Taxes on DONE4 a bit high?

[vt01]

I've just had a quote for my DONE4 in April. The taxes are $891 which seems a bit high. Although I did book it through QF. I'm wondering if they've charged me taxes for stopovers in LHR instead of transits or whether it's just all fuel fines on the 18 sectors?? Any ideas?? Thx

 

[Dave Noble]

That'll almost certainly be the fuel fines

Phone the AA ATW desk and book though them and watch the taxes drop

Dave

 

[vt01]

That'll almost certainly be the fuel fines

Phone the AA ATW desk and book though them and watch the taxes drop

Dave

Geez Dave! That was quick!

Unfortunately because work pays for this, it gets booked through QF. However, with the corporate discount it comes to AUD$8870.

Another question - if I just reduced my flights to say SYD-JFK-LHR-SYD and then after it's ticketed get it reissued by AA and add back in all the other 13 segments for the USD$125 reissue fee, do you think I would save enough on taxes to make it worthwhile? thx

 

[Dave Noble]

Geez Dave! That was quick!

Unfortunately because work pays for this, it gets booked through QF. However, with the corporate discount it comes to AUD$8870.

Another question - if I just reduced my flights to say SYD-JFK-LHR-SYD and then after it's ticketed get it reissued by AA and add back in all the other 13 segments for the USD$125 reissue fee, do you think I would save enough on taxes to make it worthwhile? thx

Quite possibly

Dave

 

[vt01]

Thanks Dave

 

[NM]

A 17 sector DONE4 issued last May included $853.27 for me. So your number is certainly about par for the course. Mine was made up of almost $400 YQ (fuel fines), $48.40 GB and $405 XT (the rest)

 

[vt01]

A 17 sector DONE4 issued last May included $853.27 for me. So your number is certainly about par for the course. Mine was made up of almost $400 YQ (fuel fines), $48.40 GB and $405 XT (the rest)

Thx NM.
The last one of these I did 18 months ago was around $8000 including taxes. But that was originally SYD-PVG-LHR-JFK-SYD when ticketed. I then reticketed twice (this was when I was learning about DONE4) once by QF and then again by AA. I think each reticket was around $250.
What does the YQ, GB and XT stand for?

 

[Dave Noble]

Thx NM.
The last one of these I did 18 months ago was around $8000 including taxes. But that was originally SYD-PVG-LHR-JFK-SYD when ticketed. I then reticketed twice (this was when I was learning about DONE4) once by QF and then again by AA. I think each reticket was around $250.
What does the YQ, GB and XT stand for?

With QF... YQ is fuel fine

GB is the UK departure tax

Dave

 

[NM]

What does the YQ, GB and XT stand for?

I took those values directly from my paper ticket. There is only space on the left side of the ticket to note three different tax values, and they were notes as YQ, GB and XT.

YQ is the sum total of all of the fuel surcharges that Qantas imposed on the ticket. This is not broken down on the ticket into a per-sector listing.

GB is the UK-government imposed departure tax. This one varies depending on the destination of the next stopover in the itinerary after departing the UK, and the cabin class into which you are booked. In my case it was a LHR-FRA flight in business class that charged at A$48.40 (would have been GBP20 at the time).

XT is the code used for the total cost of all other taxes charged. These are listed separately in the Fare Calculation field on the ticket with the amount in A$ followed directly by the 2 letter code, such as 38.00AU for the A$38 Australian departure tax. In my case there are about 16 individual taxes noted here.

Its all a bit more difficult to find with a e-ticket as many suppliers do not provide all the detail on the e-ticket receipt. The breakdown is in the system, but often not provided on the receipt.

 

[vt01]

Thanks Dave, NM.
I found my last DONE4 invoice and the base fare was $10169 where as this time it is $10499. The taxes were $560 for SYD-PVG-LHR-JFK-SYD
When I reissued the ticket with QF to add JFK-DFW-RDU-ORD-SWF-ORD-LAX they charged me a total of AUD$250.
When I had it reissued again by AA to add in SYD-PER-DRW-ADL-SYD at the end in Aus, AA charged me AUD$176.

So I guess I wouldn't save too much by reducing the sectors now and reticketing through AA later. I also may not be able to get the flights I want.

If I am just transiting LHR each time, what would the taxes be considering I would depart from there 3 times?

thx

 

[Dave Noble]

If I am just transiting LHR each time, what would the taxes be considering I would depart from there 3 times?

thx

If you are just transitting through the UK, there is no UK departure tax.

If you are departing from UK after a stopover, then there would be a GBP40 or GBP80 depending on where your next stopover is

Dave

 

[serfty]

Taxes ex UK are high!

... If I am just transiting LHR each time, what would the taxes be considering I would depart from there 3 times? ...

If you are just transitting through the UK, there is no UK departure tax.

If you are departing from UK after a stopover, then there would be a GBP40 or GBP80 depending on where your next stopover is

Dave

Yes if three times in D class heading to no EU destinations it would cost an additional £240!

 

[Dave Noble]

Re: Taxes ex UK are high!

Yes, and on a DONE4, if three times in D class it would cost an additional £240!

No , not necessarily. On a DONE4 it will be GBP40 or GBP80 depending on where the next stopover is

If departing UK to fly, say LHR-FRA-SIN-SYD with a stopover in FRA, then the APD due would be GBP40 . If not stopping over in FRA then the APD due would be GBP80

So the tax on 3 stopovers would be GBP120,160,200 or 240 depending on where the stops are

Dave

 

[serfty]

No , not necessarily. ...

True, I was thinking of non European destinations.

 

[NM]

Note that the UK government's definition of transit vs stopover may be considerably different to that of the airline's fare rules.

 

[Dave Noble]

Note that the UK government's definition of transit vs stopover may be considerably different to that of the airline's fare rules.

They are not very different though other than for the rules for a domestic flight which is GBP10 iirc

Exemptions are

Transit passengers transferring to an international flight within 24 hours.
Transit passengers transferring between flights when the connecting time to a UKdomestic flight does not exceed 6 hours or when a flight arrives at or after 1700 one day and a connecting UK domestic flight departs by 1000 the following morning.
Transit passengers who do not deplane.

Dave

 

[NM]

Transit passengers who do not deplane.

I guess that would meet the definition of transit in anyone's books.

 

[JohnK]

I've just had a quote for my DONE4 in April. The taxes are $891 which seems a bit high.

I booked a Oneworld RTW award last April with QF and the taxes were ~$1035 on the 16 sector itinerary. Fuel surcharges have gone up since then so I do not think the taxes you are quoted are high at all especially for 18 sectors.

 

[simongr]

Now I have probably misinterpreted you again JohnK are you saying the surcharges look reaosnable compared to other similar flights or whether they are reasonable in and of themselves. If the latter we are going to have to agree to disagree again JohnK. I have just finalised my RTW awards on a combination of AA and QF with the following cash outlays:

2 people in J booked through AA - syd-hkg-jfk-lhr-lca-lhr-hkg - $496
2 people in J booked through QF - hkg-sin $97
1 person in F booked through QF - sin-syd $90
1 person in F booked through AA - sin-syd $75

A total for 2 people RTW in J/F of $800.

 

[JohnK]

Now I have probably misinterpreted you again JohnK are you saying the surcharges look reaosnable compared to other similar flights or whether they are reasonable in and of themselves.

Simon you must know by now how I feel about QF and their exhorbitant fuel surcharges. In fact I think that any airline charging fuel surcharges should be taken to court, fined heavily and then made to remove fuel surcharges. If that airline then decided to include fuel surcharges as part of the base airfare then I would be happy to pay the new base airfare.

Going back to my comparison of taxes for a RTW booked through QF, $891 in taxes and fuel surcharges for an 18 sector DONE4 does not appear as high as the $1035 I paid in April for a Oneworld RTW award with 16 sectors.

Whether this amount is justified or not is irrelevant. Yes I know if booked through AA the taxes would probably be less than half but I was comparing like for like....

1 person in F booked through QF - sin-syd $90
1 person in F booked through AA - sin-syd $75

I am surprised that the taxes and surcharges for one-way SIN-SYD on QF are only $90. Looking at the award booking engine the taxes are SG$181. Have taxes and fuel surcharges gone up that much since you made the booking?