Dublin's gain and always welcome
Dublin's gain and always welcome
How much of that is actually taxes and how much airline operating charges such as fuel surcharge and insurance?
Babblin Boo
That's nice of you Carol - thank you. Been a while since I flew out of Dublin and that was on Ryanair so the comparison might be interesting.Originally Posted by carolmc
Dublin's gain and always welcome
To be honest I don't know Steph but, given that the London-Sydney flights are common to all the itineraries, I would think that the fuel charges and insurance would be at least as high for those that include a positioning flight to Heathrow from the other departure points as those that start in the UK. If my thinking is right then it seems to be UK taxes that are making the difference but I don't have full breakdown to be sure.
The striking thing is the fact that the European and Irish itineraries include an additional Business Class flight and yet are significantly cheaper that those that don't. Enough said I think.
Just for example this is BA flight for 3 weeks feb to sydney and the taxes/fees element of the £1100 fare quoted
Charges applied to your flight
There are certain taxes, fees and carrier charges that are applied to your booking by British Airways, airport operators, governments or other authorities. Here you will find a full breakdown and explanation of the taxes, fees and carrier charges applied to your booking.
Government, authority and airport charges Per adult
Air Passenger Duty - United Kingdom GBP94.00
Passenger Service Charge - United Kingdom GBP61.74
Passenger Service Charge (International) - Australia GBP31.00
Passenger Movement Charge - Australia GBP32.00
Total government, authority and airport charges* GBP218.74
More information
Government, authority and airport chargesFlight taxes, fees and charges
These are included in the price of your ticket and are levied by airport operators, governments, or other authorities.
Some airports may levy local taxes, fees or charges against passengers upon arrival or departure. These are not included in the price of your ticket and should be paid locally.
British Airways fees and carrier charges Per adult
Carrier imposed charge GBP381.00
Total British Airways fees and carrier charges GBP381.00
More information
European carrier imposed chargeBritish Airways applies a carrier imposed charge to reflect the fluctuating price of worldwide oil.
The surcharge is based on flight duration and applies to all passengers, including children and infants travelling on British Airways operated international and domestic services.
Total taxes, fees and carrier charges per person GBP599.74
So the Government part is £218 but the BA part is £381
Babblin Boo
Thanks for that which is interesting.
I don't know whether Qantas charge the same discretionary fees as BA do so it's hard to make a direct comparison. The APD quoted above is for an economy flight so for First it's double that at what I view as an outrageous £188 each. APD isn't payable where your departure point is outside the UK so that's quite a saving and it looks like that might be what's making the difference. Whatever it is I see it as well worth saving. In fact, on principle alone, I'd go out of my way to avoid paying the UK government £376 for no tangible return.
One of the most telling features of award redemption is the difference between the charges on the outbound and inbound sectors and that between BA and a US carrier such as American. For example, for a London-New York direct Economy eturn:
BA charge: £237 outbound and £159 inbound. Total £386
AA charge: £119 outbound and £1.60 inbound. Total £120.60
Business Class:
BA charge: £355 outbound and £276 inbound. Total £631
AA charge: £185 outbound and £1.60 inbound. Total £186.60
On the assumption that both airlines are paying all the necessary taxes and around the same price for fuel, my conclusion is that both BA and the government are ripping us off!
Last edited by Katys Grandad; 20-09-2013 at 13:31.
I wonder if there is some element of something like Corporation tax/VAT in there as well that British companies would be paying to uk government but overseas companies might not. Don't know what is applicable to who or if as you say they are just ripping us off.
Babblin Boo
To be fair to BA, normal paid fares seem to come out around the same as everybody else but I do think they exploit those who want redeem their miles.
Obviously starting somewhere outside tht UK won't work for everybody and I wouldn't dream of trying it with young kids but I've done it a few times now and been happy. I always return direct to the UK.
Theoretically when this came in if you 'start' your journey outside the UK to avoid APD then there is meant to be a 24 hour gap between flights or the government deemed the trip still started in the UK - does anyone know if this is still the case?.
I think it works the other way around. If you start your journey outside but the routing takes you through a UK airport you have a maximum 24 hours between arrival and departure to avoid the APD. So, in my case, if I flew from Dublin today and continued to Sydney on Sunday I would be liable but if I fly out within 24 hours (I do) then my journey is deemed to have started outside the UK.
The other thing you need to do is ensure that your trip to the start point isn't part of the same ticket as the longer part or the trip will be seen as starting in the UK which I suppose is fair enough.
Steph - we are lucky enough to pay 'taxes only' on our flights and a return flight from LHR to MCO via IAD is just over a £100 ($162 from memory) so .....!
Caroline & Dave
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