Oil price at 4 year low but still V high fuel surcharges
 

BBC reporting oil at a near 4 year low, and BA originally responded to high oil prices by introducing/increasing YQ - so why havent they reduced YQ

Seems to me that BA are behaving like the UK government - once a tax/charge is established it is very rarely reduced and even more rare, removed.

i know some of you will come back and say BA have hedged and therefore may be paying more but seriously they seem to quickly react to increasing prices but more reluctant to reduce the charge when prices go the other way.

YQ is a "carrier surcharge" and has no direct link to fuel cost.

Exactly what is the "carrier surcharge" for then if no "direct link" to fuel cost?

Edited to add that in googling, "what is the BA YQ charge for", the words "fuel" and "charge" come up pretty much every time from multiple sources.

So what is YQ exactly for then nux?

oh really?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/...fuel-surcharge

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...charge-yq.html

They enable collection of revenue on award tickets, make it simpler to do mass adjustment of fares in response to cost shocks, are often not subject to fare-discounting deals offered to large corporates, and in some jurisdictions there are tax and accounting advantages.

Not getting into the YQ debate but would be interested to know if the prices at the pumps have come down? They certainly aren't here.

The answer is very simple.

For the vast majority of passengers the balance of the fare between the YQ and fare components is not relevant.

BA will see a multi-million Pound revenue stream from revenue attributable to YQ on redemptions. It would take a Commercial Director of singular courage to abandon that tangible and measurable revenue stream for intangible and much harder to measure "loyalty benefits".

Furthermore, an individual with such courage would probably be unlikely to rise to the rank of Commercial Director at a company like BA because they would either be seen as too much of a risk, too busy running their own businesses or otherwise engaged trading futures contracts at a merchant bank for a million a year. And even if such an individual was in the post, they would still be unable to get such a proposal past the rest of the board!

They have, very slowly by about 10% in the last 6-9 months. For Diesel it is now about £1.28 / litre, down from around £1.42-ish.

Edited to add that the timescale for coming down from the £1.40-ish mark is more like 6-9 months.

There are lies, damned lies and https://www.gov.uk/government/statis...hly-statistics

Your economy has some unusual features, though not sure what difference that makes in this case :)

YQ/YR used to be identified as a "Fuel surcharge" however most airlines including BA have removed that terminology and it is now just identified as a carrier surcharge.

It is still (incorrectly) referenced as a fuel surcharge.

It is also often referenced (even more incorrectly) as a tax, just do a search on FT/Google for "YQ Tax".

I don't fill up very often, but I paid £1.29 a litre for diesel yesterday. I've paid £1.35-1.40 in the past, and the price hasn't been this low for some years.

http://www.petrolprices.com/the-pric...uel.html#j-1-1

Says that prices in the last 12 months have comes down from £1.37 to £1.29, and are the lowest since Feb 2011.

According to oil-price.net Brent crude is currently trading at USD 90.05 per barrel.

In 1999 I remember it trading at USD 9.90 per barrel...

^ ^

A litre of petrol here is £1

A litre of botox here is £1000

So it is simply a change in what it is called - so unless there is no longer any direct link (as you claim) at all with the price of fuel it is still very much a fuel surcharge!

Or will BA try and con everyone as per your attempt to and state it is now a "carrier surcharge" with no link to the cost of fuel therefore no need to be reduced in line with the falling oil price?

Although somehow I sense if fuel rockets again, the story will change back to being there is an influence in YQ with the cost of fuel therefore it will go up.

Or am I just being cynical?