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Hey came across a good deal on travelzoo today you could still Avios to MIA...

http://m.travelzoo.com/vacations/car...m_medium=email

Posted from phone so hope the link works, else just check out their Top20

Wish I had known about http://www.wandr.me/Avios-Calculator.aspx

I was trying to work MIA-SCL in C for Christmas and found it would have been less miles on LAN Peru thru a connection than going straight MIA-SCL.

Oh well, probably could not have gotten it anyway, I guess we were lucky to get MIA-AA-SJO-AA-MIA Christmas/New Years 60K for both of us (but now we gotta drive to MIA from ATL).

Last year Christmas, before Avios, did MIA-SCL-MVD/EZE-SCL-MIA on LAN for 80K apiece. My how things can change in a year! :rolleyes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExGateAgt (Post 19219563)

MIA-SCL via LIM has awkward connections. Either you connect in LIM at night and reach SCL at 4am, or you have to get down in LIM and 4am and connect to SCL from there.

5000 Avios per person is worth the nonstop, imo. I'd rather have 9 uninterrupted hours in LAN C than 6 hours and 4 hours.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raj_cl (Post 19215386)

guv1976 - wow! Your knowledge of the taxes is great, and thanks for sharing. Taxes was something I thought could never be wrong or debatable.

Learn something new everyday!

+1. Never would've occurred to me to even question that.

Just playing this theoretical scenario in my head, though. So you call BA and they refuse to remove the charge. What do you do next? Or, let's say they agree to remove the charge but now you're supposed to pay the phone booking fee. Or you pay for the ticket online, but then call them to get refund, and they say no. I mean filing an actual complaint with the IRS seems to me a bit impractical to fight a $30 fee. I would be really interested to listen to folks who have actually made it work.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnscout

Quote:

Originally Posted by raj_cl (Post 19215386)

guv1976 - wow! Your knowledge of the taxes is great, and thanks for sharing. Taxes was something I thought could never be wrong or debatable.

Learn something new everyday!

First of all, it's not $30 for the OP, it's at least $100: $33.40 per roundtrip ticket x three.

Second, you would not be filing a complaint with the IRS; you would merely be seeking a refund of federal taxes improperly collected. Whether the IRS has a mechanism to refund such taxes, I do not know. (A complaint, if one were inclined to file one, would go to the U.S. Department of Transportation, or perhaps to the Condé Nast Traveler Ombudsman service, but not the IRS.)

IIRC, there has been at least one report here on FT of a BAEC member who complained to BAEC about these improper taxes, and had them refunded. YMMV.

If enough people started to make some noise about this, then maybe -- just maybe -- BA would fix their software (or whatever is causing this to occur) and stop engaging in this practice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guv1976 (Post 19242755)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

First of all, it's not $30 for the OP, it's at least $100: $33.40 per roundtrip ticket x three.

Second, you would not be filing a complaint with the IRS; you would merely be seeking a refund of federal taxes improperly collected. Whether the IRS has a mechanism to refund such taxes, I do not know. (A complaint, if one were inclined to file one, would go to the U.S. Department of Transportation, or perhaps to the Condé Nast Traveler Ombudsman service, but not the IRS.)

IIRC, there has been at least one report here on FT of a BAEC member who complained to BAEC about these improper taxes, and had them refunded. YMMV.

If enough people started to make some noise about this, then maybe -- just maybe -- BA would fix their software (or whatever is causing this to occur) and stop engaging in this practice.

Thank you for clarifying this. I can think of at least two Avios trips I might've been "overtaxed". I guess it won't hurt to call them and ask to refund the fee.