UK Premium Departure Tax Question

[littl_flier]

I'm in the process of booking my DONE4 at the moment and after the shock of getting my initial tax quote back at $1,947, I'm looking at ways to cut this a little. With the UK Premium departure tax at 80 quid for long hauls, I was thinking of ways to optimise it.

I intend on visiting London, Helsinki and Muscat as part of the DONE4. Originally this was quoted as MIA-LHR stop, LHR-MCT-LHR stop, LHR-HEL-LHR stop LHR-HKG stop, so I was paying the Premium departure multiple times.

If I rejig the stops into transits and went MIA-LHR stop, LHR-HEL-LHR transit LHR-MCT-LHR transit LHR-HKG, will I avoid the long haul APD totally and only pay the 20 pounds for LHR-HEL??

Thanks,
littl_flier

 

[Evan]

Could you also do the below, i FRA has lower taxes. Maybe it does not work with you other flights etc but i think the ditances largly work out more or less the same.
LHR-MCT-LHR-HEL-FRA-HKG ??

E

 

[serfty]

Seems to be the plan; I've recently saved £80 (LHONE4x2) by travelling DBV-xLON(LGW/LHR)-SIN ...

 

[serfty]

Seems to be the plan; I've recently saved £80 (LHONE4x2) by travelling DBV-xLON(LGW/LHR)-SIN ...

Actually, it appears we have saved more than that!

... basic fare/tax construction:

BASE FARE               TAXES     TOTAL
AUD3484.00              369.10XT  AUD3853.10ADT
XT 33.80US 6.00YC 7.70XY 5.50XA 11.00AY 38.00AU 15.04QR 6.92QR 9.06QR 9.00WG 45.28WY
58.70UB 21.30HR 16.60SG 34.00HK 25.20TS 21.00SW 5.00XF

MEL QF X/SYD QF NYC AA X/CHI AA SEA AA X/DFW AA X/CHI BA X/
LON BA DBV BA X/LON QF SIN CX HKG CX BKK Q4.70 CX HKG CX TYO
QF SYD QF CNS QF MEL3470.00LHONE4 AUD3483.70END XFORD4.5

...

Looking at this it appears I have avoided the tax completely. I guess this is due to the flight from ORD being scheduled for 10am arrival into LHR and the flight to DBV scheduled to depart LGW at 10am the next day.

The UK "AIR PASSENGER DUTY" would show as GB and I had been expecting to see a ~22.22GB (£10) entry for each of us but I guess a stopover is "greater than 24 Hours", not "24 hours or more".

 

[littl_flier]

Great, thanks guys! Incidentally, is MCT considered a long haul departure or a European departure?? Methinks it's probably long haul but it depends whether HM has the same interpretation of Europe as Oneworld.

Could you also do the below, i FRA has lower taxes. Maybe it does not work with you other flights etc but i think the ditances largly work out more or less the same.
LHR-MCT-LHR-HEL-FRA-HKG ??

E

Yeah, that's definitely another option Evan. The reason it's LHR-HKG on QF is to try for the upgrade to First but decisions, decisions.... If I'm just going to transit LHR (and avoid the taxes) I may as well go through LHR but I could stop in FRA for a couple of days. Is Frankfurt worth visiting or something that could be saved for somewhere down the track?? I'll be visiting Munich and Rhine Valley as part of a Contiki tour on the trip.

Looking at this it appears I have avoided the GB tax completely as the flight in from ORD is scheduled for 10am arrival into LHR and the flight to DBV is scheduled to depart LGW at 10am the next day. I had been expecting to see a £20GB entry for each of us but I guess a stopover is > 24 Hours.

Thanks Serfty, the LHR-HEL sector will probably be overnight so that makes things clearer.

 

[littl_flier]

Actually, it appears we have saved more than that! Looking at this it appears I have avoided the tax completely. I guess this is due to the flight from ORD being scheduled for 10am arrival into LHR and the flight to DBV scheduled to depart LGW at 10am the next day.

Serty, did you have YQ on your trip or have you only included the actual taxes above? The biggest part of mine was nearly $1100 in Fuel Surcharges when plated to QF, at least it's only $172 if I plate to AA.

Problem is, I can't book more than 16 sectors without doing a later resissue to include 20 if I want to ticket to AA. :-|

 

[serfty]

Serty, did you have YQ on your trip or have you only included the actual taxes above? The biggest part of mine was nearly $1100 in Fuel Surcharges when plated to QF, at least it's only $172 if I plate to AA.

Problem is, I can't book more than 16 sectors without doing a later resissue to include 20 if I want to ticket to AA. :-|

I believe it costs USD125 pp to reissue; that's a lot less then the difference in +++.

The above information is stuck to the back of every voucher of the paper tickets; there is no YQ entry, so I have not been charged any (specifically YQ).

 

[simongr]

I think anything out of the EU is considered long haul.

 

[serfty]

http://www.qantas.com.au/agents/dyn/qf/info/Taxes_HZ311207.pdf

AIR PASSENGER DUTY
CODE: GB
...
AMOUNT: Levied on all tickets/PTA’s for passengers departing from the UK airports (excluding the
Channel Islands, ACI, GCI, JER, IOM) on all international/domestic flights.

International Travel
GBP10.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service to EEA points.
GBP20.00 applicable for travel “not” in the lowest class of service to EEA points.
GBP40.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service worldwide except EEA points.
GBP80.00 applicable for travel “not” in the lowest class of travel worldwide except EEA points.
...

DEFINITIONS:
United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
EEA areas (EU European Union): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, (Croatia, from 01Nov 06)
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (excluding overseas departments),
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Romania, Slovac Republic,
Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, The United Kingdom. The following EU member state
dependent territories are also included, Azores, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Channel
Islands, Corsica, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Madeira, Isle of Man,
Sardinia and Sicily.
For UK Tax purposes, Basel (BSL) and Geneva (GVA) are considered to be EU member
state destinations.

 

[aus_flyer]

Slightly OT, I am correct that Premium taxes are not levied on award tickets?

Also, what happens if you book a ticket in Y and get upgraded to J? The airline doesn't collect any extra - so do they pay it?

 

[Mal]

Slightly OT, I am correct that Premium taxes are not levied on award tickets?

Also, what happens if you book a ticket in Y and get upgraded to J? The airline doesn't collect any extra - so do they pay it?

For an award ticket, you are charged it as part of the 'taxes' of the ticket.

With Qantas and a lot of airlines, upgrades (points or otherwise) only incur the original level of tax (as per your booking). Some airlines (including AA) have a different policy where they charge the additional tax on upgraded tickets, but if op-up'd then no additional collection.

 

[Dave Noble]

Slightly OT, I am correct that Premium taxes are not levied on award tickets?

Also, what happens if you book a ticket in Y and get upgraded to J? The airline doesn't collect any extra - so do they pay it?

if it is a voluntary upgrade, then the airline is liable to pay it

if it is an involuntary upgrade, then there is no liability for it

iirc, the tax is technically not charged on passenger but on the airline based on number of passengers not in the lowest class of travel so if the airline wants to absorb it , it can

Dave

 

[aus_flyer]

if it is a voluntary upgrade, then the airline is liable to pay it

if it is an involuntary upgrade, then there is no liability for it

iirc, the tax is technically not charged on passenger but on the airline based on number of passengers not in the lowest class of travel so if the airline wants to absorb it , it can

Dave

I'm amazed that Qantas is willing to absorb the extra cost for points upgrades!

 

[serfty]

I'm amazed that Qantas is willing to absorb the extra cost for points upgrades!

Maybe the cost benefit indicates that's it costs more to collect the tax than to simply pay it in these circumstances. Of course, proportionally, I'm sure there's not a significant number of such upgrades ex LHR.

Note that AA's upgrade policies for its elites induce a far greater proportion for this than QF, so their balance sheet may tilt towards collection the additional £40.