VJMOT

Hello Veterans,
I am looking for some advise. Looking for first award travel in June end for 2 weeks with my Amex points
ORD- LHR - ORD
Looking for first class/biz class options.

I tried Delta and united ( Aeroplan) - and looks like the taxes are almost $400 each and even for economy the taxes are about $200 each.
Any Airlines that charge much lower taxes especially from LHR?
Thank you for your advise.

guv1976

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"Taxes" are charged by governments, not airlines. The prices you are seeing result from the UK APD and LHR PSC assessed on long-haul departures from LHR. Aeroplan does not assess surcharges on UA redemptions; DL does not assess surcharges on awards that originate in the U.S.

If you can fly into LHR, and fly home from some other country (like Belgium, Ireland, or the Netherlands), the taxes on your redemption should drop. For 4,500 BA Avios (transferred from Amex MR) plus about $27, you should be able to get a BA "Reward Flight Saver" redemption from some LON airport to DUB, BRU, or AMS. Whether it's worth it to use those points to save some cash is something only you can decide. But if you'd like to visit another city anyway, then it's a great deal.

dukerau

As guv1976 wrote, what you're seeing is completely attributable to your return flight from LHR. Look into ORD-LHR/CDG-ORD. Instead of CDG, you can look at DUB, AMS, BRU, or pretty much anywhere in Europe and you will see lower fees than flying back from LHR (or the UK in general). Some mileage programs (like Aeroplan) would allow you to book LHR as a stopover and do something like ORD-LHR/LHR-MUC/MUC-ORD for the price of a one-way. But it may be cheaper just to pay for LHR-MUC or use BA Avios rather than pay the incremental taxes and fees for the LHR-MUC piece (crazy, right?).

VJMOT

Thank you both.
I will check on those lines.
Any idea on what Airline should give me best bang for miles to fly first/biz on that route??

guv1976

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If you can find "Saver" availability on UA flights, consider transferring your MR points to ANA or Aeroplan, and redeeming from either of those programs with no surcharges on UA. (Aeroplan has a few other no-surcharge partners, like Brussels, Swiss, and Turkish.)

snaga

Hi - when i call AERO..should i tell them there is UA Saver available? AERO Website is showing $750 dollar fee along with miles? Thank you.

dukerau

Saver availability determines how many miles the flights cost. You can only book non-saver awards in the mileage program's home airline. In other words, Aeroplan non-saver awards would only be available on Air Canada. All partner awards are saver awards.

The airline you're flying on determines whether or not there are fuel surcharges in the case of Aeroplan. Saver vs Standard award won't change the cash component of the cost. Using AC miles, some airlines (United, Turkish, Scandanvian, Brussels, Swiss, etc) won't have fuel surcharges while others (Air Canada, Lufthansa, Austrian, LOT, etc) will. There's nothing you can do to change this. United does not collect fuel surcharges on any flights, but if it's Aeroplan miles you're using, it's best to pick a no-fuel surcharge airline.

guv1976

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A friend of mine recently reported finding UA Saver award seats at united.com that an Aeroplan agent could not see. Not sure what to make of that.