HOLYMOLEAIR

Hello fellow FTers!

First time posting here, hoping to get some advice on my first LONE4. I've done some reading on the forum and plan to start my ticket in TYO as it seems to be the cheapest in Asia. (I'm based in Hong Kong, and can start in London too fyi) The routing is NRT-MEL-DRW-ADL-BNE-AKL-LAX-ORD-YVR-DFW-IAH-CLT-JFK-LGW-AMS-HKG-HND. The fare is shown as 354600 JPY + 95400 JPY. ($3307+$890) With tax and surcharges being one fourth of the base fare, is there anywhere I can cut down on the taxes by moving/ changing my itinerary (another airport/ another carrier/ choosing a codeshare flight)?

Thanks so much!
Kelvin

with tax breakdown
10,500 JPY Multiple Carrier Surcharges/Fees:
14,940 JPY Airline Insurance Surcharge:
9,300 JPY Multiple Carrier Surcharges/Fees:
2,740 JPY Domestic Head Tax - Australia:
4,020 JPY Australian Passenger Service Charge:
5,000 JPY Australia Passenger Movement Charge:
3,110 JPY Domestic Head Tax - Australia:
1,680 JPY Australia Baggage Screening Tax - Departure:
2,090 JPY Passenger Service Facilities Charge - Japan:
520 JPY Tax description unavailable (OISE):
1,490 JPY Tax description unavailable (F1CA):
1,400 JPY Passenger Security Charge at Auckland Airport (Arrivals):
1,390 JPY Passenger Security Charge at Auckland Airport (Departure):
940 JPY Passenger Security Charge for New Zealand:
1,220 JPY U.S. Customs Fee:
3,920 JPY U.S. International Transportation Tax - Departure:
3,920 JPY International Arrival Transportation Tax (USA):
860 JPY U.S. Animal and Plant Inspection Service Users Fee:
1,500 JPY Immigration and Naturalization Service Fee:
1,200 JPY September 11th Security Fee:
2,210 JPY Canadian Air Travellers Security Charge:
90 JPY Goods and Services Tax for Canada:
1,710 JPY Airport Improvement Fee for Canada:
11,960 JPY UK Air Passenger Duty:
2,150 JPY UK Passenger Service Charge:
810 JPY NL Security Tax:
750 JPY Netherlands Passenger Service Charge:
1,640 JPY Hong Kong Air Passenger Departure Tax:
1,230 JPY Tax description unavailable (G3RE):
620 JPY Tax description unavailable (I5SE):
490 JPY Passenger Facility Charges:
Total: 95,400.00 JPY

1. Tokyo (NRT) - Melbourne (MEL)
Qantas QF80
2. Melbourne (MEL) - Darwin (DRW)
Qantas QF5678
3. Darwin (DRW) - Adelaide (ADL)
Qantas QF5504
4. Adelaide (ADL) - Brisbane (BNE)
Qantas QF660
5. Brisbane (BNE) - Auckland (AKL)
Qantas QF123
6. Auckland (AKL) - Los Angeles (LAX)
American Airlines AA82
7. Los Angeles (LAX) - Chicago (ORD)
American Airlines AA1598
8. Chicago (ORD) - Vancouver (YVR)
American Airlines AA1585
9. Vancouver (YVR) - Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW)
American Airlines AA392
10. Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) - Houston (IAH)
American Airlines AA22
11. Houston (IAH) - Charlotte (CLT)
American Airlines AA1661
12. Charlotte (CLT) - New York (JFK)
American Airlines AA1186
13. New York (JFK) - London (LGW)
British Airways BA2272
14. London (LGW) - Amsterdam (AMS)
British Airways BA2758
15. Amsterdam (AMS) - Hong Kong (HKG)
Cathay Pacific Airways CX270
16. Hong Kong (HKG) - Tokyo (HND)
Cathay Pacific Airways CX542

pbd456

why dont you buy business class which is less than double the economy.

there is really no point to buy LONE fare as a lot of the time, DIY round the world is going to be much cheaper

Mwenenzi

HOLYMOLEAIR Welcome to FT

Was this quote from QF or already booked? (QF issued ticket?)
With the first QF NRT-MEL looks like QF is(may be?) charging you:-

• 10,500 JPY Multiple Carrier Surcharges/Fees:
• 14,940 JPY Airline Insurance Surcharge:
• 9,300 JPY Multiple Carrier Surcharges/Fees:
• 34,740 JPY (US$324) Total

QF like surcharges

If the first flight was NRT-SYD on JAL these surcharges may be different (JL issued ticket)

Also trying with first flight HKG-MEL(on CX) may get a different result, as surcharges cannot be charged in Hong Kong. (CX issued ticket)

The other charges are real government/regulatory taxes which cannot be avoided. Can change with airport/county but for most not a lot, except for the UK APD.

The large 11,960 JPY UK Air Passenger Duty can be avoided by not flying from UK**, so take the new train London-Amsterdam.
**Note Some UK airports are APD exempt. Fly from a UK city that does not charge ADP, like Inverness. Even if on an airline that is not OW

Route NRT-MEL-DRW-ADL-BNE-AKL-LAX-ORD-YVR-DFW-IAH-CLT-JFK-LGW-AMS-HKG-HND

Dave Noble

Not really a fair comment - when QF issues ATW tickets there are no surcharges applied on QF sectors

pbd456

the surcharge out of UK is not that bad since it is L class, not D class.

R2

AFAIK if your first flight is HKG-MEL on CX you would be charged the HK LONE/DONE base fare, which at least for DONE is significantly higher than that of Japan.

Also, CX does charge a fuel surcharge for itineraries starting outside HK (although not sure about Japan as it is another jurisdiction where fuel surcharge is government regulated.)

HOLYMOLEAIR

I am a student unfortunately, that corresponds to a much smaller budget

point taken, would try JAL on the first segment. the reason why I chose London is because I'm studying there, and this ticket could bring me from home to UK and back.



Thats why I chose Japan as my starting point, which carrier do you think will minimize these charges or it doesn't affect much?

pbd456

It is not difficult to fly around the world less than 2k USD by doing mileage run deals

HOLYMOLEAIR

thanks pbd456, will go check the forum on mileage run deals!

Unterwegs

When checking for friends I often found that combining one way tickets is cheaper than a RTW. Not exactly the same itinary, but you should look for example at Air Asia from/to and inside Asia, Norwegian from/to Europe, Easyjet and Ryanair inside Europe and so on. You can find many of these flights on google.flights.com and their feature which shows you a map and prices to destinations on the map from a certain airport is very helpful.
Thay way you have less flexibility than with a RTW, but many more choices.

Mwenenzi

The total of base fare & surcharges(~issuing airline) that apply is what is important.
Real taxes/regulatory fees are the same for all airlines on the same routes/class of travel.

wandering_fred

As little as the One world airlines are crediting for L class flights, at least you are able to use your "status" to make the trip more comfortable. Both through lounges and seat selection.

And a LONEx will likely re-qualify at the Ruby level and the points (such as they are) never hurt.

Just wandering
Fred

HOLYMOLEAIR

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind.

True, by the time I plan to travel on this itinerary I would have got Sapphire, which is useful.

Thanks, it's just that seems like the business models of most OneWorld carriers aren't encouraging one way travel.

ernestnywang

I took a look, I believe if you can change the transpacific sector to QF you can save some fuel surcharge. QF code is currently not available on AA's AKL-LAX, but if it were, a hypothetical itinerary below would make total tax and fees only 70440 JPY. I do not know which of these are stopovers and which are transits, so right now I'm assuming they are all stopovers.

HOLYMOLEAIR

cheers mate!