Originally Posted by
sbm12
My understanding is that if the longhaul is within 24 hours of departure from the UK the you pay the higher APD, even if the first flight is short. And you do pay a decent chunk of tax to the Germans.
This is a <24 hour connection:
Code:
Tax: USDA APHIS Fee $5.00
Tax: US Immigration Fee $7.00
Tax: US Customs Fee $5.50
Tax: German Airport Security Tax €6.54
Tax: German Passenger Service Charge €18.13
Tax: US International Arrival Tax $16.30
Tax: United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty £120.00
Tax: United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge £22.19
And this is a >24 hour connection:
Code:
Tax: USDA APHIS Fee $5.00
Tax: US Immigration Fee $7.00
Tax: US Customs Fee $5.50
Tax: German Airport Security Tax €6.54
Tax: German Passenger Service Charge €28.27
Tax: German Air Transport Tax €45.00
Tax: US International Arrival Tax $16.30
Tax: United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty £24.00
Tax: United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge £22.19
The German PSC goes up 10 Euro but the APD drops GBP 96. Not a bad trade if you have the time to spare.
True, but if >24 hrs then the 45 Euro German Air Transport Tax kicks in (that's the one I was thinking about in my post about not having to pay if connecting), so it becomes 55 Euros up and 96 GPB down. Still a positive trade, but not as great.
So essentially the 3 options would be (all other taxes remaining the same):
A. LHR-IAD: 120 GBP UK tax
B. LHR-FRA-IAD (<24 hr connection): 120 GPB UK tax + (18+6) Euro German Tax
C. LHR-FRA-IAD (>24 hr connection): 24 GBP UK tax + (28+6+45) Euro German Tax
So option B seems pointless (from a cost-saving perspective), option C would save roughly 75 USD in taxes, but would require a hotel night!
Thanks for the info!