Best way to get to nyc avoiding uk taxes (reward flight)
Nov 23, 2014, 7:13 am
#1
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Best way to get to nyc avoiding uk taxes (reward flight)
Hey everyone
Just wondering what the best route to NYC outside of the UK is using Avios. £1100 tax is a bit steep from LHR.
cheers
Just wondering what the best route to NYC outside of the UK is using Avios. £1100 tax is a bit steep from LHR.
cheers
Nov 23, 2014, 7:21 am
#4
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J on EI, with a separate ticket LON-DUB
J on AB, with a separate ticket UK-DE
You cannot use a 2-4-1 on non-BA operated flights. In that case it might be best to do LGW-JER on one ticket, then JER-LON-NYC with less than 24 hours in London.
J on AB, with a separate ticket UK-DE
You cannot use a 2-4-1 on non-BA operated flights. In that case it might be best to do LGW-JER on one ticket, then JER-LON-NYC with less than 24 hours in London.
Nov 23, 2014, 7:26 am
#6
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Are you thinking of changing because you can cancel Avios tickets at no penalty? Ie get all the avois re-credited, plus any cash element refunded (although this latter should all be taxes etc, so that would be refundable on a normal ticket). Is that how it works?
Nov 23, 2014, 7:27 am
#7
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For some reason I believe you can use them from JER. All you would save is APD though. If you are booking for travel post April 2015 the most you will save per passenger is £142 per person. Tbh I wouldn't bother for that, by the time you include additional positioning flights, extra travel, possible extra hotel at LGW or JER, the saving is going to be slim. J on EI from DUB or AB from TXL/DUS offer far better savings.
Nov 23, 2014, 7:29 am
#8
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You do pay a cancellation fee of £35 so it is not quite penalty free.
Nov 23, 2014, 7:33 am
#9
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thanks for the posts everyone. If you can't use the 2-4-1 on non-BA then Ill leave it as it is. It's just that I fly for EZY so have good staff travel options to much of Europe. At least I know for next time, if not using a companion voucher, to go thru Europe.
Nov 23, 2014, 7:35 am
#10
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Correct, I was considering it as I get all avios and taxes less the £35pp cancellation charge back
Nov 23, 2014, 2:49 pm
#11
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Remember that you save almost £1,000 using airberlin instead of BA (for a couple). You need to knock off the cost of getting to Germany from the UK (9,000 Avios return and £35) but you are easily over £750 better off.
It is a trade off over whether you want to use the 241 voucher or not and save 80,000 Avios plus a few hours of your life. AB business is as good as BA, albeit with a German slant!
It is a trade off over whether you want to use the 241 voucher or not and save 80,000 Avios plus a few hours of your life. AB business is as good as BA, albeit with a German slant!
Nov 23, 2014, 2:56 pm
#12
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Can we just be clear that the tax element...ie the bit that goes to HMRC is, on an F or J fare, less than half the level of charges imposed and kept by BA. The rest is paid to the US authorities for the pleasure of standing in massive queues and being treated badly. The remainder is paid to the airport operators in Europe and LHR to stand in shorter queues but still be treated poorly. TAX is a small fraction of the overall charges levied.
If BA reduced its fees in line with cost of aviation fuel flying would be cheaper without the need to generate more carbon!
If BA reduced its fees in line with cost of aviation fuel flying would be cheaper without the need to generate more carbon!
Nov 23, 2014, 6:16 pm
#13
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
U.S. taxes and fees on "free" award tickets are quite low. Try pricing an Avios redemption on AB from JFK-DUS/TXL, where there are no carrier-imposed "surcharges." 
Originally Posted by binman
Can we just be clear that the tax element...ie the bit that goes to HMRC is, on an F or J fare, less than half the level of charges imposed and kept by BA. The rest is paid to the US authorities for the pleasure of standing in massive queues and being treated badly. The remainder is paid to the airport operators in Europe and LHR to stand in shorter queues but still be treated poorly. TAX is a small fraction of the overall charges levied.
If BA reduced its fees in line with cost of aviation fuel flying would be cheaper without the need to generate more carbon!
If BA reduced its fees in line with cost of aviation fuel flying would be cheaper without the need to generate more carbon!