Originally Posted by
stephenz
Apologies as this has probably been covered here many times. I rarely use AA miles and have never used them out of LHR.
I'm trying to get from LHR to RDU on the best possible economy seat on 10/26. All I'm seeing are ridiculous fees either from UK gov't taxes or the BA surcharge. LHR-RDU on a piece of crap AA metal has me at 20K miles plus $190. LHR-MIA-RDU on the nicer BA metal has me at 20K miles and $300+...
Are there any better options??
$190 is pretty decent for ex LHR to USA and is less than that which a paid ticket is due. For a paid ticket the total taxes would be about $210.70, broken down to
USDA APHIS Fee (XA) US$5.00
US Immigration Fee (XY) US$7.00
US Customs Fee (YC) US$5.50
United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty (GB) US$110.20
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge (UB) US$65.30
US International Arrival Tax (US) US$17.70
I beieve with the award ticket, you are only paying the UK taxes and vrey limited US fees
If you want lower fees from UK you will need to start from Northern Ireland or start journey outside the UK.