turtle777

Anyone know why there is a variance in taxes and fees charged by Lifemiles for a transatlantic business class ticket?

One Way EDI-BOS: 20k miles + $156
Return Leg of EDI - BOS if booking as part of a roundtrip from BOS: 20k mile + $12 for one itinerary through ORD, or $75 through iAD

Anyone know why these amounts are so different for same flight depending if one way or round trip or even with different connecting cities on UA?

SK AAR

Taxes and surcharges are always much higher ex US than ex Europe. That has nothing to do with AV/LM.

USD 156 in taxes and surcharges for a ex USA ticket is cheap. You don't want to know how much LH M&M would charge for the same (at least double I think).

guv1976

My understanding is that LifeMiles does not collect carrier surcharges on its award tickets, even for travel on other carriers.

SK AAR

Are you implying that LM will pay YQ, taxes etc to the carrier (here UA) without collecting the same amounts from pax? Sounds a bit unrealistic IMO.

guv1976

I never said anything about taxes. I'm saying that LM does not collect carrier surcharges on its award tickets; presumably that's because it does not have to pay any surcharges to the operating carrier.

"There are no carrier imposed surcharges

"LifeMiles doesn�t have carrier imposed surcharges for travel on any partners, which is fantastic. Some other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs do have fuel surcharges, and those can really add up, especially for first & business class tickets.

"For example, the Lufthansa Miles & More program does have fuel surcharges. Want to redeem those miles for a one-way business class ticket from the US to Germany on Lufthansa? Expect to pay over $800 in addition to the taxes and mileage requirement. Ouch."

Source:

https://onemileatatime.com/guides/redeem-lifemiles/

There are a number of FFPs which do not collect carrier surcharges on some or all of their partners. Want to redeem AA miles for travel on JL from the U.S. to Tokyo? Here's an example of what you'll pay:



But a cash ticket on the same JL flight has $222 in carrier surcharges:

arfaczar

As a DP, here's what I paid in taxes & surcharges for a SFO-IST r/trip (via MEX layover) on UA/TK metal.

Taxes & Surcharges for SFO-IST r/trip (via MEX)

Other than duplicated 40.52UK, the above is a match with ITA Matrix for 2 separate r/trips SFO-MEX-SFO & MEX-IST-MEX.
​However, the LM Website search results for IAH-IST (via MEX) showed total taxes at 12.91 usd . one-way. I wasn't able to replicate a search result for the outbound via MEX, but got a result via CUN.
I summarized that a Manual Booking is luck of the draw and you may end up paying more than what you would have if the LM website managed to price the award.

guv1976

You could consider filing a complaint with the U.S. DOT, since it appears that Avianca is collecting at least some U.S. fees that do not apply to a zero-fare (i.e., no-carrier-surcharge) award ticket. Specifically, the $21.10 x two U.S. fees (International Departure and International Arrival tax) should not be assessed on a roundtrip, zero-fare award ticket originating in the U.S. For reference, here's the breakdown of taxes and fees which AA gives for a Coach roundtrip award on AA metal PHL-CDG-PHL:



I had success with a DOT complaint against Iberia for improperly collecting the $4.50 per segment Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) on a zero-fare award ticket for domestic travel on AA.