Emirates (EK) carrier charges

[kramerdog]

Upgrading one sector (BNE->DXB) on a classic rewards booking with QFF for increases carrier charges from an already high $495 per person (for BNE->DXB->LHR->SYD->MCY) to an outrageous $1,366 per person.

There is no explanation I can find for the magnitude of this increase.

What on earth would this carrier charge be if it was Business Class all the way there and back?

 

[Human]

Upgrading one sector (BNE->DXB) on a classic rewards booking with QFF for increases carrier charges from an already high $495 per person (for BNE->DXB->LHR->SYD->MCY) to an outrageous $1,366 per person.

There is no explanation I can find for the magnitude of this increase.

What on earth would this carrier charge be if it was Business Class all the way there and back?

Hello and welcome to AFF!

"Carrier charges" are in fact a combination of charges imposed by the airline itself (Emirates' charges are probably the highest of any airline I know), and taxes and fees imposed by the government and/or airport in the country of departure.

Obviously the airlines can control the former and not the latter. Taxes out of the UK are particularly high.

If you want to lower your carrier charges, there are basically two things you can do:

1. Try to find flights on an airline that charges less (or, in the case of airlines that charge less for Economy class, fly Economy rather than Business).
2. Avoid flying out of a country (eg. the UK) that charges high departure taxes.

 

[TheInsider]

Upgrading one sector (BNE->DXB) on a classic rewards booking with QFF for increases carrier charges from an already high $495 per person (for BNE->DXB->LHR->SYD->MCY) to an outrageous $1,366 per person.

There is no explanation I can find for the magnitude of this increase.

What on earth would this carrier charge be if it was Business Class all the way there and back?

Simply because Emirates charge it and people pay for it.
This is not a Qantas charge.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Upgrading one sector (BNE->DXB) on a classic rewards booking with QFF for increases carrier charges from an already high $495 per person (for BNE->DXB->LHR->SYD->MCY) to an outrageous $1,366 per person.

There is no explanation I can find for the magnitude of this increase.

Supposing everything on that classic award is economy, the effect of upgrading a single sector has the impact of re-pricing the whole ticket. So you went from an economy itinerary from BNE > LHR > MCY to a business class itinerary. It does not matter if the other sectors you are seated in economy, Qantas will price this out now as a business class itinerary which is why it is important to ensure all sectors are in business.

What on earth would this carrier charge be if it was Business Class all the way there and back?

Presumably more. The big issue is that Emirates charges Qantas a huge carrier surcharge for award bookings and this has been the case now for several years.

"Carrier charges" are in fact a combination of charges imposed by the airline itself (Emirates' charges are probably the highest of any airline I know), and taxes and fees imposed by the government and/or airport in the country of departure.

Obviously the airlines can control the former and not the latter. Taxes out of the UK are particularly high.

The key question, as always is who are paying for the taxes and fees? In this case it looks like the passenger. In other cases it is the airline who pays them and eats the cost (i.e. in the case of rebooking due to IRROPs or schedule changes, point upgrades to a higher cabin on QF operated flights, etc.)

1. Try to find flights on an airline that charges less (or, in the case of airlines that charge less for Economy class, fly Economy rather than Business).

I believe that's a codeword for not Emirates such as Qantas or China Airlines.

1. Avoid flying out of a country (eg. the UK) that charges high departure taxes.

Or alternatively find a way for the carrier to cover those costs.

Simply because Emirates charge it and people pay for it.
This is not a Qantas charge.

Technically Emirates charges these insane fees only to Qantas and their own elites so far as I am aware. If you try making an Emirates booking using Air Canada Aeroplan points there are no such carrier surcharges (although the award pricing is variable meaning in some cases you may pay more points for the luxury of flying Bling Air).

-RooFlyer88

 

[Lynda2475]

As others have said this is an EK tax, not a QF fee, suggest mods correct the title. QR and EK have surcharges much higher then if you flew QF (or BAor CX or MH) to LHR which appears to be your destination.