.20, proportion: 64%
Bmi Heathrow-Paris: fare: £55.90, charges: £39.90, proportion: 71%
FlyBe Edinburgh-Birmingham: fare: £34.00, charges: £33.10m, proportion: 97%
EasyJet Luton-Glasgow: fare: £36.00, charges: £10.00, proportion: 28%
Ryanair Stansted-Berlin: fare: £41.00, charges: £25.00, proportion: 61%

[lgordon6041]

quite startling figures when you see taxes etc as a proportion of the total fare!
Its always really frustrating when booking 'cheap' fares online when you get all the way to the end then this huge 'tax' is added on:(

[alastair]

Fares on BA's website are shown inclusive of all charges so the first price you see is the price you pay.

[Macka]

Yes Alastair, I've noticed this recently and it is a real change for the better.

One problem though is the speed at which prices change on the website at BA (don't know if they are all the same).

Inbetween looking at a fare and calling friends to see if the price was ok, it went up by 50, then 100 pounds. It cost us 320 pounds more in total for the 4 of us by the time we'd sorted it after the price rose and fell hourly.

If I'd have known, I wouldn't have refreshed the screen[msnsad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by alastair
Fares on BA's website are shown inclusive of all charges so the first price you see is the price you pay.
[/quote]

I noticed that last week, good move, well done BA[clap][clap][clap]

[alastair]

I saw an announcement last night that from March 2006 Ryanair will start charging an additional £2.50 for each piece of checked in baggage. I think Flybe have also instigated this type of charging. I wonder how long it will be before the major carriers decide to follow this pricing strategy. Maybe I should'nt have posted this in case I have given any of them reading the forum an idea.

[pieman790]

It well get like America where eveybody carries on their luggage with them

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by alastair
I saw an announcement last night that from March 2006 Ryanair will start charging an additional £2.50 for each piece of checked in baggage. I think Flybe have also instigated this type of charging. I wonder how long it will be before the major carriers decide to follow this pricing strategy. Maybe I should'nt have posted this in case I have given any of them reading the forum an idea.

[/quote]

[RIS]

For the real answer on fuel costs Dawn has it spot on. Airlines "fuel hedge" so no two airlines pay the same price for fuel even at the same airport. However I can't help thinking that sometimes the "fuel surcharge" more than makes up for the increased cost of fuel. [msnwink]

[lgordon6041]

I completely agree Roger. 300 people,all paying £65 ish fuel charge (not sure what is is exactly) certainly adds up, especially when there are large parties travelling!

Also read about Ryanair and their £2.50 charge. I find this wrong personally.
Like Neil & Cathy say, people will just carry absolutely everything with them on board!

[alastair]

Each passenger can carry free of charge one piece of hand baggage (no infant allowance) on board the aircraft. The bag must not weigh more than 10kg and the maximum dimensions should not exceed 55cm x 40cm x 20cm. The £2.50 per bag for hold baggage is if paid prior to arrival at the airport. It is £5 per bag if you pay at teh airport.

[orlandodaze]

Im sick to death of all these extra taxes and charges on airline fares. This Ryanair luggage charge will be quite difficult for people like my daughter who attends university in Aberdeen and regularly uses the Ryanair Dublin to Aberdeen route. She has to take items like colllege textbooks , laptop and seasonal clothing . She very seldom gets away with just carry on luggage , and this extra charge is something that we the parents will have to pay .[msnmad][msnmad][msnmad]