Jul 8, 2014, 3:41 pm
Last edit by: SFOPhD
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Using AAdvantage miles for awards using British Airways / BA incurs very high fees (BA charges their own BAEC flyers these for Avios redemptions as well). One FTer claims $700 fees for SAN-PRG return, which is not unusual). You are likely to find lots of availability on BA using the aa.com award booking facility.
Read more about BA fuel surcharges on AA awards here (rrgg supplied most of these below):
Fuel Surcharge for AA award redemptions on BA are up - again.
Partner airline awards now bookable on AA.com (AB, AS, AY, BA, HA, HG, QF, RJ, US)
Does AA push most of its European Awards to BA to collect fuel surcharges?
FAQ: American Airlines and AAdvantage - Please check here first!
Originating a flight in the UK (connections less than 24 hours do not count) incurs an Air Passenger Duty, reduced for seats with less than 40" seat pitch; separate topic, dealt with:
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty and increases again - 1 Apr 2013 (link dead); defines what the APD is in the wikipost.
Avoiding crazy UK "APD" taxes when transferring through LHR on separate tickets
(lower right wiki corner)Using AAdvantage miles for awards using British Airways / BA incurs very high fees (BA charges their own BAEC flyers these for Avios redemptions as well). One FTer claims $700 fees for SAN-PRG return, which is not unusual). You are likely to find lots of availability on BA using the aa.com award booking facility.
Read more about BA fuel surcharges on AA awards here (rrgg supplied most of these below):
Fuel Surcharge for AA award redemptions on BA are up - again.
Partner airline awards now bookable on AA.com (AB, AS, AY, BA, HA, HG, QF, RJ, US)
Does AA push most of its European Awards to BA to collect fuel surcharges?
FAQ: American Airlines and AAdvantage - Please check here first!
Originating a flight in the UK (connections less than 24 hours do not count) incurs an Air Passenger Duty, reduced for seats with less than 40" seat pitch; separate topic, dealt with:
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty and increases again - 1 Apr 2013 (link dead); defines what the APD is in the wikipost.
Avoiding crazy UK "APD" taxes when transferring through LHR on separate tickets
AAdvantage Miles for Int'l Award Travel; Avoid $$$$ on BA. [master thread]
Jun 24, 2014, 10:43 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Using Advantage Miles for Int'l Travel From U.S. How to avoid $$$$ Taxes.
I am looking to take a vacation from the US to an international local. I checked a couple of spots in Europe and found good availability but got absolutely KILLED on taxes going through LHR. Is there an alternative to LHR to get to locations in Europe? Any/all help appreciated!
Last edited by JDiver; Jul 8, 2014 at 3:32 pm Reason: restore original post title
Jun 24, 2014, 10:53 am
#2
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Arrival/departure luxury taxes do not apply if you transit thru LHR, only if you terminate/originate there. What taxes and fees are you talking about? What airline are you looking at?
Jun 24, 2014, 10:58 am
#3
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1) The airline = American.
2) I tried to book 2 seats from SAN to Prague using my miles.
3) No problem securing seats but taxes were over $1,400.
4) Tried book to Paris (and Rome). EXACT same experience.
2) I tried to book 2 seats from SAN to Prague using my miles.
3) No problem securing seats but taxes were over $1,400.
4) Tried book to Paris (and Rome). EXACT same experience.
Jun 24, 2014, 11:09 am
#4
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How are you getting from SAN to Prague on AA?
I can buy a ticket form SAN to PRG for less than 1400 on combinations of AA/BA/IB.
Need more info on what you are doing.
I can buy a ticket form SAN to PRG for less than 1400 on combinations of AA/BA/IB.
Need more info on what you are doing.
Jun 24, 2014, 11:11 am
#5
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The killer isn't a tax, but a surcharge imposed by AA when awards use BA-operated segments, particularly BA long-haul segments. Find a carrier other than BA - by phone or aa.com - and see how much the total taxes and fees drop.
FlyerTalk really should write a script to search for the words 'award', 'taxes', 'international' in new threads this forum and dump them into a master Avoid BA awards thread.
FlyerTalk really should write a script to search for the words 'award', 'taxes', 'international' in new threads this forum and dump them into a master Avoid BA awards thread.
Jun 24, 2014, 11:21 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2013
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Consider AY
Through HEL-recent award booking ORD-JFK-HEL-HNK-NRT-HNK-LAX-ORD in BC: total taxes and fees about $140!
Jun 24, 2014, 9:50 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2014
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 16
The bulk of the fees are on the departure from LHR returning to the US especially on BA metal. If you don't need London. Iberia has a hub in Madrid and Finnair in Helsinki. AirBerlin is also oneworld (guess the hub). You should be able to find direct connections from AA hubs to those cities and avoid Heathrow.
One of your constraints is San Diego has a direct to LHR on BA so the search engine on AA will put you on that plane EVERY time. You might need to settle for finding a good award out of LAX and pay the difference to drive/fly up.
You can also use ITA.matrix advance rules to filter out options to figure out alternative routings than through LHR and then call AA with flight numbers in mind.
One of your constraints is San Diego has a direct to LHR on BA so the search engine on AA will put you on that plane EVERY time. You might need to settle for finding a good award out of LAX and pay the difference to drive/fly up.
You can also use ITA.matrix advance rules to filter out options to figure out alternative routings than through LHR and then call AA with flight numbers in mind.
Jun 24, 2014, 10:02 pm
#8
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I suspect the OP is using BA for some of the trip (transatlantic), and if stopping less than 24 hours in LHR would not be liable for the Air Passenger Duty (separate thread exists - search thread titles only "apd" or passenger+duty.
Jun 24, 2014, 11:35 pm
#9
Join Date: Dec 2006
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Coming home it's LIS-MAD-JFK (IB)-SFO (AA) in J with a tax of $172. That's what IB and BA (even worse) will do to you
Jun 24, 2014, 11:51 pm
#10
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How did you manage SAN-CPT using a Pacific routing? AA requires an at Atlantic routing, no?
Jun 25, 2014, 1:42 am
#11
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There are no "luxury taxes"... There is Air Passenger Duty that one pays when leaving the UK (irrespective of the cabin and depending upon the final destination). No duty is paid upon arrival. APD is not paid when in transit (less than 24 hours in the UK).
Jun 25, 2014, 2:38 am
#12
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I assume the OP must have inadvertently selected BA flights - AA does not impose fuel surcharges on non-BA/IB flights and even the most onerous combination of taxes in the world (aka every EU airport's J taxes) could not possibly come out to $1400 for a ticket.
The UA award ticket I'm on right now was only $177 in taxes and that includes CDG, CPH, and IST's general passenger / business class taxes - the worst being CDG's $55 "France Air Passenger Solidarity Tax" in addition to their $23.40 airport tax and $16.50 passenger service charge
The UA award ticket I'm on right now was only $177 in taxes and that includes CDG, CPH, and IST's general passenger / business class taxes - the worst being CDG's $55 "France Air Passenger Solidarity Tax" in addition to their $23.40 airport tax and $16.50 passenger service charge
Last edited by Duke787; Jun 25, 2014 at 3:30 am
Jun 25, 2014, 3:15 am
#13
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Jun 25, 2014, 3:32 am
#14
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Well you could argue that ADP taxes are "luxury taxes" since they are higher when you are departing in a premium cabin. I agree one pays irrespective of cabin but one pays more when traveling in a premium cabin so there is a defacto luxury tax within the ADP
Jun 25, 2014, 4:14 am
#15
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(On the HM Revenue and Customs site, the word "reduced" is used to describe the duty charged for the lowest class-of-travel, and "standard" for the duty charged for travel in any class above the lowest COT - if anything, the colloquial description used on FlyerTalk and other similar fora should make clear that lowest-COT travelers get a substantial discount on the standard APD rate).