U.S. Customs User Fee
 

... SERIOUSLY?!

I recently had a family emergency to tend to, and had to push back an award ticket (LGA > YUL) by a day. I spoke w/ an AA rep, and she made the change immediately. However, she noted there was a fare difference of $7,10 between the taxes I paid ($53,60) and the taxes now assessed on the ticket. I asked her why there was a difference and she cited currency fluctuation as the reason.

Unsatisfied with that answer, I did a little research on OANDA.com and determined that the change in rate was ~$0,01 between the time I purchased the ticket (12 Oct), and the time I changed the ticket (13 Nov). At best, a change in currency would've yielded a fare increase of ~$1,50. Yet, this is still way less than the $7,10 I was assessed, so I contacted AA.

Apparently, on 5 November, AA had implemented a "custom users tax" on all tickets issued departing out of the United States to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The response indicated: "This is a new tax that had to be collected on your ticket inasmuch as you changed your itinerary. The tax will be paid to the government."

So, my question to the learned folks of this forum: is this another BS "tax" like BA's YQ?

The Customs User Fee is a fee assessed by the US government. Passengers on flights from Canada previously were exempted from payment of the fee. Congress repealed the exemption and imposition of the fee started on November 5, 2011. AA didn't implement a "custom user fee" but began assessing the "customs user fee" as required by federal law.

I assume your ticket is a return ticket and the fee is being assessed for your entry into the US on your return.

It is not BS in the sense that it goes to the airline; it is a tax as defined in the dictionary, i.e. "a charge usually of money imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes".

I was unaware that it had increased, but am not surprised; in the US we're still paying a federal tax on telephone that was a "temporary" one to pay for the Spanish-American war ...

*groans* Yes. Thanks for the info. It is a better explanation than AA would offer. AA CR's definition sounded a little shadier.

Didn't we get a refund of that in 2007 under the Federal Telephone Excise Tax Credit?

At least it is a minor fee in this case, and legally required. They should have known the correct reason for the change, however.

I don't mind paying the fee, so long as it is fully disclosed and accurately described. Kinda annoying.

They have to pay the money to the gvmt. But I agree they should communicate better. But I suspect they kind of like it that way so they can easier label additional revenue as taxes...

Canada charges exactly ZERO in customs/immigration/agriculture fees while I am confident the US charges are well over $30 per ticket!

Not really aay. They just call it a departure tax on the way out.

No, we're not. The tax was repealed in 1902 and reinstated years later.

Nothing inbound. Outbound is a different story. For example, YUL -> LGA in Y on a USD 144.12 base fare ticket:

Canadian Goods and Services Tax (XG) USD 9.00
Montreal Trudeau Airport Improvement Fee (SQ) USD 24.60
Quebec Sales Tax (XQ) USD 2.20
Canadian Air Travelers Security Charge (CA) USD 11.90
TOTAL: USD 47.70

That's approximately 33 percent in taxes, fees, and charges.

Yup and none of those are the fees I was referring to. The bulk of that is airport improvement fees which in Canada are higher but with the exception of Toronto are not assessed at connecting airports. I guess our federal sales tax (gst) applies but that is a reality on nearly anything we buy! For some reason I thought gst did not apply to international flights but perhaps it does not us flights. It certainly applies to domestic flights.

I always hates this fee - charging me a users fee for something I'd be happy not to use. Given my druthers, I'd skip customs.

GST at the 5% rate applies to US<->Canada flights, while other international flights are GST exempt. Don't ask me why there is a difference, just the way it is...