My wife and I are planning our annual trip to visit our daughter and find that after redeeming our AA miles we still have to pay $1228 in airport taxes! Up about $500 from same time last year. Any tips on a different itinerary to lower these costs without adding too much time/stress to an already long flight?
Posted by
Downingtown, USA
2450 posts
Wow, what a lot of money. Would you pay the same if you fly into Gatwick or even another city, Manchester or Bristol and train it into London? Is it just Heathrow?
Posted by
Sammamish, WA
403 posts
Are you using your miles on British Airways? That might be the problemthey have consistently enormous taxes compared to other carriers. Any chance you can fly a different carrier? A different airport may help as well. Geezyou could fly into Paris and take the Eurostar over for far less cash!
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5456 posts
Air passenger duty from the UK to the USA has increased over the last year by £10 (and £5 for the lower rate in economy) to a total of £130/£65 respectively. This has nothing to do with Heathrow and everything to do with HMRC. The way to avoid this is to start your return from a country with a much lower rate of duty (Ireland and Belgium come to mind) as even if you connect through LHR no duty is payable. However, it does sound like you are paying something else, such as YQ (fuel surcharge), as well as the 'security' charges etc.
Posted by
South Yorkshire, UK; formerly St. Louis, MO, USA
317 posts
$1288 in taxes? That sounds like an awful lot - even for the UK. A question on your flights - are they 'true' AA flights, or are they code shares with BA? You might also try flying in from elsewhere - for instance, connecting via Dublin, Brussels, or Amsterdam. My understanding is that the duty is based on where you come in from. Nigel, if he's reading, may have more insight as he lives in the UK.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17422 posts
Is that airport taxes or taxes plus fuel surcharges? And are you flying on British? They are notoriously high, and most of it is fuel surcharge. Taxes would be the same across airlines, but maybe you can avoid the fuel charges by using your miles on American.
Posted by
Grapevine, TX, USA
875 posts
If you are using AA FF miles on a British Airways flight, there is no escaping the huge fuel surcharge fee & taxes. The only way around it is to somehow find a flight on an AA plane, at least in one direction -- that will cut your cost considerably. Unfortunately, AA is using BA for most of its connections to London these days.