Oct 14, 2014, 10:32 am
Last edit by: Prospero
Help with British Airways and Iberia Carrier Imposed Surcharges
Using AAdvantage miles for awards using British Airways generally* incurs very high carrier imposed surcharges / fees (BA charges their own BAEC flyers these for Avios redemptions as well). AA awards on IB incur considerably lower fees (~$50 one way transatlantic is quoted by one member, the link to travelisfree.com below gives a BA flight with $458 YQ, IB $96). One FTer claims $700 BA YQ fees for SAN-PRG return, which is not unusual). You are likely to find lots of availability on BA using the aa.com award booking facility.
Intra-European awards using BA have significantly lower carrier imposed charges; some members may find using AA or other partner transatlantic connecting to BA may be acceptable.
NOTE: Paying YQ may trigger a host of other taxes and fees otherwise not charged on awards that do not include carrier imposed surcharges such as YQ. Flights within the Americas are YQ exempt.
As this is still flying on an award, these carrier imposed surcharges do not qualify for EQM or EQD earning.
Be sure to read the oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on thread wiki for information on searching for and finding alternative flights or those not shown on aa.com, which airlines' websites can find those, etc.
Read more about BA Carrier Imposed Surcharges on AA awards here (rrgg supplied most of these below:
Fuel Surcharge for AA award redemptions on BA are up - again.
Partner airline awards now bookable on AA.com (AB, AS, AY, BA, HA, HG, QF, RJ, US)
Does AA push most of its European Awards to BA to collect fuel surcharges?
Charts from TravelIsFree for the three alliances and how you will pay (or avoid) YQ: http://travelisfree.com/2014/04/15/m...surcharges-yq/
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
AA oneworld and Other Airline ("All Partner") Award information, rules (2015 on)
Originating a flight in the UK incurs an Air Passenger Duty, reduced for seats with less than 40" seat pitch (except those originating from originating in BFS / Northern Ireland, Scottish Highlands (INV) or Islands, and connections less than 24 hours do not incur UK Air Passenger Duty, though they do incur airport Passenger Service Charges). Separate topic, dealt with:
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures (Master Thread); defines what the APD is in the wikipost.
Avoiding crazy UK "APD" taxes when transferring through LHR on separate tickets
Archived posts May 2012 - 2016 may be read here.
Using AAdvantage miles for awards using British Airways generally* incurs very high carrier imposed surcharges / fees (BA charges their own BAEC flyers these for Avios redemptions as well). AA awards on IB incur considerably lower fees (~$50 one way transatlantic is quoted by one member, the link to travelisfree.com below gives a BA flight with $458 YQ, IB $96). One FTer claims $700 BA YQ fees for SAN-PRG return, which is not unusual). You are likely to find lots of availability on BA using the aa.com award booking facility.
Intra-European awards using BA have significantly lower carrier imposed charges; some members may find using AA or other partner transatlantic connecting to BA may be acceptable.
NOTE: Paying YQ may trigger a host of other taxes and fees otherwise not charged on awards that do not include carrier imposed surcharges such as YQ. Flights within the Americas are YQ exempt.
As this is still flying on an award, these carrier imposed surcharges do not qualify for EQM or EQD earning.
Be sure to read the oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on thread wiki for information on searching for and finding alternative flights or those not shown on aa.com, which airlines' websites can find those, etc.
Read more about BA Carrier Imposed Surcharges on AA awards here (rrgg supplied most of these below:
Fuel Surcharge for AA award redemptions on BA are up - again.
Partner airline awards now bookable on AA.com (AB, AS, AY, BA, HA, HG, QF, RJ, US)
Does AA push most of its European Awards to BA to collect fuel surcharges?
Charts from TravelIsFree for the three alliances and how you will pay (or avoid) YQ: http://travelisfree.com/2014/04/15/m...surcharges-yq/
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
AA oneworld and Other Airline ("All Partner") Award information, rules (2015 on)
Originating a flight in the UK incurs an Air Passenger Duty, reduced for seats with less than 40" seat pitch (except those originating from originating in BFS / Northern Ireland, Scottish Highlands (INV) or Islands, and connections less than 24 hours do not incur UK Air Passenger Duty, though they do incur airport Passenger Service Charges). Separate topic, dealt with:
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures (Master Thread); defines what the APD is in the wikipost.
Avoiding crazy UK "APD" taxes when transferring through LHR on separate tickets
Archived posts May 2012 - 2016 may be read here.
Carrier Imposed Surcharge / YQ: AA award on BA / British (& IB) & avoiding it
Apr 3, 2018, 9:11 am
#136
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 315
Just held two BA F seats (nonstop LHR-US) for New Year's trip. 170k AA in total plus the 1k "YQ, fees". Still thinking if I should use 140k AS or 140k MR (CX miles). Departing from CDG would lower the fees by around ~250. I guess it's not worth the extra transit and travel time. I'd appreciate it If you guys have any suggestions for me to lower the fees. Thanks in advance.
Apr 3, 2018, 9:26 am
#137
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Just held two BA F seats (nonstop LHR-US) for New Year's trip. 170k AA in total plus the 1k "YQ, fees". Still thinking if I should use 140k AS or 140k MR (CX miles). Departing from CDG would lower the fees by around ~250. I guess it's not worth the extra transit and travel time. I'd appreciate it If you guys have any suggestions for me to lower the fees. Thanks in advance.
Apr 3, 2018, 11:27 am
#138
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 315
If you want First seats rather than Business, that is very limiting, given iirc only AA and BA offer F seats US-Europe (and AA only offers F on the 77Ws). Your biggest cost is the BA YQ charge - so I’d keep looking for AA First award seats, as changing airlines won’t incur change of redeposit fees. (Frankly, I’d have selected non-BA Business seats, save $ and miles and still enjoy what a few years ago would have been a First experience: solo, all aisle access lie flat suites. Such a change would incur $175 redeposit fees for two awards from the same account.)
Apr 5, 2018, 10:18 am
#139
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,453
IF you want FC, you might want to this, put a flight on hold say LHR-DFW-AUS, call into AA and have them add CDG (I think I read that is where you are starting.) you might be surprised that the agent might be able to find F awards. I did this for our trip to Europe this Nov, when I called to add flights the agent was able to see F awards even though I couldn't see them online.
Sep 14, 2018, 4:49 pm
#140
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
I had a original booking that took me from JFK -> LHR -> MAD -> TLV in business class which came with YQ & taxes of $500+++ per each way per person.
My flights were:
JFK->LHR: BA
LHR->MAD: BA
MAD->TLV: IB
Recently, BA cancelled LHR->MAD flight I was in, so AA rebooked me into JFK->MAD->TLV.
It's now:
JFK->MAD: AA (new flight)
MAD->TLV: IB (original flight)
Is there any way to get my London related taxes and fees back now that London segment is dropped?
My flights were:
JFK->LHR: BA
LHR->MAD: BA
MAD->TLV: IB
Recently, BA cancelled LHR->MAD flight I was in, so AA rebooked me into JFK->MAD->TLV.
It's now:
JFK->MAD: AA (new flight)
MAD->TLV: IB (original flight)
Is there any way to get my London related taxes and fees back now that London segment is dropped?
Sep 14, 2018, 7:48 pm
#141
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,482
I had a original booking that took me from JFK -> LHR -> MAD -> TLV in business class which came with YQ & taxes of $500+++ per each way per person.
My flights were:
JFK->LHR: BA
LHR->MAD: BA
MAD->TLV: IB
Recently, BA cancelled LHR->MAD flight I was in, so AA rebooked me into JFK->MAD->TLV.
It's now:
JFK->MAD: AA (new flight)
MAD->TLV: IB (original flight)
Is there any way to get my London related taxes and fees back now that London segment is dropped?
My flights were:
JFK->LHR: BA
LHR->MAD: BA
MAD->TLV: IB
Recently, BA cancelled LHR->MAD flight I was in, so AA rebooked me into JFK->MAD->TLV.
It's now:
JFK->MAD: AA (new flight)
MAD->TLV: IB (original flight)
Is there any way to get my London related taxes and fees back now that London segment is dropped?
Sep 14, 2018, 7:51 pm
#142
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
Sep 15, 2018, 6:07 am
#143
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,482
Yep, just tell them that there was a schedule change on your itinerary and you should be due a refund for the taxes and fees you originally paid for the BA flights. If you happen to get an incompetent agent, just thank them and HUCA.
Sep 16, 2018, 1:07 pm
#144
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
Oct 3, 2018, 12:29 pm
#145
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: UA Silver, AAdvantage, Miles & More
Posts: 14
Hello All - I believe I've found the proper thread...
I'm planning to book a one-way flight for my fiancee & I in the near future using an AA saver award. The routing would either be EWR (or JFK)-LHR-VCE or EWR(JFK)-LHR-LIN. Ideally, we'd book business or first on AA, but we know that saver availability is slim to nil in this arena... So therefore, it looks like I'll need to bite the bullet & swallow the surcharges from BA. Anyway, we were investigating which route we wanted to book, so I had placed a hold on one of the routes a little over a week back while we decided.
At the time, all in, taxes/surcharges/fees came out to $1,101.20 (hold placed on 9/27)
In the meantime, we decided on the EWR-LHR-VCE route, so I was going to go in & book today... The hold had expired last night. Low & behold, the surcharges/fees have jumped up to $1,601 for the two of us! Was this increase in surcharges announced, or did I miss something? At this point, it's questionable if it's worth it to even move forward, but I've placed an additional hold while we mull it over. I appreciate any insight from the experts here. Cheers!
Thanks,
Mike
I'm planning to book a one-way flight for my fiancee & I in the near future using an AA saver award. The routing would either be EWR (or JFK)-LHR-VCE or EWR(JFK)-LHR-LIN. Ideally, we'd book business or first on AA, but we know that saver availability is slim to nil in this arena... So therefore, it looks like I'll need to bite the bullet & swallow the surcharges from BA. Anyway, we were investigating which route we wanted to book, so I had placed a hold on one of the routes a little over a week back while we decided.
At the time, all in, taxes/surcharges/fees came out to $1,101.20 (hold placed on 9/27)
In the meantime, we decided on the EWR-LHR-VCE route, so I was going to go in & book today... The hold had expired last night. Low & behold, the surcharges/fees have jumped up to $1,601 for the two of us! Was this increase in surcharges announced, or did I miss something? At this point, it's questionable if it's worth it to even move forward, but I've placed an additional hold while we mull it over. I appreciate any insight from the experts here. Cheers!
Thanks,
Mike
Last edited by mostflyer955; Oct 3, 2018 at 12:41 pm Reason: problem w/images
Oct 3, 2018, 12:52 pm
#146
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: WAS
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,757
In the meantime, we decided on the EWR-LHR-VCE route, so I was going to go in & book today... The hold had expired last night. Low & behold, the surcharges/fees have jumped up to $1,601 for the two of us! Was this increase in surcharges announced, or did I miss something? At this point, it's questionable if it's worth it to even move forward, but I've placed an additional hold while we mull it over. I appreciate any insight from the experts here. Cheers!
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB)$18.20Carrier-imposed surcharge (YR)$753.00US International Departure Tax (US)$18.30US September 11th Security Fee (AY)$5.60US Passenger Facility Charge (XF)$4.50
Oct 3, 2018, 1:00 pm
#147
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,190
You've that much more motivation to find an AA-operated JFK-LHR segment.
Oct 3, 2018, 1:14 pm
#148
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: UA Silver, AAdvantage, Miles & More
Posts: 14
The price of fuel has been going up, but I don't know if BA has announced anything in particular. The currently displaying taxes and fees for your second screenshot are correct though, they break down to:
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB)$18.20Carrier-imposed surcharge (YR)$753.00US International Departure Tax (US)$18.30US September 11th Security Fee (AY)$5.60US Passenger Facility Charge (XF)$4.50
To say the least... Will probably hold out & keep checking back for AA metal at this point.
Oct 3, 2018, 2:24 pm
#149
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
Hello All - I believe I've found the proper thread...
I'm planning to book a one-way flight for my fiancee & I in the near future using an AA saver award. The routing would either be EWR (or JFK)-LHR-VCE or EWR(JFK)-LHR-LIN. Ideally, we'd book business or first on AA, but we know that saver availability is slim to nil in this arena... So therefore, it looks like I'll need to bite the bullet & swallow the surcharges from BA. Anyway, we were investigating which route we wanted to book, so I had placed a hold on one of the routes a little over a week back while we decided.
At the time, all in, taxes/surcharges/fees came out to $1,101.20 (hold placed on 9/27)
In the meantime, we decided on the EWR-LHR-VCE route, so I was going to go in & book today... The hold had expired last night. Low & behold, the surcharges/fees have jumped up to $1,601 for the two of us! Was this increase in surcharges announced, or did I miss something? At this point, it's questionable if it's worth it to even move forward, but I've placed an additional hold while we mull it over. I appreciate any insight from the experts here. Cheers!
Thanks,
Mike
I'm planning to book a one-way flight for my fiancee & I in the near future using an AA saver award. The routing would either be EWR (or JFK)-LHR-VCE or EWR(JFK)-LHR-LIN. Ideally, we'd book business or first on AA, but we know that saver availability is slim to nil in this arena... So therefore, it looks like I'll need to bite the bullet & swallow the surcharges from BA. Anyway, we were investigating which route we wanted to book, so I had placed a hold on one of the routes a little over a week back while we decided.
At the time, all in, taxes/surcharges/fees came out to $1,101.20 (hold placed on 9/27)
In the meantime, we decided on the EWR-LHR-VCE route, so I was going to go in & book today... The hold had expired last night. Low & behold, the surcharges/fees have jumped up to $1,601 for the two of us! Was this increase in surcharges announced, or did I miss something? At this point, it's questionable if it's worth it to even move forward, but I've placed an additional hold while we mull it over. I appreciate any insight from the experts here. Cheers!
Thanks,
Mike
Feb 10, 2019, 12:00 am
#150
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Northern California, USA
Programs: Most FF and hotel, i.e., spread too thin.
Posts: 142
Award fees using BA equal Norwegian fares, routing
I wanted to use some of my AA mileage to get to Paris. I found a one-stop/change Business class itinerary from SFO to CDG - with fees of about $600!
For about the same money I got a premium seat, non stop, on Norwegian. No miles.
The AA flights were actually on BA. These exorbitant fees to use miles must be to compensate BA?
Also I find AA award itineraries feature extraneous stops and connections usually. Award travel on AA is not as useful as it used to be.
For about the same money I got a premium seat, non stop, on Norwegian. No miles.
The AA flights were actually on BA. These exorbitant fees to use miles must be to compensate BA?
Also I find AA award itineraries feature extraneous stops and connections usually. Award travel on AA is not as useful as it used to be.