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Old Nov 20, 2018, 7:44 am
  #1  
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Transborder YQ
So, Aeroplan YQ for transborder flights is now divided into YQ (carrier surcharge) and the "U.S. International Transportation Tax". Most of my travel is trans-border.



I'm contemplating my flight choices for 2019. If I get at least P25K, do I lose just the $34.50 on X / I awards or the whole shebang?
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 8:47 am
  #2  
 
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What's the route/flight? I can look it up and post what I see as charges.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 8:51 am
  #3  
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You lose 34.50
You will still be charged the rest of the fake taxes.

You may have noticed all other airlines (and agents like Avios) charge only the $7.60 on rewards. However Air Canada collects these other fake taxes and only they know what happens to the money.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 9:04 am
  #4  
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What's interesting is the YQ is $42.00 on domestic flights, but split on transborder. This could be a legit tax U.S. charges on award tickets, or could be a way to avoid giving YQ-free flights to people with status.

@pprrff try any Canada-US flight.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 9:32 am
  #5  
 
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This is what I get as E50K for a one-way short haul 7500pt award. Cash ticket would be $141. When did aeroplan start opening the search in a new tab and automatically do an AC fare search as a pop-under?

EDIT: Above is for USA-> YYZ. See below for YYZ-> USA
Last edited by pprrff; Nov 20, 2018 at 9:38 am
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 10:08 am
  #6  
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Bizzare. Isn't YQ waived for P25K and above? Why the $7.50?
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 11:40 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by YXUFlyboy
. This could be a legit tax U.S. charges on award tickets
This is not a legit tax. Aeroplan have even said so, its AC that issues the ticket and they charge the taxes, Aeroplan just passes that along.

The argument used to be that its because Aeroplan is not an airline - but neither is Avios, and they dont charge these taxes.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 12:36 pm
  #8  
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Originally Posted by YXUFlyboy
Bizzare. Isn't YQ waived for P25K and above? Why the $7.50?
Aeroplan started calling the Nav Can fee "Carrier Surcharge" quite a while back.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 12:40 pm
  #9  
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I did a simple search here on FT... one of many similar questions/topics that come up every couple of months...

This one might be of interest:

YQ on Air Canada for US flights
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 12:43 pm
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Originally Posted by rankourabu
This is not a legit tax. Aeroplan have even said so, its AC that issues the ticket and they charge the taxes, Aeroplan just passes that along.

The argument used to be that its because Aeroplan is not an airline - but neither is Avios, and they dont charge these taxes.
The argument isn't so much that Aeroplan isn't an airline but that the seat isn't truly being given away for "free" because Aeroplan is buying the seat from AC for cash as opposed to an intra-corporate transfer and is therefore treated as a purchased ticket for tax/fee purposes. How AC actually deals with these funds is a mystery to anyone that isn't an inside accountant for AC. Avios is a wholly-owned part of IAG as are most FF-programs that are corporate captives of their parent airlines and award seats are thus deemed as truly be provided for NIL base fare.
Last edited by robsaw; Nov 20, 2018 at 12:44 pm Reason: typo
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 12:59 pm
  #11  
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Originally Posted by rankourabu
This is not a legit tax. Aeroplan have even said so, its AC that issues the ticket and they charge the taxes, Aeroplan just passes that along.

The argument used to be that its because Aeroplan is not an airline - but neither is Avios, and they dont charge these taxes.
But they don't charge this tax on market awards. That makes it seem like it's hidden YQ.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 3:21 pm
  #12  
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Originally Posted by YXUFlyboy
But they don't charge this tax on market awards. That makes it seem like it's hidden YQ.
Sure. But (mis)representing something as a government tax would surely be a no-no, even for a minimal ethics company like AC, no? And probably illegal.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 4:12 pm
  #13  
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Aside from bogus/scam charges and the such, my minimum wish is to have everything separated out and not have anything lumped under the same category or code.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 4:59 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by pprrff
This is what I get as E50K for a one-way short haul 7500pt award. Cash ticket would be $141. When did aeroplan start opening the search in a new tab and automatically do an AC fare search as a pop-under?
Quite recently. There's a thread on it somewhere on FT.

Originally Posted by canadiancow
Aeroplan started calling the Nav Can fee "Carrier Surcharge" quite a while back.
This is truly a scamcharge, since AC doesn't pass that money on to NavCan. Sadly, the Canadian airline industry has decided that this is acceptable practice.
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Old Nov 20, 2018, 5:04 pm
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Originally Posted by pprrff
When did aeroplan start opening the search in a new tab and automatically do an AC fare search as a pop-under?
Originally Posted by Adam Smith
Quite recently. There's a thread on it somewhere on FT.


Yep.

First reported here on November 11, 2018 by @YUL2YEG

Compare to AirCanada.com check-box on aeroplan website
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