how are airline ticket taxes and fees calculated?
I’m searching for international flights online and I noticed that for some tickets, the taxes & fees are more than what the actual ticket costs. Also, the more expensive tickets have less taxes and fees which makes all the prices in the same range. How are these so-called “fees” calculated?
September 24th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Airport charges is rather complicated matter: it is not just a fixed amount or a fixed percentage. They depend on various factors, including the country, the airport, the airline, the weight of the plane, national or international flight, … (see the example here: http://airportcharges.com/summary.asp?demo=6736&code=BRE&year=2009)
As for travellers, the only relevant prices are the prices including charges and taxes. Prices before charges and taxes are just misleading.
A good booking site must always compare and display prices incl. taxes and charges.
In the European Union, a regulation makes it compulsory for airlines and booking sites to offer prices including charges and taxes.
It often happened that advertising from a low cost airlines such as Ryanair announced flights for just a very small amount (let’s say 10 euros or 10 dollars, or even 0 euro / 0 dollar !! ) while the effective cost of the flight (incl. charges and taxes) may be ten times more (let’s say 100 euros or dollars) !
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September 24th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
This has become a very devious exercise. Some airlines still add “fuel surcharges” as though the fuel was not somehow part of the fare.
Some airlines charge for checking a bag, some for food on board, some for reserving a seat etc others not. If this sounds confusing then it’s probably because the airlines want to confuse you and hide their real price.