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Why are fees and taxes so high on AA AAdvantage miles awards?

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Why are fees and taxes so high on AA AAdvantage miles awards?

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Old Sep 30, 2016, 4:01 pm
  #1  
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AA fees?
Does anyone know why the fees are so high for one way awards? I was looking at 4 one way tickets from Berlin to NYC and I found one TXL-ORY (AB), CDG-JFK (AA). it was $127 per ticket so 120,000 mile + $507 in fees.
Last edited by JDiver; Sep 30, 2016 at 4:45 pm Reason: Restore original post title
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Old Sep 30, 2016, 4:09 pm
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Originally Posted by rtraveler
Does anyone know why the fees are so high for one way awards? I was looking at 4 one way tickets from Berlin to NYC and I found one TXL-ORY (AB), CDG-JFK (AA). it was $127 per ticket so 120,000 mile + $507 in fees.
$127 per ticket for an international trip is not particularly high. If you want to keep fees as low as possible, stick to AA-operated flights.
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Old Sep 30, 2016, 4:21 pm
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Originally Posted by rtraveler
Does anyone know why the fees are so high for one way awards? I was looking at 4 one way tickets from Berlin to NYC and I found one TXL-ORY (AB), CDG-JFK (AA). it was $127 per ticket so 120,000 mile + $507 in fees.
A bit of that are the US Government fees for getting into the country.
When leaving you only pay the security fee
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Old Sep 30, 2016, 4:41 pm
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Originally Posted by rtraveler
Does anyone know why the fees are so high for one way awards? I was looking at 4 one way tickets from Berlin to NYC and I found one TXL-ORY (AB), CDG-JFK (AA). it was $127 per ticket so 120,000 mile + $507 in fees.
You seem to be confusing fees (paid to airlines) and real taxes/charges paid to governments/airports and other regulatory bodies. The cost can vary a lot depending to the country & airports.
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Old Sep 30, 2016, 6:07 pm
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Money grab from multiple sources. But you really have not felt any pain. Try an award any award from USA to LHR on BA in business or First
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Old Sep 30, 2016, 6:23 pm
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Originally Posted by Centurion
Money grab from multiple sources. But you really have not felt any pain. Try an award any award from USA to LHR on BA in business or First
You should try the other way. Even better err worse
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 5:15 am
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127 $ per ticket is cheap. On the LH program a transatlantic RT can be over 500 $ in fees. Or check the fees going on BA.
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 5:35 am
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Originally Posted by hiima
You should try the other way. Even better err worse
For a one-way it's worse. However a return from the USA to LHR is more expensive than a return from LHR to the USA.
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 6:03 am
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Originally Posted by Ldnn1
For a one-way it's worse. However a return from the USA to LHR is more expensive than a return from LHR to the USA.
Care to show your work on that one? UK Air Passenger Duty alone (and then there are airport fees) exceeds U.S. taxes. You may have a BA thing going on.
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 6:09 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by rtraveler
Does anyone know why the fees are so high for one way awards? I was looking at 4 one way tickets from Berlin to NYC and I found one TXL-ORY (AB), CDG-JFK (AA). it was $127 per ticket so 120,000 mile + $507 in fees.
Here's the breakdown on coach TXL-ORY/CDG-JFK, available from a hyperlink on aa.com. There are no carrier-imposed fees in this routing: it's all govt. taxes.

Adult fare, taxes and carrier-imposed fees

Base fare $0.00 USD
Per person

PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (FRANCE) $21.00 USD
AVIATION CIVILE / AIRPORT TAX (FRANCE) $9.10 USD
AIR TRANSPORT TAX (GERMANY) $46.60 USD
SECURITY TAX (GERMANY) $8.20 USD
PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (GERMANY) $15.40 USD
US APHIS USER FEE (UNITED STATES) $3.96 USD
US FEDERAL INSPECTION FEE (UNITED STATES) $7.00 USD
US CUSTOMS USER FEE (UNITED STATES) $5.50 USD

Total Adult taxes and carrier-imposed fees $116.76 USD
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 6:18 am
  #11  
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Originally Posted by 3Cforme
Care to show your work on that one? UK Air Passenger Duty alone (and then there are airport fees) exceeds U.S. taxes. You may have a BA thing going on.
Their point was that USA-LON-USA on BA is more expensive than LON-USA-LON on BA, as BA imposes a higher YQ on ex-US itineraries. APD for both would be the same, charged once.
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 6:39 am
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Originally Posted by 3Cforme
Care to show your work on that one? UK Air Passenger Duty alone (and then there are airport fees) exceeds U.S. taxes. You may have a BA thing going on.
Originally Posted by nux
Their point was that USA-LON-USA on BA is more expensive than LON-USA-LON on BA, as BA imposes a higher YQ on ex-US itineraries. APD for both would be the same, charged once.
Indeed. For example:

LHR-JFK-LHR, YQ = $324
JFK-LHR-JFK, YQ = $828... quite some difference!

The other taxes/fees are the same.
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 12:45 pm
  #13  
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Wow, I was not aware of that. That's pretty effed up. Do Europe-originating Avios award itineraries on AA metal have carrier surcharges?
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 1:13 pm
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
Wow, I was not aware of that. That's pretty effed up. Do Europe-originating Avios award itineraries on AA metal have carrier surcharges?
Yup.
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Old Oct 1, 2016, 5:37 pm
  #15  
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How do fees work on OW awards to/from LHR to the USA
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