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Taxes have Become TAXES!

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Old Mar 20, 2008, 4:43 pm
  #1  
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Taxes have Become TAXES!

For a BD award BOM-FRA-JFK RT, taxes/fuel charge just crested over $600 USD.

And the ICC does a terrible (OK< nonexistent!) job at breaking down and itemizing what this whopping sum pays for.
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Old Mar 20, 2008, 8:04 pm
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Well, using ITA you can see where all the money goes. I'm *assuming* this is a business/first class reward, so here's the breakdown for a ticket:

Fare (A1): LH BOMFRA FRT4 fare (rules) INR 129173
Tax: Indian Service Tax on First and Business Class Travel INR 16428
Fare (A2): LH FRANYC CR fare (rules) , psgr type ADT €1913.00
Tax: Indian Service Tax on First and Business Class Travel €243.13
Fare (A3): DL NYCBOM DRWB fare (rules) INR 103500
Tax: Indian Service Tax on First and Business Class Travel INR 13219
Tax: Indian Passenger Service Fee $5.70
Tax: AI YR surcharge INR 300
Tax: US International Arrival Tax $15.40
Tax: US Customs Fee $5.50
Tax: US Immigration Fee $7.00
Tax: USDA APHIS Fee $5.00
Tax: LH YQ surcharge $170.00
Tax: US September 11th Security Fee $2.50
Tax: US International Departure Tax $15.40
Tax: US Passenger Facility Charge $4.50
Tax: German Passenger Service Charge €32.46
Tax: German Airport Security Tax €13.10
Tax: AI YQ surcharge $85.00
Total for 1 adult passenger: $9985.70
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Old Mar 20, 2008, 8:29 pm
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My guess is that this is the erroneous charging of the Indian luxury tax rearing its ugly head again.
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Old Mar 21, 2008, 9:54 am
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Originally Posted by NickB
My guess is that this is the erroneous charging of the Indian luxury tax rearing its ugly head again.
Erroneous? Has the matter been resolved yet? IIRC way back when it was created it was initially levied on award tickets as well

Last edited by apoivre; Mar 22, 2008 at 8:21 am Reason: typo
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Old Mar 21, 2008, 12:04 pm
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Originally Posted by apoivre
Erroneous? Have the matter been resolved yet? IIRC way back when it was created it was initially levied on award tickets as well
The tax is based on the price of the ticket. You might therefore have a (small) amount to pay for cash and miles tickets but a zero amount for pure miles tickets.
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Old Mar 21, 2008, 2:30 pm
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Hmmm, this on top of the recent APD mischarging fiasco
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Old Mar 22, 2008, 2:10 pm
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Originally Posted by NickB
The tax is based on the price of the ticket. You might therefore have a (small) amount to pay for cash and miles tickets but a zero amount for pure miles tickets.
Sorry to be dim, are you saying less tax is payable on reward tickets? I have redeemed miles only tickets and still had to pay a cash amount - was this just fuel surcharge and the recent UK Gov charges?
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Old Mar 22, 2008, 2:27 pm
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Originally Posted by Alinlondon
Sorry to be dim, are you saying less tax is payable on reward tickets? I have redeemed miles only tickets and still had to pay a cash amount - was this just fuel surcharge and the recent UK Gov charges?
As I read it, what NickB is saying is that the Indian Luxury Tax looks like it is possibly being charged on the full price of the ticket as opposed to the actual cash value of the cash + miles element
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 8:14 am
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CLE-ORD-SLC RT in Y:
BD award- $180 USD in taxes
UA award- $10 in taxes

It can't be that the differential is just based on the fuelsurcharge because its a medium haul domestic flight. What is going on here; I'm totally perplexed!
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 9:08 am
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Originally Posted by Alinlondon
Sorry to be dim, are you saying less tax is payable on reward tickets? I have redeemed miles only tickets and still had to pay a cash amount - was this just fuel surcharge and the recent UK Gov charges?
Tiger_lily expressed it more clearly than me what I was trying to say.
Originally Posted by beaubo
CLE-ORD-SLC RT in Y:
BD award- $180 USD in taxes
UA award- $10 in taxes

It can't be that the differential is just based on the fuelsurcharge because its a medium haul domestic flight. What is going on here; I'm totally perplexed!
mmm... that is close enough to what you would pay in taxes for a full-fare Y ticket. Between this example and the Indian one, do we detect a pattern there, viz. DC calculates taxes on the basis of a full fare ticket. That makes no difference in the UK or, afaik, most of Europe as no taxes are calculated on the basis of the ticket price here, but it does make a difference for US domestic travel or for Indian business/first class tickets, where some of the taxes are calculated on the basis of the cost of the ticket.
BTW, there are no fuel surcharges on US domestic travel on UA.

On domestic travel, UA only charges AY taxes (Sep 11th security fee). They don't charge ZP (segment fee), of which award ticket are exempt, nor do they charge XF ( which is PSC)
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 9:22 am
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It's a total crapshoot

I don't believe there is a rhyme or reason to the "taxing" of award tickets. I have purchased many different classes of awards from various airlines, and I can't figure out the taxation logic.
Two years ago, C class on CX BOM-HKG-LAX-HKG-BOM. Two award tix; taxes were $60/ticket.
This year, C class on NW BOM-AMS-MSP-ATL-CDG-BOM. One award tix; taxes are $75
On BA/AA in F, MSP-ORD-LHR-BOM-LHR-ORD-MSP, One award tik; taxes were $75 or so.
On NW, Y class MSP-AMS-BOM-AMS-MSP; one award tik; taxes were $180.
I think the FF programs often just make up the numbers
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 10:17 am
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well,i checked ITA and taxes were about $65 out of $368 ticket.

So, even if BD is calaculating on a PAID ticket, there a still a solid $120 MORE than PUBLISHED taxes.
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 10:39 am
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Originally Posted by beaubo
well,i checked ITA and taxes were about $65 out of $368 ticket.

So, even if BD is calaculating on a PAID ticket, there a still a solid $120 MORE than PUBLISHED taxes.
Ah, but a $368 ticket would be in ECONOMY.

You haven't confirmed your class of travel for this reward flight. If Y, then OK. If business or First, then (as explained above) the Indian "luxury taxes" are a LOT higher.

Can you please confirm the class of service you're booking the award in?
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 11:42 am
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Originally Posted by preiffer
Ah, but a $368 ticket would be in ECONOMY.

You haven't confirmed your class of travel for this reward flight. If Y, then OK. If business or First, then (as explained above) the Indian "luxury taxes" are a LOT higher.

Can you please confirm the class of service you're booking the award in?

Sorry, the $368 total fare/$65 in taxes for domestic award is the CLE-ORD-SLC RT in Y.

I'm bringing a second example here to show discrepancies.
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 11:48 am
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Originally Posted by Tiger_lily
As I read it, what NickB is saying is that the Indian Luxury Tax looks like it is possibly being charged on the full price of the ticket as opposed to the actual cash value of the cash + miles element

Thank you Tiger_lily.
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