Fuel surcharges on ex Brazil awards

[Mattg]

I'm planning to book a business class award from Brazil to Australia using Qantas points, for travel in July next year. I was under the impression that fuel/carrier-imposed surcharges are illegal in Brazil. So was quite surprised to find the taxes & charges on my CNF-GRU-SCL-SYD-CBR booking came to $470.

There is no fare breakdown available on the QF website. But I've estimated based on the taxes showing on ITA Matrix that the correct charges are around $255.

I'm going to call Qantas to see what quote I get over the phone, but does anyone know what the deal is (officially) with carrier charges ex Brazil? Has there been some change and airlines are now allowed to add YQ?

FWIW, I'm not aware of any other airlines charging YQ on award bookings originating in Brazil. So I suspect Qantas may be flouting the rules here.

 

[serfty]

AFAIK, to avoid YQ, the ticket must be booked "in" Brazil.

That's why I still get emails from expedia.br (I have tried to unsubscribe to no avail). This is a legacy of the heyday of .br bookings when YQ was assessed on revenue fares. (MEL-SIN_MEL for under $400)

 

[Mattg]

AFAIK, to avoid YQ, the ticket must be booked "in" Brazil.

That's why I still get emails from expedia.br (I have tried to unsubscribe to no avail). This is a legacy of the heyday of .br bookings when YQ was assessed on revenue fares. (MEL-SIN_MEL for under $400)

Hmm, so do you know if this possible if I'm booking a QF award?

The journey would be originating in Brazil.

FWIW, QF doesn't add YQ when booking ex MNL, even if you're physically booking from Australia.

 

[serfty]

Hmm, so do you know if this possible if I'm booking a QF award?

I don't have enough points currently to check this out properly (144K on EK via DXB).

AA no good as deffo no YQ on those babies.

What carrier(s) were you looking at?

 

[Mattg]

I don't have enough points currently to check this out properly (144K on EK via DXB).

AA no good as deffo no YQ on those babies.

What carrier(s) were you looking at?

It's CNF-GRU-SCL on LA, followed (directly) by SCL-SYD-CBR on QF.

As far as I can tell, the higher price is still showing if you are in Brazil and using the Brazilian QF website.

 

[serfty]

CNF-GRU-SCL

What do you get for just the CNF-xGRU-SCL booking?

Thinking back, ISTR something about the regulation possible only apply to the actual flights from Brazil. That the airlines had not

 

[Mattg]

What do you get for just the CNF-xGRU-SCL booking?

Taxes on CNF-xGRU-SCL as a standalone booking are USD36.54.

Taxes on SCL-xSYD-CBR as a standalone booking are USD328.13.

Taxes on CNF-xGRU-xSCL-xSYD-CBR are USD338.67. (Take away the Chile arrival and departure taxes, and it's the sum of both individual segments.)

 

[serfty]

Ick! I dislike the use of the term taxes when it comes to YQ (or YQ) as mandated 'taxes' they are not.

I found RIO-xMIA-LAX on AA for 40K and +++ was to be USD51.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Taxes on CNF-xGRU-SCL as a standalone booking are USD36.54.

Taxes on SCL-xSYD-CBR as a standalone booking are USD328.13.

Taxes on CNF-xGRU-xSCL-xSYD-CBR are USD338.67. (Take away the Chile arrival and departure taxes, and it's the sum of both individual segments.)

Is the award in points priced as one amount from CNF to CBR ie not the sum of two separate awards CNF-xGRU-SCL & SCL-xSYD-CBR? If so you would hope that the co-payment off taxes, fees & carrier imposed charged is also done based on a sole award.

 

[Mattg]

Ick! I dislike the use of the term taxes when it comes to YQ (or YQ) as mandated 'taxes' they are not.

I found RIO-xMIA-LAX on AA for 40K and +++ was to be USD51.

You're quite right, it's a mix of taxes and YQ.

The GIG-xMIA-LAX figure sounds about right, as I don't think AA adds YQ anyway.

Is the award in points priced as one amount from CNF to CBR ie not the sum of two separate awards CNF-xGRU-SCL & SCL-xSYD-CBR? If so you would hope that the co-payment off taxes, fees & carrier imposed charged is also done based on a sole award.

The award is priced (in terms of points) as the sum of CNF-SCL and SCL-CBR.

I was planning to start my next Oneworld Award in Brazil, and these flights would be the start of a RTW itinerary. I need to get to Brazil anyway, but was hoping that I could avoid paying some/all of the YQ on the Oneworld Award by booking it this way. You can do this by booking ex MNL, for example, where fuel surcharges etc. are also banned. If I can't book this ex Brazil, then I might as well start the Oneworld Award in Europe (where I live).

So, I guess the crux of my question is this: is it legal for QF to add YQ on a booking originating in Brazil?