New UK air tax

Even though I'm still in the US I've been reading up on this airport tax doubling in the UK. My boyfriend flies here in 5 weeks and we fly back to the UK a week later, so we have a fairly good interest in weather he, or even me, will have to pay more when we check in.

British Airways has said they'll absorb the cost and a few others are charging people at check in, depending upon when the purchased their ticket and if they'd been charged that higher tax. The problem we have is we're flying with US Airways and when I phoned them up the other day they had no idea what I was talking about. I emailed them as well and they said they can't charge you more after you purchase a ticket, so I'm hoping that's so.

Does anyone know what US Airways, or other US airlines, are doing for this tax? If it helps to know details of my situation, my boyfriend's ticket was only bought 2 weeks ago, so I think he'll be alright, but mine was purchased last October.

Even though I'm still in the US I've been reading up on this airport tax doubling in the UK. My boyfriend flies here in 5 weeks and we fly back to the UK a week later, so we have a fairly good interest in weather he, or even me, will have to pay more when we check in.

British Airways has said they'll absorb the cost and a few others are charging people at check in, depending upon when the purchased their ticket and if they'd been charged that higher tax. The problem we have is we're flying with US Airways and when I phoned them up the other day they had no idea what I was talking about. I emailed them as well and they said they can't charge you more after you purchase a ticket, so I'm hoping that's so.

Does anyone know what US Airways, or other US airlines, are doing for this tax? If it helps to know details of my situation, my boyfriend's ticket was only bought 2 weeks ago, so I think he'll be alright, but mine was purchased last October.

https://lfn.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/lfn.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2470

Here is BA. Don't know about the others.

My parents were notified that the UK would charge them on their return flight (they're flying over here in 2 weeks time on US Airways). No details- just that they may be charged. So my dad wrote in to the website and this was the response:

>Thank you for visiting usairways.com.
>
>The U.S. and foreign governments charge additional taxes and fees for
>international travel. International fares do not include
>government-imposed taxes/fees of up to $107. Taxes and fees are subject
>to change at the discretion of each country's government and may be
>adjusted for inflation. You may be required to pay taxes or fees not
>already collected.
>
>If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reply
>or call our Internet Support Desk at (800) 327-7810.  We know that you
>have many choices and we thank you for choosing US Airways!


I understand that the UK goverment is trying to deter people from flying to cut down on emissions etc. but charging people for tickets that they have paid for in advance is ridiculous. Especially if its going to cost $107 extra EACH. Surely, they could have come up with a better way of taking care of this ahead of time.

I'm flying to the Central America (via the US) next week and between the time I booked the ticket and when I actually paid for it, the cost of the flight increased by £80.

We're flying with AA and I understand that the reason for the huge increase was because the extra tax was included. Apparently, AA's cut-off date is Dec 12th, so anyone who paid before the 12th has to pay the tax at the airport and anyone who paid on or after the 12th has already paid it within their fare (I booked in November, but paid for the flight on Dec 14th so I shouldn't have to pay anything at the airport).

Hope this helps

Glad I read this.  Now I am prepared for the charge when I fly back to Boston on 4 March.  In my opinion, they should wave it for tickets purchased before the start of the duty.

I really hope I'm not charged a heap when flying back to the UK. My boyfriend will be alright since his ticket was purchased in January. Mine I'm not so sure about since it was purchased in October, then I had to change it right before the new year, so I'll just bring extra cash with me and write a nice stern letter to US Airways if they charge me.

So on my lunch break I found USA Today did an article about this today. They said it may deter people from travelling to the UK, and said if you're travelling soon you should call your airline. Great big help that was when US Airways claimed to know nothing about it. I think I'll phone them up again this weekend and see if they have any information regarding their policy on this tax increase. Should hope so.