RB211

As ba.com won't do anything for me other than a pretty standard booking, I booked SFO-LHR-SFO in CW and then called to upgrade (UUA) both ways to First (I did try all this using both methods on ba.com and it failed on both; no surprise there!) I was quoted US$400 to do the upgrades as a "tax" on this route to upgrade to First.

1) I do not believe this is a tax, but rather a BA created surcharge?
2) When did this start?
3) Which routes is this on?
4) Is this just on CW - F upgrades, or are they doing this on other class UUAs too?
5) Any other info gratefully appreciated.
6) If this has been covered elsewhere (and it probably has) please direct me / merge as appropriate!

FYI, paid the "tax" and took the upgrades. I might have been scared into this by the "horror stories" of the new CW service, but I would have done it anyway!

rb211.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi RB211,

You are right. The increase is not a tax but an incease in YQ ( Carrier charge)

The carrier charge has always existed but recently it has really stepped up a notch ( especially ex-us). At the start CW/F had the same fees but recently the surcharge for F has increased more.

It is for all ex- us destinations ( the fees from ex-UK are less). Not sure about fees ex- Canada.

There will be addtional YQ in other cabins but not sure on the relative size.

There is a thread here somewhere. I'll try to find it later

Regards

TBS

KARFA

All bookings have typically had more carrier surcharge to pay when going from WTP to CW. Up until recently the CW and F carrier surcharge was the same. However, since late last year for exUS bookings the carrier surcharge for F is now higher that for CW, so extra cash is required when doing a UuA or applying a GUF to upgrade an exUS booking from CW to F. See the recent thread about this:

Ex-US Fuel Surcharges for F up 50%

Typically the extra carrier surcharge from CW to F is USD200, so for a JFK-LHR rtn upgrading both outbound and inbound from CW to F you are likely to pay around USD400 extra carrier surcharge.

For now this CW-F surcharge differential seems to apply only to exUS bookings. exUK or exEU bookings still have the same carrier surcharge for CW and F.

RB211

Thanks, TBS!

rb211.

RB211

Thanks, KARFA!

rb211.

JAXBA

BA Customer Contact agents seem to have slipped (back?) into the very bad habit of just saying 'tax/taxes' instead of the phrase 'taxes, fees and [carrier] charges' that JAX agents were expected to use. Both a UK agent and a DEL agent said 'taxes' on my recent calls with them.

It's so very easy to do, but very wrong.

skywardhunter

Wait... so you slave away earning those Avios and then for the privilege of redeeming then get hit with an additional surcharge... that is shocking

RB211

Unfortunately, that is... BA!

I sometimes ask myself why I fly with them. But probably not as often, or as deeply as I should!

rb211.

Tobias-UK

Surely you've been around the BA forum long enough to know that virtually all long haul redemptions are subject to YQ, or 'carrier imposed fees'. BA make no secret of this fact in its T&Cs, these charges are clearly shown when using the redemption Avios calculator.

Magic01273

To be fair, the transparency of them wasn't being questioned. Just the ridiculousness of them... Which will likely be discussed forever.

skywardhunter

Yeah for awards, many airlines have those. Bit cheeky to charge additional YQ for upgrades IMHO

Indeed, and specifically for upgrades, not awards

Tobias-UK

They are part and parcel of the BAEC frequent flyer programme, when we sign up we assess the pros and cons of the proposition. If the proposition suits our needs we carry on collecting and spending, if we don't like the proposition then we collect and spend via an alternative frequent flyer programme whose programme more suits our needs.

Gshumway

Yes, but that they are a.) charging more for US redemption in YQ vs other countries b.) now charge even more for F, while for example they don't charge a difference between CW and F in the UK, made me decide not to do BA anymore.

It is this whole concept of milking US based Avios collector more than anyone else.

Chase BA Visa has been canceled, Avios are being used up with AA or going trans-pacific.

Gig103

Same with the ridiculousness of charging another $150/seat/direction for a longhaul seat assignment in paid business class

Tiger_lily