Apr 8, 2018, 10:40 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Last edit by: UA Fan

Routes that do not have fuel surcharges (YQ) when operated by carriers that normally charge YQ:

1. USA-Germany-Other country. If only the Germany-other country segment is on LH it does not have YQ. E.g. DFW-FRA-BLR with TATL on UA and FRA-BLR on LH.
2. USA-Canada-Other country. The USA-Canada segment on AC does not have YQ if the Canada-Other country segment is operated by a carrier that does not charge YQ. E.g. DFW-YYZ-ADD.

Please list your AP Taxes and SURCHARGES on AP reward tickets

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Oct 6, 2016, 3:29 pm

#2476

canadiancow

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Sep 2012

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond

Posts: 44,331

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerryhung

Because AC charges you $84 YQ...

To be fair, I'd still be asking "why so much" if it were $71 instead of $155

Oct 23, 2016, 4:00 pm

#2477

RoninTech

Join Date: Jul 2009

Location: Alberta, Canada

Programs: Aeroplan

Posts: 1,013

Just booked this for next year:

YYC - DEN UA J
DEN - ORD UA J
ORD - ZRH LX J
ZRH - BKK LX J
BKK- KBV (Krabi) TG J

Taxes, fees and charges per passenger
Canada Security Charge $25.91
GST/HST $1.50
Scamcharges $89.00

Additional Charge in Canadian dollars : 0.00
Total in Canadian dollars : 116.41

*Fare calculation:
27FEB17YYC UA X/DEN UA X/CHI LX X/ZRH LX X/BKK TG KBV
R0.00CAD0.00 END ROE1.00 XT30.00SQ7.20YC9.20XY5.20XA14.80AY
1.30E721.30CH

No idea what the gibberish breaks down to but it was $116.41 + $31.50 phone in each.

Oct 23, 2016, 5:03 pm

#2478

MasterGeek

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Join Date: Oct 2009

Location: Kan@da

Programs: Anything with sweet spots

Posts: 1,790

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerryhung

Because AC charges you $84 YQ...

Why does AC charge YQ on domestic award flights but not on same cash-paid flights ?

Oct 23, 2016, 6:26 pm

#2479

jerryhung

Join Date: Mar 2007

Posts: 4,784

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterGeek

Why does AC charge YQ on domestic award flights but not on same cash-paid flights ?

Because they can?
Myths of FFP and "FREE" flights

and I'm flattered you're copying MY signature

Oct 28, 2016, 8:04 am

#2480

davethegr8

Join Date: Jul 2013

Posts: 25

Booked a one way award for June/July 2017.

YYZ - ORD AC J
ORD - NRT NH F 20 Hour overnight
NRT - HKG NH J 23 Hour overnight
HKG - BKK TG F
BKK - SYD TG F

110,000 miles + $523.96 in fees.
Expensive but a once in a lifetime treat.

Using UA miles for a J or F class from Syd - Bkk (30k J or 40k F) hoping to fly SQ J if UA lets me book it via telephone.

Then home with Eva Air J class BKK-TPE-YYZ for 77,500+ $28

Oct 28, 2016, 8:42 am

#2481

martzipan

Join Date: Mar 2015

Posts: 308

Had a short notice trip, and high fees on AC beat having to make connections on UA. All in economy.

YYZ-SFO - $122.49
SFO-YYZ - $71.30

Noticed that the combined total for 2 one-ways is less than a single r/t booking by a few bucks. More reason to book one-ways, even though in my case I only did it because the return flight was not yet available when I booked the first leg.

Oct 28, 2016, 9:00 am

#2482

martzipan

Join Date: Mar 2015

Posts: 308

Quote:

Originally Posted by tng11

Brazil has outlawed YQ. Simple as that.

Strangely enough, one option I looked at earlier was GIG-FRA-BKK-HKG, with the latter two in TG F and there was $400 or so in YQ which sounds illegal to me?

HKG also has a similar rule but it seems to only apply to the ex-HKG segment - and I confirmed it is the case through pricing out revenue tickets on ITA Matrix. I recently flew HKG-FRA-EWR and there wasn't YQ on the HKG-FRA segment in LH F, but there was about $250 of it for the FRA-EWR segment.

Is that so? I was looking up YYZ-GRU return and AC wants $230 in YQ (direct flight).

Interestingly enough, if I look at one-ways, it is $115 YQ for YYZ-GRU, and $15 YQ for GRU-YYZ. All in, the fees and taxes are over $100 less for 2 one-ways compared to return flight. Oh, AC is being tricksy.

Oct 30, 2016, 1:02 pm

#2483

circky

Join Date: Jan 2014

Location: Toronto

Posts: 72

Two one way tickets on AC except SYD-AKL which was NZ

YYZ-YVR-SYD-AKL - $104.26
SYD-YVR-YYZ - $101.50

When trying to book this as a round trip, taxes were coming in at about $750, which still seemed "relatively" low.

I'm not a SE, so any idea why the fees were so low as I thought AC charges hefty YQ surcharge? To be honest, I found these flights by accident, and only booked it as I assumed I took advantage of an "error", but if this is standard practice that I was unaware of, I may cancel these tickets for a future date with more planning.

Oct 30, 2016, 6:10 pm

#2484

grandgourmand

Join Date: Jan 2014

Location: yyz

Posts: 1,611

Just booked SIN-TPE-YYZ on EVA

Next March (the window is open for some reason)

77.5k AP points + $32.50 in fees. 4 tix.

Nov 6, 2016, 6:16 pm

#2485

canadiancow

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Sep 2012

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond

Posts: 44,331

I don't have the ticket yet, but...

Code:

J UA  261 SFO-LAX Nov24 0600 - Nov24 0730
F OZ  201 LAX-ICN Nov24 1100 - Nov25 1730
J SQ  607 ICN-SIN Nov26 0900 - Nov26 1450
J SQ  978 SIN-BKK Nov26 1845 - Nov26 2010
F TG  924 BKK-MUC Nov28 0050 - Nov28 0645
J LH 2474 MUC-LHR Nov28 1155 - Nov28 1300
J AC  855 LHR-YVR Nov28 1430 - Nov28 1605
J AC  568 YVR-SFO Nov28 1925 - Nov28 2151

$326.80 plus $30 booking fee

I intend to swap the AC J for some LH F goodness in a week or two, which will obviously cause the taxes/fees to skyrocket.

Nov 7, 2016, 6:42 am

#2486

grandgourmand

Join Date: Jan 2014

Location: yyz

Posts: 1,611

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadiancow

I don't have the ticket yet, but...

Code:

J UA  261 SFO-LAX Nov24 0600 - Nov24 0730
F OZ  201 LAX-ICN Nov24 1100 - Nov25 1730
J SQ  607 ICN-SIN Nov26 0900 - Nov26 1450
J SQ  978 SIN-BKK Nov26 1845 - Nov26 2010
F TG  924 BKK-MUC Nov28 0050 - Nov28 0645
J LH 2474 MUC-LHR Nov28 1155 - Nov28 1300
J AC  855 LHR-YVR Nov28 1430 - Nov28 1605
J AC  568 YVR-SFO Nov28 1925 - Nov28 2151

$326.80 plus $30 booking fee

I intend to swap the AC J for some LH F goodness in a week or two, which will obviously cause the taxes/fees to skyrocket.

Nice routing. You'll hit the BKK F lounge and FRA (assuming you're aiming for that on the switch)

Nov 7, 2016, 8:53 am

#2487

MasterGeek

Suspended

Join Date: Oct 2009

Location: Kan@da

Programs: Anything with sweet spots

Posts: 1,790

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadiancow

I don't have the ticket yet, but...

Code:

J UA  261 SFO-LAX Nov24 0600 - Nov24 0730
F OZ  201 LAX-ICN Nov24 1100 - Nov25 1730
J SQ  607 ICN-SIN Nov26 0900 - Nov26 1450
J SQ  978 SIN-BKK Nov26 1845 - Nov26 2010
F TG  924 BKK-MUC Nov28 0050 - Nov28 0645
J LH 2474 MUC-LHR Nov28 1155 - Nov28 1300
J AC  855 LHR-YVR Nov28 1430 - Nov28 1605
J AC  568 YVR-SFO Nov28 1925 - Nov28 2151

$326.80 plus $30 booking fee

I intend to swap the AC J for some LH F goodness in a week or two, which will obviously cause the taxes/fees to skyrocket.

Nice but crazy dates. You'll be spending little time at your stops. Is it just for the sake of checking the lounges and the premium seats ?

Nov 7, 2016, 9:13 am

#2488

24left

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Join Date: Sep 2014

Programs: AC SE100K-1MM, NH, DL, AA, BA, Global Entry/Nexus, APEC..

Posts: 18,877

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterGeek

Nice but crazy dates. You'll be spending little time at your stops. Is it just for the sake of checking the lounges and the premium seats ?

Exactly. Not speaking for The Cow, but I really enjoy my RTWs where I circle the planet, flying different airlines in different classes and sometimes lounge-hopping. Sometimes, i do a day at each stop. Not everyone uses their miles to fly TO a destination.

Nov 7, 2016, 11:30 am

#2489

canadiancow

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Sep 2012

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond

Posts: 44,331

Quote:

Originally Posted by grandgourmand

Nice routing. You'll hit the BKK F lounge and FRA (assuming you're aiming for that on the switch)

I don't really see the benefit of FRA over MUC, having done both. As such, I'll take what I can get. I have alerts set for FRA/MUC-SFO/LAX, though I'd probably be open for other routes, as long as they don't require a transcon afterwards (i.e. I don't want FRA-BOS).

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterGeek

Nice but crazy dates. You'll be spending little time at your stops. Is it just for the sake of checking the lounges and the premium seats ?

I have Thanksgiving weekend off. I can leave mid-afternoon Wednesday the 23rd (I may switch my SFO-LAX to be Wednesday evening - I had originally thought I'd switch to a later SFO-LAX, but the one after 0600 is 0900 and doesn't meet MCT), and I need to be back by Monday night the 28th. My goal was to fly around the world (and I'm calling this a success

), though I always like visiting new places.

I've never been to BKK, and I'll get to spend a day there. I have a friend working for KE in ICN, and I'll have time for dinner there.

If I can get LH F on the way back, it will likely give me some time to go out in either MUC or FRA, though it will depend on the connections and how I feel after the TG flight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24left

I'm not saying I wouldn't do this trip in 4 days instead of 5 and never leave an airport, but with the extra day, I opted to stop in a couple places rather than just throw in more segments

But yes, I've never flown TG, so I'm looking forward to it.

Also, I may drop the SQ segments if one of the OZ or TG non-stops opens space, but I don't think I'd be willing to pay $90 for it, so it would have to coincide with LH F.

Nov 7, 2016, 12:26 pm

#2490

canadiancow

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Sep 2012

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond

Posts: 44,331

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadiancow

I don't have the ticket yet, but...

Code:

J UA  261 SFO-LAX Nov24 0600 - Nov24 0730
F OZ  201 LAX-ICN Nov24 1100 - Nov25 1730
J SQ  607 ICN-SIN Nov26 0900 - Nov26 1450
J SQ  978 SIN-BKK Nov26 1845 - Nov26 2010
F TG  924 BKK-MUC Nov28 0050 - Nov28 0645
J LH 2474 MUC-LHR Nov28 1155 - Nov28 1300
J AC  855 LHR-YVR Nov28 1430 - Nov28 1605
J AC  568 YVR-SFO Nov28 1925 - Nov28 2151

$326.80 plus $30 booking fee

I intend to swap the AC J for some LH F goodness in a week or two, which will obviously cause the taxes/fees to skyrocket.

The final breakdown is:

24NOV16SFO UA LAX R0.00OZ SEL R0.00SQ X/SIN SQ BKK R0.00TG
MUC R0.00LH X/LON AC X/YVR AC SFO R0.00CAD0.00 END ROE1.00
XT7.20E71.20G82.90SG2.90OO11.70BP108.30YQ47.60US7.50AY5.30XA
9.40XY7.40YC52.00UB9.50DE22.20TS25.70RA XF6.00LAX4.50

That actually seems pretty good, unless I'm misreading what the YQ is.