Row3Acer

I am not sure if this might have been discussed. I usually bought lower fares for my flights. I noticed that for the same period in May, the fare for G class was $81 with PQD of $66 in 2015, it's now $86 with PQD of $62 in 2016; the fare for K was $92 with PQD of $85 in 2015, but it's now $101 with PQD of $80 in 2016. Any insights on what would be a major factor to increase the fare but not PQD, especially when the oil price is at the lowest in years?

swiftaw

Has there been an increase in government fees? I don't believe these count towards PQD.

sannmann

If government fees or airport taxes increase but supply and demand forces do not call for an increase in total fare, PQDs decrease.

emcampbe

Forget about the fare class letters or the final amount on your credit card, or the $ amount you see next to the segment when purchasing online (as these include taxes/fees). When you buy a ticket, some of the $ stays with United, other are collected on behalf of others like various government or government agencies. Only the money staying with United counts toward PQD.

Where you want to be paying attention is the fare breakdown on your e-ticket and receipt. On a domestic trip, your total PQD will be equal to the line that says "airfare" - the first line on the breakdown. In fact, total PQD is often an extra $ or two for rounding by segment. On an international trip, it will be the combined airfare and 'international surcharge' lines.

If your PQD is lower than those lines, then, yes, you should call to get it corrected. If not, it's the government taxes/fees that increased, and not the fare/surcharge. My suspicion is that's the case - my PQDs this year have all posted properly and as expected.

xliioper

You really need to post the complete fare for comparison purposes. TSA fees went from $2.50 per segment (max $5.00 each way) to a fixed $5.60 each way, but that was in 2014. US segment tax increased from $3.90/segment, to $4.00/segment in 2016. There are also Passenger Facility charges (typically $4.50 per airport transited, but some airports are lower and MEM has no PFC), plus the 7.5% US Transportation excise tax on domestic flights, but these have remained unchanged. Here's a breakdown on a $71.10 flight from DTW-BWI on DL which earns 54 MQD's.

Air Transportation Charges

Base Fare* $53.02
Taxes, Fees and Charges

United States - Transportation Tax (US)$3.98
United States - September 11th Security Fee(Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee) (AY)$5.60
United States - Passenger Facility Charge (XF)$4.50
United States - Flight Segment Tax (ZP)$4.00
Total Price$71.10 USD