Originally Posted by
M60_to_LGA
The receipt shows the base fare as $1, with $500+ falling under "carrier-imposed international surcharge (YR)." Taxes and other fees imposed by the US and the destination country are disclosed and not unusual.
$1 base fares (or 2 x $0.50 for a r/t ticket) are pretty common for TATL flights Europe-US (in basic economy, lowest booking class). YR/YQ will generally still be a few hundred dollars.
How airlines spread the ticket price between base fare and the fantasy surcharges YR/YQ is anybody's guess. I suppose the YR/YQ gives some sort of internal consistency, as you'll have to pay it even on award tickets (of course, the customer pays no base fare for awards).