Blueboy, you would have to book through whatever airline you have your miles with, as it is technically going to be considered a mileage award. Taxes are going to be heavily dependent on where you go and how many stops you have. In general, avoid the US and UK as much as you can when routing your connections. South America indeed in expensive, and is usually not included in your ticket when it is purchased. Ask on arrival, and just have that amount ready when you are set to leave. Some you can pay with USD, some not. I expect that not too many will accept AUD. In any event, for a 40,000 mile trip with 15 segments, you should expect about $150 in taxes and fees. Maybe a little less. Add about $100 to that if you go to South America and about $50 if you go to Asia, which will be paid as you go.

[This message has been edited by Darren (edited 03-29-2002).]

You're not supposed to have to pay the fee if you're connecting at YVR - says so on the airport's website. For some reason I printed the page with a bunch of other airport info for a flight through there, but still had quite an argument with the collectors in both directions.

Apparently there was some sort of adjustment since last year because I had to pay HK$30 per adult additional departure tax when I left Hong Kong yesterday. (The rest of the tax has already been collected by UA on our XF tickets).

-David

Thank you for answering Beckles above.



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So I guess the deal is the same with YUL as with YVR, if you're connecting you don't have to pay it?

I used to commute via YVR. The departure tax was not charged if connecting. Their definition of connecting reset at midnight. So if I landed at 9pm and flew out the next morning I was NOT connecting, but if I landed at 1am and flew out at 8am, I WAS connecting.

I'm not sure how they deal with someone who lands at 11pm and flies out at 1am. Perhaps there are no such flights.

The most annoying thing I think about departure taxes is that they aren't built in to the price of the ticket. Is there some reason why they can't just charge it to the airports and have the airports tack it onto our ticket?

cnk

Thanks to all for your help. Darren I am looking at South America so I suppose my departure taxes will be towards the high end you quoted. I am looking all up at around AUD$450 approximately US$225. Not cheap. But hey, I am using all the maximum mileage allowed - 35,000 and 5 stopovers.

I will be spending the night at SCL airport waiting for a connection the following morning (about a 10 hr wait). I just hope they don't hit me with a departure tax as well.

Once again thanks to all for your valuable information.

venezuala was a rat fink deal a few yrs ago. i had to pay the same amount for departure tax as was included in my ticket cost. go figure!

I just got back from Peru last night, ad they charge a $25 departure tax. That was a major crock of doo doo, when I was told that.

Interesting discussion... I have paid out over $200 in departure taxes leaving Panama ($20 a shot) over the last year. And another $150 or so from Colombia (not all at one time mind you). - Only tip I can offer, that I have not heard already is to look for the "Tax Exemptions" desk. In many countries, you can have the tax reduced or exempted completely if you are only going as a tourist. BEWARE though... In Colombia, if you enter into the country on anything other than a tourist visa you WILL have to pay the full tax (about $60). And forget about try to explain that you are flying on a FREE ticket...

It's a bit late, but one of the early posts in this thread has outdated information.

Taiwan used to have an outgoing tax you had to pay just before going through immigration. This was eliminated about 2 years ago, and all taxes are now included in your ticket price.

Also would like to point out that this thread really should be talking about additional departure taxes. Nearly every airport, including US domestic airports have departure taxes, but most developed countries have the airline collect this as part of the total ticket price.

Some countries still collect departure tax manually as you leave. It is best to always ask ahead of time, as it is quite a hassle to end up at the airport trying to scrape up cash to pay an unexpected tax.