...but the taxes, fees, and (fuel) surcharges add another $510.
This is for 3/17-3/31. Interestingly, I took this same trip during mid-March of 2006 and the ticket price was just over $200 and the taxes were a few dollars more for $413 (total) per ticket. And the Pound was running a little more than it is today.
The fuel surcharge seems to be the main difference between then and now, and it says, "British Airways has introduced a fuel surcharge on all flights to reflect the continuing rise in worldwide oil prices." This surcharge is $186 for all long haul flights over 9 hours (Seattle).
BA seems to be the leader in surcharges and the slowest to reduce them. I remember reading something recently where a BA spokesman said something like, "We don't intend to compete for the customer looking for the lowest price. We think there is a market for a higher quality airline."
BA, if you're listening: "No, there isn't. Your economy service is no better than anyone else's. I fly the lowest convenient airline to Europe. Which will probably not be BA."
Let's hope they start reducing that fuel charge. Adding a high fuel surcharge to the already high landing fees and taxes imposed on flights to the UK will make it impractical to make London the jumping off point for a trip to Europe. It used to be that flying to London was just about the cheapest way to get to Europe. Now it's nearly always the most expensive.
Not only that, but BA, as a mileage plan partner with Alaska Airlines, has recently increased the miles required for a round-trip flight from SEA to LHR to 65,000 miles AND they are charging from $300-$600 per award booking in addition to all other taxes and fees. OUCH!