hkgyyzcdg

Hi All,

I redeemed avios on EI in May 2018 for DUB YYZ and I paid CAD 52 (~EUR 35) in taxes. This was done on avios.com.
Looking at the same redemption in Oct 2019 this year on avios.com, it says I have to pay CAD 156.4 (~EUR 104) in taxes.
What else have they started charging on redemption tickets? Would calling BA to book EI instead waive the "extras"?
Looking at itamatrix I'm seeing this UP and YQ for ~EUR 35 in total and that's it:

DUB EI YTO Q82.03 425.89MJOWGD26 NUC 507.92 END ROE 0.8899 XT 16.95UP 18.00YQ


Thank you

mccartje

€104 sounds normal enough for an avios TATL redemption. If you paid only 35 before then you did very well. I'm not sure if the calling BA trick still works, probably just give it a go and check is easiest. Just FYI it's not really 'taxes' that is incorporated into the cash payment on avios fares. Some of it is taxes for sure but most of it is 'surcharges' which is basically the airline just adding on extra cost to cover themselves (i.e. make more money).

modularmayhem

Last week i went to make a booking using BA avios on EI, but it was £35 more expensive than doing it on avios.com so i think that trick may be gone

alserire

I'm getting an absolutely off the wall quote for DUB/JFK in Y with Avios for next Feb. 26,000 plus €203 in taxes and charges! That's half the fare on EI's own website.

That's completely crazy and no little rip off.

modularmayhem

Is that one way or return?

mccartje

Return I'd imagine, not great value booking that far out in economy. If you have the avios look at BA premium economy or business for better avios value but obviously need to connect LHR. Think you can get premieum economy for same cash price but 60K odd avios. Or business for 115K and 300 odd euro. For 1 person return.

alserire

Return. Charging 50% of the plus fare in charges and fees is ridiculous

hkgyyzcdg

I booked another itinerary on the phone with BA and it's almost CAD100 cheaper than avios.com

BA phone: YYZ DUB CDG ~CAD135
avios.com: YYZ DUB CDG ~CAD231

Itamatrix shows:
Ireland Passenger Charge (UP) CA$17.20
Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ) CA$67.55
Toronto Airport Improvement Fee (SQ) CA$25.00
Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax (ON) (RC) CA$3.25
Canadian Air Travelers Security Charge (CA) CA$25.91
Just for comparison:
Total with YQ: $138.91
Total without YQ: CAD71.36

BA phone booking charges fuel and the difference is FX. Avios.com shows a completely different amount than itamatrix.

Then I tried to make a dummy booking on Aer Lingus website. It doesn't give me a breakdown of the taxes - just a lumpsum of CAD138.9 (same as itamatrix)

Looking at the fine print, these are the only clearly listed surcharges:
1. Insurance, security and emission surcharges
Ex-Ireland €6.89 per flight
Ex-North America $6.37 per flight
Ex-UK £5.10 per flight

2. Fuel surcharges
Each-way per passenger or equivalent
Economy Cabin, Business Cabin
Dublin - Boston/Hartford/Montreal/New York/Newark/Philadelphia/Washington D.C€73 / £68 / $105
€115 / £110 / $155

Shannon - Boston/New York€73 / £68 / $105
€115 / £110 / $155

Dublin - Montreal/Toronto€73 / £68 / $135CAD
€115 / £110 / $200CAD

Dublin - Chicago/Orlando/Miami/Minneapolis-St.Paul€83 / £78 / $125
€125 / £120 / $173

Dublin - Los Angeles/San Francisco/Seattle€93 / £88 / $135
€135 / £130 / $183

Other US routes (UA / B6 codeshare)€93 / £88 / $135
€135 / £130 / $183

Other Canada routes (AC codeshare)€93 / £88 / $175CAD
€135 / £130 / $240CAD

Paul Weber

That sounds normal, 13k each way for off peak coach, and then 100 ish Euro of fees each way

If they are selling tickets for 400 Euro roundtrip, yeah, this isn't worth using Avios.

acker

How can fees be so all over the place? Jeez. I redeem Avios for BOS-DUB flights at least once a year. One time rep said fees totaled $28 total for 2 of us. OK, yeah, that works. And it turned out it did, didn't have to pay more. But was prepared to if someone noticed it. It's usually in the $120 range, one agent said the fees would be almost $800 per ticket. Yeah, don't think so.

sxc234

i am about to book my first EI award with avios in Y during off peak. Anyone able to confirm the taxes on a round trip ticket YYZ-DUB in Y? is it $135 x 2 = $270 per person RT?

acker

That seems about right. Was approx $118 for BOS-DUB redemption flight a year or two ago. I've paid as little as $18 (!) on a business seat tckt. I like mistakes when they work in my favor.