iwillflytheworld

It is not very well known that some airlines collect the YQ "tax" (fuel surcharge) on redemption tickets, while others don't. Generally speaking, US based airlines do not do it (I think they're forbidden by some government regulation) and European ones do. Please note that this usually depends on the airline who issues the ticket, not the one operating the flight (though some airlines charge the fuel surcharge only on their own metal). So for a redemption on LH using UA miles no fuel surcharge would be charged, for a LH redemption on LH metal, there would be a fuel surcharge.

Nowadays these surcharges are pretty high, so this information can be useful in determining which mileage program to credit to. Personally, one reason (not the only one) why I credit to US based programs is the lack of fuel surcharges on award tickets.

This information is not made publicly available by the airlines, so I thought a periodically updated master thread would be useful to the FT community. I start with the few airlines I know - please post your experiences and I'll add them to this post, or correct me if I got something wrong.

The format is: Airline Code (Airline Name, Program name), Charges fuel surcharge on redemptions (YES-NO-OWN METAL ONLY).

-----------------------------------


AA (American Airlines AAdvantage) - NO.
AC (Air Canada Aeroplan) - OWN METAL ONLY.
AF (Air France FlyingBlue) - YES.
BA (British Airways Executive Club) - YES (at least on own metal).
BD (Bmi DiamondClub) - YES.
LH (Lufhtansa Miles&More - also applies to other airlines with M&M as FF program) - YES.
UA (United Airlines Mileage Plus) - NO.
VS (Virgin Atlantic Flying Club) - YES (at least on own metal).

AsiaTraveler

Malaysia Airlines- passengers redeeming NW miles on them can expect to pay a hefty CASH surcharge upon departure (a couple hundred dollars). I assume this is the same for their own customers, but I'm not sure.

mia

BA (British Airways Executive Club) - YES
VS (Virgin Atlantic Flying Club) - YES

I have never even contemplated a "partner" redemption through either program and do not know if they charge the fuel surcharge on those redemptions.

dukieee

Air France - yes (even on DL metal).

very useful thread!

pgary

Alaska Air Oakland to Spokane last month: NO

hauteboy

QF - Qantas, yes

NJUPINTHEAIR

Although I am not certain, I believe that NW does charge for the fuel surcharge -- at least for foreign travel (ex. USA).

In addition, I believe that KLM, like its partner, AF, does pass along the fuel surcharge, as well.

Sirecca

To my knowledge Delta does not charge this fee on award reservations. On my most recent award ticket I was charged a $5.00 AY tax. (I think that's 911 security fee of $2.50 per segment.)

dyung

Not necessarily. I booked two RT award tickets in May (KUL-DPS and KUL-REP), one in J and one in Y, and I was not asked to pay anything extra besides what I had already paid NW when I booked the tickets. YMMV...

PatMike

How about a bump on this.

Keflyer

No fuel charge on DL award from CLE to SIN.

joefiro

Singapore Airlines does it. And it's ridiculously high. Over USD 200 for SIN-SYD. SIN-SFO is about USD 350. Ouch. One reason why I would never have KrisFlyer.

joefiro

Correct me if I'm wrong but I've read it in a thread somewhere the reason why US carriers do not charge Fuel Surcharge on the Award Redemption is because per US regulation, the fuel surcharge is actually part of the ticket price; not as a separate charge like tax or 9/11 fee (which we have to pay for when we redeem an award ticket.)

buschoi

Alaska Airlines - I did not get charged on the international reward on Pacific Cathay either.

Spent_All_My_Miles

DL supposedly charges surcharges for award tickets originating outside the US -- I don't have firsthand experience with it.