Higher taxes in QFF redemptions . .

[johnSD]

After quite a bit of effort and some good luck I finally obtained 2 x J class tickets BNE-SIN-BNE with one leg not direct. Was charged $653 each in "taxes, fees and charges", no breakdown provided and the E-Ticket states "no tax invoice will be issued". These charges seemed excessive so did a dummy booking, same dates, same class, same flights and total taxes etc were $494 (breakdown provided) less than I was charged. So I called QF and after waiting over 2 hours for the call back was connected to an agent, offshore, heavily accented English difficult to understand. I simply asked why the discrepancy in the taxes, redemption vs purchase. The agent did not know and put me on hold for about 25 minutes. When she returned she stated the figure would have to be 'calculated' and that she would call me back in 5-10 minutes max. She never did call back. So after a couple of weeks I tried again. Another long wait but this time I was told the $494 is a fuel tax and the reason it is not shown in the purchased ticket is because it is already included in the fare. Strange that all the other taxes are clearly itemised but the fuel is hidden. I wonder why this is so?

 

[JohnK]

It is a well known fact that Qantas fuel surcharges are quite high.

I suspect that if you made 2 one-way bookings taxes ex-Australia may have been less.

 

[dajop]

Some time ago Qantas effectively abolished fuel surcharges for commercial tickets by incorporating them into the fare charged. So when you buy a commercial ticket, you see the base fare, and add to that government and airport related charges. However they did not abolish the fuel surcharge on award tickets.

This reflects the ideas that 1) Commercial fares are regularly adjusted anyway according to supply and demand, removing fuel surcharge, removes complexity of accounting for it when setting fare, and 2) Fuel (or "carrier") surcharges are effectively now a co-payment for award tickets, and have very little to do with the price of fuel anymore.

 

[Happy Dude]

It is also a well known fact that redemption "taxes" are significantly higher than equivalent revenue tickets. QF is one of the worst offenders, been going on for ages, nothing to do with the price of fuel, etc etc ad nausem......

Spend some time here and you'll find plenty of advice to direct your points/business where where you'll feel less violated.

 

[dajop]

I suspect that if you made 2 one-way bookings taxes ex-Australia may have been less.

Booking was ex-Australia!

In any event, the differentiation in fuel surcharge based on country of origin applies only to economy tickets (not sure about PE), and not to business class. Fuel surcharge in business is approx same for BNE-SIN-BNE as SIN-BNE-SIN (whereas in economy SIN-BNE-SIN fuel surcharge is ~ 2.5 x BNE-SIN-BNE).

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Welcome to QF metal Redemption Hell. Please leave your credit card at the door so we may charge you any number of taxes we see fit. I jest, a little, but you get my point.

 

[Brissy1]

Well I don't think it could be a fuel TAX, and I thought the fuel SURCHARGE (introduced when fuel priced soared) had ceased. QFA is currently selling return (economy) seats for $505 ($655 including $150 of real external fees) and presumably making a profit.

So I think $494 might be more than the entire proportional cost of fuel at todays prices!

 

[Basalt]

Welcome to QF metal Redemption Hell.

Amen to that, this week I've booked award MEL-HKG Y+ and HKG-LHR J and LHR-MUC J for $420 total on a mix of CX and BA metal, compared to what, approx $376 for just BNE-SIN......

 

[michaele]

Amen to that, this week I've booked award MEL-HKG Y+ and HKG-LHR J and LHR-MUC J for $420 total on a mix of CX and BA metal, compared to what, approx $376 for just BNE-SIN......

Did you book that on one ticket?

 

[Basalt]

Did you book that on one ticket?

That was a multi-city award redemption so we could have a layover in HKG for a few days, but one PNR for the 3 segments. Was very happy as we needed redemption for 4 PAX. Interestingly the HKG-LHR also had 4 * F award for exactly the same taxes, however the F was a 777 and the J was A380, and apparently BA F is more or less J+, so decided to go J and keep the extra 200k odd QFF points in the piggy bank.

 

[rock86]

I may be wrong here, (and there are much smarter people on this site regarding redemption & pricing, but with a QFF redemption aren't CX & JL the partners to target for lower taxes?

In my recent searching I've found that BA/QR/EK actually charge higher redemption taxes then on QF metal, again I'm a relative noob to this so please do correct me.

 

[OzEire]

Just did a dummy booking, simple BNE-CBR sector... TT total price $139 pp, VA $213, QF $250...QF classic award 12,000 pts + $87 tax.

In short, blowing 12,000 pts would save $52 or 0.4c per point. No thanks. Even wasting 35k points on an ASA would be better, same point value but at least you get SC!

 

[rock86]

Just did a dummy booking, simple BNE-CBR sector... TT total price $139 pp, VA $213, QF $250...QF classic award 12,000 pts + $87 tax.

In short, blowing 12,000 pts would save $52 or 0.4c per point. No thanks. Even wasting 35k points on an ASA would be better, same point value but at least you get SC!

Using QFF points for domestic economy has never really ever been a good value redemption (unless sometimes if it's on a monopolised route)

 

[OzEire]

Using QFF points for domestic economy has never really ever been a good value redemption (unless sometimes if it's on a monopolised route)

Yep, I never expected to book it but had a data point relevant to this thread in another tab so thought I'd mention it .

 

[Limewood]

These outrageous award seat booking charges by Qantas have been around for years, its wrong and should be corrected to what the likes of most full service airlines change like CX, next to nothing. Maybe Qantas hasn't made enough profit yet to consider!?!

The best way to use QF awards is commence a long haul journey out of OZ (like HKG) and save a bundle on fees.

 

[casanovawa]

Is it also a case that certain jurisdictions don't allow fuel surcharges, or high fuel surcharges to be applied.... So Philippines and HKG are good locations to fly out of in this respect... Dom Y redemptions can be good value if you have left it late or popular times and its like double or triple the usual rate to pay with cash... But yes to get decent value out of QF points you do need to game it a bit to find out where the sweet spots are... You can't make $1.5 and $1.4 billion profits without screwing over a few customers...

 

[serfty]

As indicated it's the Airline surcharges which are higher (specifally Carrier Surcharge or YQ).

Here's a breakdown of the +++ (Taxes, levies and Surcharges) for a one way Business class award BNE-SIN on QF:

AIR TRANSPORTATION CHARGES

.​

$240.00​

.​

$3.20​

$25.69​

$60.00​

$328.89​

1​

$328.89​

AUD$328.89​

[tr][td]Other Carrier Charges [/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]TAXES, FEES AND CHARGES[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Safety and Security Charge [/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Passenger Services Charge - Intl [/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) [/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Total per Passenger [/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Number of Passengers [/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Total amount (AUD) [/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Grand total amount (AUD) [/td][td][/td][/tr]

The $240 (YQ / Fuel Surcharge) is not assessed on a revenue booking.

 

[rock86]

These outrageous award seat booking charges by Qantas have been around for years, its wrong and should be corrected to what the likes of most full service airlines change like CX, next to nothing. Maybe Qantas hasn't made enough profit yet to consider!?!

The best way to use QF awards is commence a long haul journey out of OZ (like HKG) and save a bundle on fees.

Agreed.

But also using certain airlines helps, trips using predominately CX/JL/AA are much lower in fee's then say QR/EK/BA. For instance I've been exploring OWE fares out of Oz through Asia & US using predominately CX/AA (1 leg QF) and fees came to $700, re-routing that through the ME and substituting 2 CX legs with QR the fee's jumped up to $1,100...

 

[Limewood]

other carrier charges $240 uh"

and our jurisdiction should not allow it.

 

[OzEire]

It seems most people compare the value of award flights (points + $) against the cost of the same QF flight (and sometimes adjusted to allow for points and SC that would otherwise be earned).

IMO the value must be compared against the closest equivalent flight option, including other carriers... but factoring priority boarding, lounge access, etc.

This is complicated in my case by having WP in both domestic programs so I will almost never see value in a domestic award seat.