Yes, so sorry that our tax system has affected you in this fashion. I'm afraid that I find it truly embarassing as none of us like it and most of us think that it is unfair. It is, I am sorry to say, based on the premise that if you can afford premium fares, £40 tax will not matter to you at all. It was never designed to deal with these sorts of upgrades, they were intended to be add-ons for fares which as you know are mimimum £2-3000.

What I do not understand is why this is being charged as you are not giving anything like cash or miles in exchange for the upgrade. If they charge for this, why do they not charge for operational upgrades. I suspect that (please be patient with me this dates from when I first started here) because they come out of a special inventory rather than the regular J OR F inventory which is what used to happen (shoot this down in flames if I am wrong on this point). Back in 2000 (I think) you used to get an upgrade if there were seats - not just seats in C or A class. This is totally my supposition. I suspect that Inand Revenue have caught on and this is the result.

I fear that whether you were notified about it or not, these government imposed charges are payable. The entire tax that is collected be it £20 or £40 is a huge money spinner for this government. They are known as stealth taxes as most businessmen never notice them and most people don't really think why they are paying them in the first place. I am not amongst that number.

So, again Sorry. I only hope that the flight home was enjoyable. That will not bring your £80 back, but at least you know that you were not singled out for special treatment, we all have to endure it.