And
attorney28's point above is an important one, we've seen over and over on Flyertalk that these supposed fixed fees aren't really all that fixed.
If we've already lost the battle on these surcharges (and with US programs I don't think we have, but we truly could) then the calculations should never be opaque, they should be disclosed up front, and they should not be higher than for regular paying passengers. In other words, there should not be an
award tax!
