*ONE* Fuel Surcharges
 

Under the new rules, it seems that at least AA is now adding per segment fuel charges to *ONE* tickets. I would appreciate any help with the following questions:

1 - Are other airlines doing the same? Do the amounts vary? Can you get ahead by using one carrier instead of another (e.g. AA vs BA transatlantic, etc)?

2 - Does the ticketing carrier matter? It seems that the AA fuel surcharges are listed in the starfile but not in the CX rules. I am going ex-London - should I get BA to ticket instead of AA so I can save on surcharges? It seems that everyone likes to complain about BAs RTW staff - is AA UK any better? Or should I book with AA US RTW desk and get ticketed here?

Thanks much!

Remember that you might not earn AA miles if you frly trans on BA

BA surcharges were substantially higher in Oct 2005 than those for AA. ReelChief had his RTW issued by BA in Cairo; mine was issued by Emeco (AA). There was a several hundred dollar delta that we felt was predominantly due to the differing fuel surcharge.

I don't know the current comparison.

Right. I don't remember the exact numbers but the difference might have been even more than a few hundred dollars.

I have a related question about how to estimate the taxes and surcharges. Can one go on a site such as ITA and pull out the figures for a separate trip, then look at the pricing details to get information about surcharges, etc. For example, taking LHR-LAX in business class for Sep. 1, both AA and BA have the same overall fare of US$7234. However, the base fare is slightly different and BA shows a YQ surcharge of US$65 while AA shows no such surcharge (so it looks like AA builds it into the base fare). If such surcharges applied to RTW tickets, one could get an estimate of the total by checking out each individual segment in one's itinerary-- tedious but if it were applicable, at least one has an estimate. For those in the know, do these individual surcharges apply to the segments and if so is there an easier way to get them? And what can one conclude about AA building the surcharge into the base fare of individual tickets while BA breaks it out separately?

The latest version of AA's RTW star files list the fuel surcharge by route, ie transatlantic is xx, while transpacific is yy, and south america is zz. They range in price from $55-$75 per sector. And I think the language states that these charges are in addition to the base fare. So for all intents and purposes, there is little difference between the issuing airline anymore.

There is still plenty of difference between issuing airline. Have a look at this site for comparison between Airlines

http://www.consolidatedtravel.com.au/qf/taxes.asp

Thanks for the interesting link, vlt.

just passing on information supplied by this same forum.

Moral of the story is that QF charge the highest surcharges. Not really any surprise. :(

So if it is plated on LA or AY, they don't collect surcharges for interline carriers? Does that mean you get out of them alltogether? Or do they have some other way to collect them?

Each airline calculates the fuel surcharge differently, thus the difference in the total cost based upon which airline does issue the OWE. In the past AA was hundreds of dollars cheaper -- that is no longer true. The airlines don't make it easy to find out the surcharge amount so there isn't any easy comparison of what it would cost when issued by each of the 8 OW airlines (though I don't think anyone has ever managed to get EI to issue a OWE ticket). Given the many ticketing problems that I have had with both AY and LA over the years, I don't have much confidence in either one being able to issue OWE tickets correctly (but others have reported buying OWE from AY, so it is possible). My sense is that there isn't a big difference between airlines now (maybe USD 100 range, but not the USD 300+ that it used to be). One thing is clear, there is no way to avoid the fuel surcharges (which can be as much as USD 1000 for a ticket, depending on routing).

As an aside, QF gives examples of xONE4, 5 and 6 ticket routings on their web site, with the routing and taxes shown. And the 6 continent tax is lower than the 5 continent, which in turn is lower than the 4 continent. Illustrating that routing can affect the taxes by hundreds of dollars, making the "shorter" 4 continent routing much more expensive in taxes. Obviously other 4 continent routings could be significantly cheaper.

I’ve just received the total price from BA for an ex-MRU AONE5 and the extra charges (taxes, surcharges) are more than 25% (ie. about US$1800). I didn’t receive a detailed breakout (I’ll request one), but this seems really high to me. In the example referred to by number_6 on the QF site, their AONE5 had extra charges in the range of 6%.

Have others experienced taxes/charges in the 25% range from MRU or elsewhere?

Don't figure it as a percentage - the airport fees and surcharges mostly have nothing to do with the price you paid for your ticket (although fees may vary by class), so you would pay the same $1800 for a $11,000 ex-NA ticket as for a $6800 ex-MRU ticket. Fuel surcharges up around $60 and airport departure fees like GBP40 (?) out of LHR add up quickly.

An ONE with just 5 segments that I bought ex-CMB just before the 1 Aug surcharge increases included just under USD300 in surcharges and taxes, for comparison, and the itin included only transits except for a stop at LAX, thus attracting only modest departure fees.

But $1800 does seem a little bit too high. I'd ask if BA has decided to hide a credit-card surcharge in that total. People buzz about that happening here and there.

It does seem too high. Maybe there is a local tax for ex-MRU tickets?

Taxes and Vias
 

In setting up my LONE3, I have a number of connections where I am not planning on actually stopping (e.g. DPS-HKG-BOM).

Would the taxes and airport fees be less if I had them ticket these as connections (Xs) rather than destinations (Os)? What if it's one of those long layovers (either all day or overnight) where it can be ticketed as an X but I would leave the airport?

Thanks!