High Taxes BCN to PER (via Doha)

[velli25]

Hey everyone,

Hoping to get your feedback on some recent flights I have booked via classic rewards.

I booked x1 business class reward fare Perth to Amsterdam (via Doha) on Qatar for travel in June 2023. Taxes were roughly ~$630 AUD

Upon booking my return leg which just came available, 1x business class reward fare Barcelona to Perth (via Doha) on Qatar July 2023. Taxes were ~$1200 AUD

My question is why are taxes almost double on the return leg compared to the first leg? Additionally, would it have been possible to add a segment onto the original booking to return back to Perth to reduce my overall taxes paid?

Appreciate your help
Lionel

 

[RooFlyer]

Do you mean 'tax' strictly, or 'carrier charges, taxes, airport charges' added to the cost of the fare? If the latter, may have simply gone up. I think Emirates recently greatly increased their carrier charge.

Might be hand to do a dummy re-booking of your outbound itinerary to see what the charges are now.

 

[velli25]

Do you mean 'tax' strictly, or 'carrier charges, taxes, airport charges' added to the cost of the fare? If the latter, may have simply gone up. I think Emirates recently greatly increased their carrier charge.

Might be hand to do a dummy re-booking of your outbound itinerary to see what the charges are now

I can't exactly recall, may have been the later - Emirates has certainly increased their prices significantly but I didn't know Qatar had.

 

[SYD]

There are other threads that suggest booking seperate one-ways is supposed to be the same taxes & surcharges as a return. But IME, I’ve paid more in the past - even allowing for the forex factor.

But when it comes to premium cabin award seats you should pounce while you can.

The current limited availability of premium cabin award availability actually makes it hard to compare / check the cost of a return v two seperate bookings.

 

[velli25]

There are other threads that suggest booking seperate one-ways is supposed to be the same taxes & surcharges as a return. But IME, I’ve paid more in the past - even allowing for the forex factor.

But when it comes to premium cabin award seats you should pounce while you can.

The current limited availability of premium cabin award availability actually makes it hard to compare / check the cost of a return v two seperate bookings.

Yeah certainly agree with you there - had to bite the bullet and pay the taxes/carrier charges as seat availability in the premium cabins are snapped up instantly. On the scheme of things $1800 for a return flight to Europe on Qatar business is excellent, stings with the recent increase in fees though!

 

[SYD]

As per my comment above, it’s hard to find seperate J award flights over and back to compare. But I can see whY awards available.

PER-DOH-AMS//BCN-DOH-PER booked as a return is $872 (and 61,000 pts each way).

Two seperate awards and the taxes were $451 over and €311 ($463) back or $914 in total (not allowing for possible 3% Int transaction fee). So a little bit more.

I see in your OP that the taxes and probably carrier surcharges for J were higher than what I see for whY for the the flight over but the difference on your return is orders of magnitude higher.

 

[velli25]

Interesting - I did a dummy search Barcelona to Doha in Business, Barcelona to Perth in Economy and this is what the taxes involve....

As per my comment above, I can’t see seperate J flights over and back to compare. But I can see whY awards available.

PER-DOH-AMS//BCN-DOH-PER booked as a return is $872 (and 61,000 pts each way).

Two seperate awards and the taxes were $451 over and €311 ($463) back or $914 in total (not allowing for possible 3% Int transaction fee). So a little bit more.

I see in your OP that the taxes and probably carrier surcharges for J were higher than what I see for whY for the the flight over but the difference on your return is orders of magnitude higher.

 

[Franky]

Interesting - I did a dummy search Barcelona to Doha in Business, Barcelona to Perth in Economy and this is what the taxes involve....



View attachment 284443

Good grief, they couldnt possibly dream up any more ways to impose fees on the poor passengers…

 

[clifford]

Good grief, they couldnt possibly dream up any more ways to impose fees on the poor passengers…

Yes indeed. I wouldn't book one of these tickets (QR, EK), as I think it's a complete ripoff.

I've had plenty of opportunity recently, booking business class Asia-Europe-Asia award tix using QF points, and I opted for RJ out and AY back.

Total taxes + charges < $400, with AY being about $45 of that. Shame on Qantas, Qatar and Emirates.