Avoiding APD
 

Just wanted to clarify something before i made a reward booking. If i fly DUB-LHR-LAX in BD/NZ C will i avoid the £80 UK APD charge?

I would normally fly BHD-LHR-LAX but as the 'taxes and charges' on reward flights keep spiralling i want to cut it down where i can.

Anyone any experience of what the price difference should be, between ex-DUB and ex-BHD?

As long as you were on a single, connecting itinerary for DUB-LHR-LAX, you would indeed avoid APD.

Full rules here.

All of my current and future award bookings are now going to be ex DUB instead of ex BHD for that very reason

To answer my own question... kind of... ex-DUB the flight worked out at £45 for taxes and charges for one-way Business... Not too bad...

People flying from British airports outside London can also cut down the APD for long-haul journeys by connecting via continental gateways rather than LHR. Lots of people do this anyway (especially via AMS) to avoid LHR, but the recent increases in the tax make it even more worthwhile. The APD for a long-haul flight in C or F is now a significant extra charge.

avoiding APD tax
 

That would exclude CDG I think. I remember booking via AMS to avoid higher charges in the past (but it probably was airport charge, rather than tax)

Thanks for posting this link - I was trying to find this a week or so ago and now that I am armed with this information I will do battle when I connect thought Heathrow tomorrow

Risky strategy as you have to do it on separate tickets (otherwise long-haul APD still due) and you therefore bear the risk of misconnects (and also have to plan on additional times to pick up luggage and reconnect, if they refuse to through-check luggage on separate tickets).
Moreover, as flights from hubs are usually more expensive, it remains to be seen whether you actually save that much, if at all, by doing that.

How would I know if my baggage can be checked through, supposing I fly BA to FRA to connect to LH? All I worry is that I am a visa national so would not be able to get out of immigration (to recheck my baggage, etc.) without Schengen visa. Isn't it that when you obtain the second BP at LH Frankfurt transfer desk before immigration then the baggage is all sorted for you?

That's when you buy one ticket for the whole journey...(defeating the purpose).

If you buy a ticket from A to B and another ticket from B to C, each carrier is only obliged to get you from and to those points. There is nothing to require the first carrier to get you onto the second carrier without entering B.

Thanks jbfield for verification. In case I do have to recheck baggage, is there such an option that allows you to do so without passing immigration? I can think about a case where some visa nationals may get stranded at the airport immigration for the need to get through to baggage claim area before anything.

While baggage check-through is not something sending airlines is obliged to do, has anyone experienced this with BA flying from LHR to Europe in particular?

Sorry for being a bit OT.

If you're buying a ticket to somewhere without having a visa to enter the country, you have a more serious problem than the luggage. The airline may refuse to carry you to that destination. Holding another ticket from the intermediate point may help, but I'm not sure it is a guarantee.