Using the Continental web page, I booked SFO-SYD-RAR with a 14:50 layover at SYD (morning to evening) as part of a roundtrip SFO-RAR itinerary. When I made the booking, I was only charged US fees for that leg, not the "Australia Passenger Charge" of about US$52.
I had to change the outbound date, but wanted to keep the same routing, so I called CO since the reservation couldn't be changed online.
The reservation agent was able to rebook me, but stated that she had to charge me US$51.80 for the Australia passenger charge.
I thought the Australia Passenger Charge only applied if I remained in Australia overnight? Looking at different dates and routes on CO.com, itineraries that involve a daytime layover at SYD do not charge the fee, but overnight layovers show the $51.80 fee.
Does the fee apply for daytime layovers?
I guess I could theoretically cancel my current reservation and rebook for the new date online (my new travel date itinerary doesn't show the Australia passenger charge on CO.com, only the US fees), but my return leg is no longer available. I guess it could show up again if I cancel my current reservation, but there's no 100% guarantee that NZ (RAR-AKL-SFO return) will release those seats immediately for the return.
Any advice on what to do? Call CO and argue that the passenger fee doesn't apply for daytime layovers at SYD? Call CO and cancel the outbound leg (making the current reservation a one-way RAR-AKL-SFO award) and get a refund of the fees, and then book a separate one-way SFO-SYD-RAR award without the Australia passenger charge?
Thanks.
Mwenenzi
Jan 2, 12, 11:43 pm
...Any advice on what to do?..Pay the $51.80.
Which airline for SYD-RAR ?
Any other action risks you losing the flights.
Reward seats are not guaranteed to be available if you cancel.
cavemanzk
Jan 3, 12, 12:00 am
Which airline for SYD-RAR ?
NZ does a Weekly SYD-RAR-SYD service with a 763
Vunder31
Jan 3, 12, 12:06 am
Pay the $51.80.
Which airline for SYD-RAR ?
Any other action risks you losing the flights.
Reward seats are not guaranteed to be available if you cancel.
SYD-RAR is operated by Air New Zealand.
I can't figure out if CO is correct in wanting to charge me the $51.80 in Australian passenger fees for the SFO-SYD-RAR leg.
I was able to book a separate one-way SFO-SYD-RAR online for the date I want without being charged the Australian fees (only $2.50 in US fees), so why would I have to pay the fee if I modify my existing reservation?
Currently I have the following reservations:
Res 1: SFO-SYD-RAR-AKL-SFO (US$2.50 + US$51.80 fees for SFO-SYD-RAR leg, US$17.50 for RAR-AKL-SFO leg)
Res 2: SFO-SYD-RAR (US$2.50 fee)
Unless I can persuade CO that I shouldn't have to pay the $51.80 on my original reservation (any help from the resident Australian taxes/fees experts would be great. Is the fee waived for daytime layovers?), I'll probably change my first reservation to a one-way RAR-AKL-SFO to get the refund of the fees and combine it with the second reservation.
I can cancel and redeposit any reward reservations without fees or miles penalties, so no direct disadvantage of having two one-ways.
LHR/MEL/Europe FF
Jan 3, 12, 12:26 am
The relevant legislation is here regarding exemptions:
Thanks for the info.
In the Customs website list of exemptions, I found the following:
"Passengers who both arrive and depart Australia
by aircraft, only for the purpose of reaching their
intended destination (eg, New Zealand – Australia
– Singapore) without being immigration cleared or
who are immigration cleared for reasons beyond
their control are exempt.
[...]
If passengers wish to enter Australia,
PMC should be included in the ticket. If the
passengers are remaining in the designated
transit area, they are exempt."
Since I intend to enter Australia for the day, I guess I am in theory supposed to pay the PMC, although I could discuss this with CO, simply claiming that I shouldn't pay if I'm in transit.
It seems like the PMC is added automatically when calling CO, but not when booking online. Go figure...
Is there any check that I have paid the PMC when I leave Australia? That is, if I enter Australia and then return to the airport in the evening for my flight to RAR, do I need to have a sticker/stamp to show that I have paid the PMC?
If not, I could request CO to remove the charge from reservation 1, or use reservation 2 above and turn reservation 1 into a one-way for the return leg.
*A Flyer
Jan 3, 12, 12:50 am
Australian visa regulations (and thus the rules the airlines play by) specify that a transit is only one under 8 hours. If your connection is over 8 hours, the airline is not supposed to treat you as a transit passenger (eg, you need a valid visa rather than TWOV, payment of PMC, etc). It appears that the online system didn't charge you correctly but the agent's system is pricing it correctly.
LHR/MEL/Europe FF
Jan 3, 12, 12:58 am
And if you ARE actually entering Australia then you should pay the charge for processing you... that's what it's there for!! :)
Vunder31
Jan 3, 12, 12:59 am
Australian visa regulations (and thus the rules the airlines play by) specify that a transit is only one under 8 hours. If your connection is over 8 hours, the airline is not supposed to treat you as a transit passenger (eg, you need a valid visa rather than TWOV, payment of PMC, etc). It appears that the online system didn't charge you correctly but the agent's system is pricing it correctly.
Thank you.
I guess that settles it :)
Even if I manage to get a ticket without the PMC fee included, Australian customs will discover that I haven't paid the PMC when I clear customs to take my flight to RAR, or perhaps it will already have been discovered by the NZ agent at SYD when I try to get my boarding pass to RAR. Either way, I'd have to pay it. This is what would have happened if I had used my original itinerary (that didn't include the PMC).
Please note that I'm not trying to escape paying any mandatory fees, but I don't want to pay if I don't have to :)
Not seeing the fee on my original booking made me wonder what was going on, and thanks to the help from friendly FTers, I now know :)
I'll cancel Res 2 since it's of no use anymore, and stick with res 1 (including the prepaid PMC).
*A Flyer
Jan 3, 12, 1:04 am
Thank you.
I guess that settles it :)
Even if I manage to get a ticket without the PMC fee included, Australian customs will discover that I haven't paid the PMC when I clear customs to take my flight to RAR, or perhaps it will already have been discovered by the NZ agent at SYD when I try to get my boarding pass to RAR. Either way, I'd have to pay it. This is what would have happened if I had used my original itinerary (that didn't include the PMC).
Please note that I'm not trying to escape paying any mandatory fees, but I don't want to pay if I don't have to :)
Not seeing the fee on my original booking made me wonder what was going on, and thanks to the help from friendly FTers, I now know :)
Customs won't do anything to you, they would just bill the airline. However, I don't think you'll have much luck getting the airline to issue the ticket without it.
Vunder31
Jan 3, 12, 1:14 am
Customs won't do anything to you, they would just bill the airline. However, I don't think you'll have much luck getting the airline to issue the ticket without it.
When I made the original round-trip booking online on continental.com (as well as the one-way SFO-SYD-RAR booking online today), CO issued the ticket(s) without collecting the PMC. Who knows what would happen after I had traveled. Perhaps CO would request additional funds, but I doubt it.
The phone reservation system wouldn't let the agent issue the ticket without the PMC fee collection.
cavemanzk
Jan 3, 12, 7:47 pm
, or perhaps it will already have been discovered by the NZ agent at SYD when I try to get my boarding pass to RAR. Either way, I'd have to pay it. This is what would have happened if I had used my original itinerary (that didn't include the PMC).
As your going to be leaving the airport on arrival, you wont be able to get the board pass from transit desk (Air side - Departures). Therefore you would have to collect it from the NZ Check-in Counters in zone J. Check-in opens 3hours before departure.
As you would be "Land Side" they would be highly likely to enforce the PMC if you hadn't been charged it on your booking. NZ loves to check every little detail at check-in. Hence why they don't allow travel on board passes issues by other airlines.