QF looking to kill/limit Concorde awards?
May 16, 2002 | 4:22 am
#31
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Wirral, UK
Programs: BA-Gld, BD Lifetime Gld, LH Pleb, *Wd GPG, HH-Dmd, Amex: can take their Cent card and <CENSORED>
Posts: 756
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RChavez:
So would the remedy for this situation be to book the reward directly with QF in London? Everyone that I have heard from on here has been paying the higher tax rate.
Additionally, if the arriving flight is Concorde, with a stopover, onward in Club Europe, but the return is Club Europe, standard connection, onward in BA First, which tax level applies?
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So would the remedy for this situation be to book the reward directly with QF in London? Everyone that I have heard from on here has been paying the higher tax rate.
Additionally, if the arriving flight is Concorde, with a stopover, onward in Club Europe, but the return is Club Europe, standard connection, onward in BA First, which tax level applies?
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) are a bit of a minefield, and I have to say, I don't completely understand them, but here goes:Outbound flights:
Class of arrival is irrelevant, the tiered APD is on departures only. You will pay the same taxes/charges on arrival with Concorde, as you would with any other flight.
Your onward connection in Club Europe will, however, matter. Since you are sitting in a premium cabin (which is defined as any seperate cabin that is not the lowest class) you will be subject to the higher APD. If you are going to the EU, this is GBP 10, if you are not, this is GBP 40. Note that, say, Switzerland is not part of the EU!
Inbound Flights:
Again, the class of travel you arrive on is irrelevant, so we won't worry about it.
If your flight in First is classed as a connection for the purposes of APD, then you pay nothing, effectively, your journey hasn't really stopped in the UK. However, the rules for deciding if you have stopped over are different from the air-ticketing rules, and seem to have been written by someone who had English as a second language (and bulls**t as the primary one). I have a feeling that the airlines aren't too good at interpreting these rules either, so YMMV.
If you are classed as taking an independent flight departing the UK in F, then the APD of GBP 40 will apply, again.
Interestingly, the UK authorities seem to have noticed that there are Upgrades, and are issuing a "briefing document", so BOHICA!*
If you fancy trying to understand these rules, they're here. Good luck!
Key points are:
If you're flying on Concorde in one direction only, you can minimise your APD by making sure that you stop-over before a Concorde departure from the UK (GBP 30 saving - on a Concorde ticket, cheapskate
)Flying short-haul to non-EU destinations in Club is painful! GBP 40 !!
Of course this is a legitimate dual-rate duty, not a cynical attempt by the UK govornment to exploit what it thinks is a "price insensitive market" - stop laughing at the back there!
Ken.
* BOHICA - "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again"!
