How can I avoid the high airport taxes of LHR?

I'm having a lot of trouble feeling any compassion for anyone who can fly from the USA to Europe and back for a maximum of $405 and as little $155 and is still determined to do it for less. Please just bite the darn bullet.

You might want to check with the airline experts on a forum such as Flyertalk or the air travel forum at TripAdvisor, but I think that you will have to pay some amount of taxes, even with a frequent flier mile reward ticket. I'm not sure which taxes are imposed by the airlines versus the airports, et cetera. Good luck finding something that works for you.

Your problem is with your choice of airline points program, not the airports. BA and AA try to shift the standard costs of doing business onto the frequent-flyer customers. Other airlines flying from North America to the UK put different, lower charges on their points awards. You can try spending your points on AA's other partners in the One World airline alliance but probably not on the routes you want. Only AA can help you with alternatives, and it is sometimes more effective to talk to one of their awards agents by phone than try to use the Internet.

It's called "Air passenger duty". It is a government tax, so you can't avoid it. It only applies to flights out of the UK, not arrivals. The rates are:

Band A (0 – 2,000 miles) Reduced Rate – for travel in lowest class available on aircraft: £13
Standard Rate – for any other class of travel: £26
Band B (Over 2,001 miles) Reduced Rate – for travel in lowest class available on aircraft: £71
Standard Rate – for any other class of travel: £142

The official rates at the UK government website are her: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-air-passenger-duty/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-air-passenger-duty

"$300-$400 for airport taxes" (assuming you mean US $) looks like a rip off. The only way to save is to go via another European airport not in the UK (Dublin), then you only pay the "Band A" rate. But is it worth adding an extra leg to your trip to save £56?

BA still has fuel surcharges on all flights. That is the majority of the high cost flying through London with them. If you are flying through London you cannot avoid the taxes, but by choosing the right airline you can minimize the fees. Ireland seems to be the best option if you don't want to pay, but will the flight to Shannon cost more than the BA fees?

I am flying round trip from the US to Milan and back from Rome next month on a mileage redemption ticket for a total cost of $70. But BA is not involved in these flights. :-)

Avoiding LHR airport is at the top of my list when plotting flights to/from Europe.

Re-read what Chris F said and consider the short hop back to Ireland if you want to avoid the high departure tax. It is based on how long your flight from the UK is.

And avoid booking BA, as they impose an additional layer of fees on award tickets. I am not sure they call it a " fuel surcharge" any more; I think they got sued for that in the US. I'll have to check up on that.

Edit: it is now called a " carrier imposed fee" and other airlines do it as well.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/did-the-airlines-actually-eliminate-fuel-surcharges-1425488470

I see that American flies from Amsterdam with a connection at Philadelphia. EasyJet or Ryan Air to Amsterdam might be another $50, plus time in your schedule.

Hi all. Just to try to add some clarity / facts. In the discussion above, both airport taxes and airline carrier fees have been mentioned; it is easy to mix / confuse them. Out of curiosity, I did some actual flight searches and found the following:

LHR to JFK via British Airways: $172 UK/LHR airport fees + $124 BA carrier charge.
LHR to JFK via American Airlines: same $172 UK/LHR airport fees, but $0 carrier charge.

for comparison:
Berlin to JFK via Air Berlin: $70 Germany/Berlin airport fees, $0 carrier charge.
Milan to JFK via American Airlines: $32 Italy/Milan airport fees, $0 carrier charge.

Summary: airport fees and carrier charges are separate items, they both vary and are important. LHR airport fees are very high, and by coincidence British Airways charges substantial carrier fees. So as barry is finding out, and others have mentioned, flying from LHR on British Airways is a double whammy of extra fees.

Enjoy your travels!

BA does not have carrier surcharges on all flights. They were completely abolished on short-haul back in January. They have also been reduced twice this year already on long haul. These things tend not to get announced they just happen. The value, such that it is of redemptions on BA long haul is in premium classes, not economy.

Looking at the other components, the passenger service charge is high from Heathrow and this is exacerbated in comparison with those at other major eurozone airports currently by the exchange rate. It is lower from airports away from London.

APD, well it is being chipped away at slowly. None for anyone under 12 and from next fiscal year none for under 16. It has been reduced too for the very long haul but that didn't affect flights to North America. Of course it can be avoided by starting the journey outside of the UK.

Hi barryboa:

Here is my experience with what you are discussing. Last year I booked a flight to London/Heathrow using United Airlines mileage points. The flight from Seattle cost 30,000 points and maybe $40. When I was looking for a return flight I saw that all of the economy seats in the mileage program cost 30,000 points plus $210. Faced with this situation I decided to use the cash to fly to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines for about $170. I enjoyed my week long stay in that city in a better hotel that cost me less than my place in London. My flight out of Ataturk Airport cost very little, if anything, in the way of cash on top of the 30,000 mileage points.

I just got a frequent flyer tickets from Seattle to London, which was miles plus 5 or 6 bucks, then when I went to book the flight back it was miles plus $198. I looked at other cities and found that flying from Dublin was $51, and the train/ferry from London is about $70. (I considered RyanAir but thought it would be nice to see some countryside instead, for about the same price. I got a window seat with a table.)

If you wish to get to Great Britain, then Dublin would clearly be a better place to land in Ireland as it would offer more flights than Shannon plus you have the ferry link across to Holyhead - on the NW tip of Wales. This site tells you more about this (from a British point of view). So, you could say that paying for this land transport, is part of the holiday whereas blowing the money as tax is 'dead money'.http://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm#.Ve_ce-lVuiY

If using the ferry to Holyhead, why not consider a holiday in Wales? www.visitwales.co.uk
(RS list Wales as a separate forum).

If you wish to fly from Shannon to Dublin to somewhere in Great Britain or Europe, then the following site will tell you who flies where & when. Put in your intended month of travel & click 'monthly view'. I would suggest you then check prices on the airlines own site. Beware of baggage in hold charges. www.skyscanner.net

Heathrow has very high landing charges. Airlines can charge lower prices to other airports due to lower landing fees.