I've got a LOT of Amex miles. I often fly YVR-FRA in Business via Miles.

However I've learned to try and only book it via Air Canada Aeroplan because for the same exact trip each Star Alliance partner charges very different amounts.

ANA: $245 USD
US Air: $86 USD
Air Canada $46-60 CND

this is for the same exact seat (I always take 9G) on the same Lufthansa Flight 492 & 493.

ANA claims there is this big fuel surcharge (which must be bulldoody based on how nobody else charges it).

Anyone else experience this big ANA ripoff?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=606009

Mike

Mike, the difference is for this post it is the SAME EXACT FLIGHT - SAME AIRLINE just being booked via different Star Alliance partners and huge fee differences.

Josh,

Yes, fees can be different.

But, also, the base fare can be different. It may be that the cheap seats are already sold out so while you are on the exact same flight the cheap fare is no longer available to the partner... or, believe it or not, to even the owning airline.

William

I know you'd think that but it's not the case. I'll explain;

In order to check for availability, I use aeroplan.com to search for seats. Then when I have found the seat I am looking for, I even sometimes go as far as to book it online with Aeroplan. Because it's a Star Alliance booking they don't allow you to finalize it without calling them. They put a hold on the seat for 48 hours.

Then the next morning (because this was at night and ANA was closed), I first call Aeroplan and cancel the booking, then I immediately call ANA and book that same seats.

So I know exactly what Aeroplan was going to charge me - and then I know exactly what ANA is charging me. I was then able on a recent flight to get quite angry when the difference was between $46CND (approx $41 USD) and $226 USD. That is a difference of $185 for the same exact flight/seat/airline.

Lufthansa LH493 YVR-FRA Business class
Lufthansa LH492 FRA-YVR Business class

I don't think there is a good way to justify that. I think ANA is 'up to something fishy' honestly.

I think it's exactly the same as the other thread is talking about. Each airline has its own policies about what taxes, fees and charges are charged, whether it's a cash ticket or an award ticket. If you redeem miles with an airline that adds fuel surcharges to the number of miles, you must pay them. If you don't like it, redeem miles with an airline that doesn't add fuel surcharges.

No award tickets are free. And some are simply less free than others.

I think it's that the airline issues blocks of fare buckets to their code share partners and to other outlets (i.e. travelocity, et. al), not blocks of seats. So Air Canada might keep 20 seats in tango, 20 in tango plus, 20 in latitude... and give USAir and ANA 15 seats in each. Perhaps when you called Air Canada had sold out of tango and tango plus, only had latitude; ANA had sold out tango, but had tango plus; and USAir still had tango- you'd get three different prices, same seat assignment but different fare buckets.

The question pertains to award tickets, fare buckets would not explain the differences.

It sounds as if ANA is passing through the fuel surcharge, while Aeroplan is absorbing it. This is simply a policy decision, nothing sinister.

There IS a fuel surcharge on Aeroplan's and US Air's bookings for Flights LH492 & 493. It's just that theirs is around $30 and ANA's is around $200 (according to ANA). Guys you must admit this seems quite bogus, a $200 fuel surcharge when others are charging $28.50 ? - Same Flight - Same Airline - Same everything?

There is another possibility. Each airline negotiates a contract with LH that determines how much each airline's mileage program has to pay LH for the seat. It could be that ANA's contract with LH is different from AC's or US's. I don't know this, but I'm just offer it as a suggestion.

That would be against their Star Alliance rules (they are all supposed to be equal). The purpose and point of the Star Alliance is that all airlines within the alliance should be equal in the eyes of the consumer and thus it's like one big airline.

ALSO: ANA insists it's a 'fuel surcharge' and lists it as such. That's why I am crying foul because it seems it's really just a cash grab and put under 'fuel surcharge' so that people won't realize they're being pickpocketed...

Not same everything: You're redeeming from a different FF scheme and therefore redeeming using different rules. You might be interested in the very similar discussion in this thread.