norcal49

Gardyloo.or anyone...Planning an anniversary trip April 2013 to England,Ireland, Scotland and Wales for 6 weeks. Using AA
miles, I booked SFO - LHR April 15 first class 62.5K miles each on British Air
plus $375 each. Can't book return trip until about July 1.
Can I expect same or higher taxes on LHR-SFO? Is this a
good value per mile? Business class was 50K and I thought for 25K more....sort of a chance of a lifetime trip to fly Intnl First class. We have the miles and Wife is afraid of losing them, and we have availability and a very flexible schedule.
Just want it to be special! Flying back Business class would be great but if First is available at 62.5K miles instead of
Anytime award of 125K each, is it worth it to spend the additional 25K miles for First class? Sorry for all the questions......Sam

Gardyloo

I think the additional 12,500 miles to go from business class to first class on BA is terrific value and wouldn't hesitate to do it.

Regarding taxes on the return portion, sad to say they will be significantly higher. While the <b>fuel surcharge</b> will be roughly the same (and is the same regardless if you're traveling in business or first class) you will pay much higher <b>taxes</b> (levied by a government vs. the BA fuel surcharge which is nothing more than price gouging). If you're leaving from the UK, you'll be hit with the UK's Airline Passenger Duty, basically a departure tax. For business and first class passengers traveling to the USA, that charge will be £130, or around $195-$200 at today's exchange. That will be <i>in addition</i> to other US and UK airport and security taxes and fees, as well as the above fuel surcharge. Just guessing, I'd estimate you'll be parting with $500 - $600 per person for the return flight.

Now the APD is <i>not</i> charged if you're simply connecting in the UK (less than 24 hours) and if the flights to the UK and from the UK are on the same ticket. For example, fly from Dublin to London, then connect the same day to San Francisco, you'll be a transit passenger and not charged the APD. Fly from Dublin on a separate ticket and fly out on the BA ticket, and you will be charged. Hope that makes sense. You might want to juggle your itinerary so that you visit Ireland last, then fly from Dublin to London to SFO bang-bang on the way home.

I personally don't like "AAnytime" awards - by the time you figure some sort of value for the miles - even one cent per, then add the taxes and fuel surcharges (which are already built into a ticket you'd just buy for money) - they work out to be almost as expensive as if you just bought the whole thing.

norcal49

Thanks Gardyloo.....We can try to do as you said and fly Dublin
to Lhr then back home bang bang to SFO...Thanks again.......Sam

mrwunrfl

>>additional 25K miles for First class?<<

Sam, I am not sure I understand what you are asking.
I suspect that:
- you intend to get the return ticket on July 1 no matter what,
- really want to see MileSAAver Peak business class awards (50,000 miles) available on July 1,
- you are anticipating that there will be no saver awards available on July 1 in premium class,
- if there aren't business class or first class SAAver awards available on July 1 that you intend to get an AAnytime business class award for 100,000 miles.

Are you asking that if on July 1 there are no saver awards available should you spend the 100,000 miles for biz class AAnytime or 125,000 miles for F AAnytime awards?

mrwunrfl

Or is it that you expect to find business class awards available for 50,000 miles each and that there may be first class awards for 62,500 miles. Then your question is: is it worth 12,500 miles per person for two people to go in F instead of biz class.

norcal49

Sorry for the confusion....can't get return tix until about July 1...very flexible so return flight can be between May 24
and June 1.Want trip to last approx 6 weeks, Had choice of Business at 50K or First for 62.5K plus $350 each
Never experienced intnl First so chose First because we have plenty of miles...If we can fly LHR-SFO in First at same
mileage then we are getting 2 First class tix for 125K miles and approx $1000 each. Tons of cash but not compared to buying tix outright. Have no idea what taxes are for lhr-sfo
but assume more than the $350 charged each for sfo-lhr.
Now I am more confused on what to do.

Gardyloo

<i>Have no idea what taxes are for lhr-sfo
but assume more than the $350 charged each for sfo-lhr.</i>

The $350 is mostly NOT TAXES. It's mostly British Airways hitting you for a "fuel surcharge" - money that goes straight to their bottom line. When you pay money for a ticket, that amount is buried in the purchase price. When you use miles (either AA or BA miles) BA breaks out that amount and charges it to you ON TOP of the "cost" in miles.

TAXES on the other hand are charges imposed by government agencies that the airlines "pass through" to you. These will vary depending on which airports and countries you fly through. In your case the $350 ought to be around the same coming back, as long as you DON'T originate in the UK. If you DO originate in the UK (as per your original plan) then you'll pay an additional $200 or so because of the UK APD I mentioned above. If you start in Ireland as I mentioned, and just change planes in London, then the APD won't be charged. But you will still pay BA's fuel surcharge as long as you're flying on BA.

cary999

Tax, fuel charge, fee, levy, dues, toll, tariff, tribute. Whatever, is still $$$ out of your pocket.

One reason I no longer care about FF miles nor even flying. I don't have to, I don't need to.
Thanks for the rant

regards - tom

BarbAnn

Jill: I booked with American FF miles SMF/LAX/JFK/MAD/IST (using AA and IB) departing on Oct. 15. Originally it was SMF/DFW/MAD/IST but IB had a sched change. I paid $23.60 pp for the tkt and $25 pp for telephone ticketing service. They tried to book me on BA, but I asked to be routed via Madrid. On the return FCO/MAD/DFW/SMF on Nov. 06, I paid $58.50 pp for the tkt and $25 pp for the telephone ticketing service. Again, I had to request routing via MAD. It can be done, but you have to research prior and be a little flexible. I booked 330 days out.

Jill02

Good job! I was successful the one time booking 300 days out too. This was "last minute" in frequent flier time. BA could not be avoided and it was going to cost over $400 pp and take 2 days. For $600 pp we fly nonstop on great flight with one connection, saving 3 nights and 2 nights of hotel cost so it made sense to just buy the tickets.

And now.... We still have the miles that we must use and cn start thinking 330 days out!

jj_travels

I spent endless hours trying to find a ticket to rome for me and a friend,finally i said ill use my points, after i booked everything at the end it says i have to pay a fee of $820.00 from Orlando to Rome for 2 people, that is after my miles,, that does not sound as "free miles", and i had a layover of 8 hours in a foreign country before i arrive to rome, i was so disappointed i ended up buying a ticket which was not to much more than the "free miles" i paid $988.00 per ticket, yes it was twice as much but the flight was much more convenient. i used my miles 2 years ago to travel to Costa Rica and the fees and taxes were not more than $50.00, what is happening with American Airlines miles??

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Were you connecting through London? Then, unfortunately, you were subject to British Airways' fuel surcharges and the British government's taxes. (See Gardyloo's posts above.) It wasn't an American Airlines thing.

All this is why no airline ever describes tickets we purchase with miles as "free" tickets. They're "award" or "reward" tickets.

JaneB

BarbAnn, thanks for the tip. I've been trying to plan a Dallas to Berlin trip using AA miles. The BA fees are outrageous. Maybe I can book through Madrid rather than London and avoid BA flights. A $25 call-center fee is peanuts compared to BA fees.

travelgirl2

Our AA frequent flyer tickets this summer from JFK to Barcelona via LHR (with an overnight) had a $79 charge for taxes and fees. One of our party flew United directly from Newark to Barcelona for a $2.50 charge. (This was just one-way, as we had separate tickets on a different route United Barcelona-Frankfurt-Newark with a $61.50 charge coming home.)

These tickets were booked 24 days in advance, for 5 people, so it is sometimes possible to book late if you are extremely flexible with your routing.