bmi diamond club - Minor grumble about taxes - redemption costs more than a cheap fare

Has anyone any ideas why the taxes/fees etc amount to £121.39 plus points
on a Heathrow/Berlin flight when you can actually book the very same flight for £87.59 all in with no points.
Thanks

Has anyone any ideas why the taxes/fees etc amount to £121.39 plus points on a Heathrow/Berlin flight when you can actually book the very same flight for £87.59 all in with no points.

You'll find the common view around here is that (a) short haul flights are not great value for redemptions, especially in economy and (b) there are some ugly looking taxes (YQ for example) that make up the bulk of the full price.

In short, your DC points are going up against base fare of between £12 (L class) £95 (G class) one way. A redemption fare is pretty close to a Y fare, worth some £379, given it's flexibility.

Has anyone any ideas why the taxes/fees etc amount to £121.39 plus points
on a Heathrow/Berlin flight when you can actually book the very same flight for £87.59 all in with no points.
Thanks
the taxes are btw £65.69 (Y) and £77.69 (C) - not sure why you get £121.39 (unless you are including the cash element of M+C) - so you'll find your fare of £87.59 does include the same taxes.

I think you will probably find that a major culprit is YQ which is not a tax at all but a scheme by airlines to fraudulently charge passengers for something that is legitimately part of the fare on the tax line instead of the fare like. YQ is airline-speak for ''rip off'' and ought to be flatly prohibited by consumer protection legislation. It has gotten a lot worse since LH came around.

A friend also tried to book the very same flight but with Virgin points and was quoted the same tax charge of £121.39. Makes my business/first long haul flights earlier this year seem a bargain at £300 in taxes plus points & cash

Just for info the Berlin flight was £24 for the fare & £63.59 taxes

the taxes are btw £65.69 (Y) and £77.69 (C) - not sure why you get £121.39 (unless you are including the cash element of M+C) - so you'll find your fare of £87.59 does include the same taxes.

I think the OP is referring to a return fare.
A dummy redemption booking does show £121.39 for an economy return
A dummy revenue booking also shows £121.39 taxes for a return

but they advertise return fares from £88 and it appears that the regular "Fuel and Insurance surcharge" is lower on some of the economy Saver fares...£63.40 on 'Economy" flights but on economy saver one random return showed £26.40 and another £15.80

I think the OP is referring to a return fare.
A dummy redemption booking does show £121.39 for an economy return
A dummy revenue booking also shows £121.39 taxes for a return

but they advertise return fares from £88 and it appears that the regular "Fuel and Insurance surcharge" is lower on some of the economy Saver fares...£63.40 on 'Economy" flights but on economy saver one random return showed £26.40 and another £15.80

It could therefore be time to report this to the OFT: mis-selling of bmi miles for "free flights" which actually end up costing more than paid ones.

LH plays the same game ... And they want 35,000 miles for a Euro Y redemption plus more taxes than a cash ticket would cost!

It could therefore be time to report this to the OFT: mis-selling of bmi miles for "free flights" which actually end up costing more than paid ones.

I'd be amazed if you find them saying 'free flights' anywhere!

[Well, I could believe the social media team saying it...]

I'd be amazed if you find them saying 'free flights' anywhere!

[Well, I could believe the social media team saying it...]

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Shorter advance notice on bmi free flight redemptions

:rolleyes:

I feel a letter to the ASA coming on ....

This needs to be nipped in the bud, otherwise soon there will be a special inflated award business YQ that mysteriously gets reduced for revenue fares.

So is it £121 or £63 for fuel/taxes/etc but there is the thought just leave well enough alone otherwise the airline will up the points or the cash to make up for it......

If you want to know how much the taxes are on a bmi Y award, just do a dummy booking on flybmi.com for said Y award or an 'Economy Flexible' revenue ticket. It really couldn't be more simple.

Obviously the aircraft uses more fuel when carrying an award passenger than a customer who just books and flies ..............................

I feel a letter to the ASA coming on ....


Done

:rolleyes:

I feel a letter to the ASA coming on ....

This needs to be nipped in the bud, otherwise soon there will be a special inflated award business YQ that mysteriously gets reduced for revenue fares.

and one more
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