AA admits improperly charging YQ surcharge on BA flights ex- HKG
 

I booked an AAdvantage award on a BA flight HKG-LHR in Club World. They charged me a total of £235 of "Taxes and Carrier-Imposed Fees".

When asked to break it down they told me:

• £12.00 HK
• £205.00 YQ
• £18.00 G3

However, I have been under the impression that fuel surcharges are not allowed by the regulator in Hong Kong. I found this link for lists regulating it to very low levels (109 HKD i.e. around £11 GBP).

AA's position is that BA charges a fuel surcharge for all their flights and there is no mistake.

Any thoughts on this? Am I correct here? If so, where to go next as AA customer service won't budge.

Looking on ITA for HKG-LHR issued in London or New York for business class

BA YQ surcharge (YQ) £203.60

If issued in Hong Kong, there is no carrier surcharge

Have you tried booking through the Hong Kong office?

Problem is that all award tickets are issued ex-USA and the fuel surcharge on BA might stick.

This thread might shed some light on BA's FS

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...light-hkg.html

Im not sure that this is the case - my recent redemption is billed in AUD which , iirc, a ticket issued in USA would not be

Very frustrating, AA says they checked with their "tariff department" and insists it's correct. They won't comment any questions re CAD limits, or why BA wouldn't charge it directly, just keep saying there is no mistake.

So I guess the first question to figure out is do the CAD limits apply to ALL flights originating from Hong Kong, or just the ones that have tickets issued there. Would be quite a loophole though if airlines like Cathay could just ticket them from another office to get around the limit...

The threads I've found on the above question have quite conflicting views. If anyone knows of anything authoritative on this, would be greatly appreciated!

I never ran across/heard of this issue-- it's interesting.

Perhaps you can send the details to the relevant Hong Kong regulator, to gain clarity of their position or have them correct AA.

Does anyone know what office issues revenue tickets bought in Hong Kong? If their HKD-denominated ex-HKG tickets are issued there, perhaps they could issue award tickets as well?

AA has their own sales office/team in Hong Kong and a Cantonese line. I've issued awards from the AA HK office but the charges were denominated in USD. They may be in the position to clarify for this issue.

A ticket can be issued in one country using currency from a different country. I buy tickets from AA tgat start in JNB. Theyre done in ZAR, but issued in the US.

Will try to get clarification from the CAD regarding the tickets issued elsewhere for flights departing HKG.. Will report back once hear anything.

Just an update on this: got a more informed response through emailing AA customer relations who then called me. They said if the award was ticketed in Hong Kong and in HKD, then they wouldn't charge. The agent couldn't comment on if they will actually do that (need to call customer service to try) or why that is their policy...

No word from CAD yet.

That would be its policy since that is (a) allowed and (b) how BA applies surcharges

Have you tried contacting AA on the Hong Kong number and getting it issued there?

Just to keep this up-to-date as this may be helpful for others.

I was in contact with the regulator (CAD) and they confirmed that airlines are not approved to charge fuel surcharges for flights departing Hong Kong, even if they are ticketed elsewhere or in other currency. FYI BA doesn't charge it for ex-HKG flights ticketed in GBP in UK either.

Direct quote: "Our consideration of fuel surcharges was based on the origin of the flights rather than the point of sales. "

The regulator will be in touch with AA directly about my ticket now, we'll see what happens.

According to ITA, a HKG-LHR flight ticketed in UK does incur a carrier surcharge - without phoning BA, would be hard to confirm for certain since the website will just default to Hong Kong

Would be interesting what the outcome is for the award ticket