Originally Posted by PUCCI GALORE
I find all this a bit rich from people from countries where the normal basics of life are priced without sales tax. Anything that I buy in the USA, I have to pay tax and the price tag does not include that. So if I wanted to buy an - Ipod for want of another example the price goes up by $20? - the same applies to meals in restaurants, hotels and most anything else you can think of. So when you have paid your surcharges and you get to Europe any price that you see is the one that you pay.
By the same token - why not include the tax in the price quoted as it will have to be charged anyway. I do not know if any of the taxes that are charged include the notorious ticket tax that varies of the class of travel and I agree it is horrendous that the taxes and suppliments are charged separately and are indeed expensive. However, that is the price for exchanging miles for tickets. My neighbours used some miles to go to Paris and the charges were the best part of £50 as memory serves. I often think that it is better value to pay for WT as there are such good fares to be had and use the miles to upgrade as they take on far greater value - but that's just me. Why slum it if you don't have to?
I agree the price of goods in the USA bugs me. When I find something that I like and can afford with the cash I have on me I then discover when they ring up the sale, that there is an extra charge to pay on it. I then usually have to go and get some more money out of the cashpoint (sorry ATM) to buy it, or stick the excess on a card. Yes you could argue that the retaillers are just collecting a Govt imposed tax but why not include it in the price, and save me a trip to the ATM?
If I wasn't happy with the fuel charge I'd fly another airline, although I take on board (pune not intended) the idea that it is simply a cost of the travel business. Put simply, the fact that I can travel in a nice comfortable seat that, without moving out of, can become a 180º flat bed, for the cost of a WT+ ticket + 25,000 miles is worth far more to me than the fuel surcharge.