exbrit

Finalized my award ticket to Europe and Asia by phone with no problem, and a super helpful lass in the Vancouver Aeroplan office called Rachel.(Lots of hours on the ANA tool beforehand, then simply read out the flights I wanted)

I avoided all AC fuel surcharges by using only *alliance partners,but still ended up with a large taxes and fees bill of $420!

Possibly my mistake was passing thru. LHR in F. Does anybody know what the specific "fee or tax" is for using LHR?

cityboy340

It depends on the distance of the flight from LHR. There is a 4 band price system, and being in F definitely hikes the price up. I don't remember exactly what the price is, but when I flew NZ C to LAX I was charged Ł150 in addition to other taxes. It's definitely a kicker.

ll7777

It is a lot, and also depends on your booking class. I booked my wife and infant daughter one-way through LHR on a business class ticket and IIRC ~$100 for my wife and ~$50 for my daughter (and she doesn't even have a seat!).

mikeyyz

Which airlines? Curious if I don't know of some *A airlines that have F passing through LHR? I know SQ is impossible to get so TG I guess? I wonder what the difference is between J and F luxury taxes...

global happy traveller

CNN has an article on Britain's Air Departure Tax....i cant copy the link (for technical reasons I dont understand)

DaveTO

No difference. The APD has 2 levels: lowest class of service, and anything else.

So, J and F both get hit at the same higher rating (depending on how far you are flying from LHR)

becreative

I guess 2 things to avoid on reward tickets are AC metal and a transit through LHR!!!!

payam81

That's a ^.

I remember when I switched a F class BKK-LHR-YYZ to BKK-HKG-YYZ I ended up with $95 savings! So essentially I got back $5 after the change, all owing to the absurd LHR tax...

tracon

Here is an article from a more reliable source.

exbrit

Thanks for the great responses. To answer the questions, I am arriving LHR on TG from BKK in F. Departing to MAN in C immediately. (Or as immediately as Heathrow baggage handlers allow!) Then a week later, C to MUC, then F to SFO.

From what has been written so far, perhaps I would save $95 if I changed to BKK-FRA-MAN. What do you think?

becreative

The APD for you would be 150 GBP so that would be a little more than the $95 you will save

The only way to get around that would be to skip the UK all together or to fly into a neighboring country and take a separate flight in and out of UK. That way you will pay a lower APD (but the total flight cost/hassle might not be worth the $250 you might save in APD)

keithguy

The UK APD is charged for departures out of the UK, except connections. In your case, you are paying 120GBP for MAN-SFO. So if you want to save on this tax, you'd have to take out the stopover in MAN.

Changing to BKK-FRA-MAN over BKK-LHR-MAN would only save the LHR Passenger Service Charge of about 21GBP, but end up paying the FRA service charge, resulting in minimal savings.

exbrit

Sorry to labour this issue, but are you saying I am paying 150 pounds to the UK DESPITE my longhaul flight being out of MUC to SFO?

And if that is so, what would happen if I overnight in MUC after leaving MAN, would I then avoid this rip off?

keithguy

Yes, the UK APD is charged based on departures from the UK to the next stopover point based on the highest class of service booked, so MAN-MUC-SFO gets the same charge as MAN-SFO nonstop (if such a flight existed).

To reduce the APD, MUC would have to be a stopover point, so if you did MAN-MUC (stop for greater than 24 hours), MUC-SFO, then the APD would drop to 24GBP (or 12 GBP if MAN-MUC is Economy). However, Germany has a similar departure tax, which would then kick into effect leaving MUC since you are no longer connecting in Germany. The Germany "ecological" departure tax is 45 EUR from Germany to North America.

If you really want to save on taxes, stopover at DUB instead of MAN. Irish taxes are relatively low, and have actually been recently reduced. Of course, that presumes you can get from DUB to wherever it is you want to go in the UK for less than 120GBP.

keithguy

Upon closer review, the UK APD to USA/Canada for business class, is actually 120 GBP, not 150 GBP, but the way it's calculated is the same.