Cut in surcharges soon?
 

With the current oil prices coming down, do you think the surcharges will come down anytime soon?

Nyet.

No. The airlines didn't make much in the way of profits, even before oil shot up, and they need the extra revenue. And, despite what many like to claim, the flying public seems more willing to pay the surcharges than higher fares, so this is about the only way for the airlines to collect that extra revenue.

Not at all. With the credit crunch airlines are going to need all the cash they can find.

Those are not surcharges. It's a fundamental change of how the airlines' pricing system.

I don't think so either, but I did see a report about 2 weeks that said KL/AF was reducing it's "surcharge" by $20 due to lower oil prices. I'll try and find report and post link.

Got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago that said that ANA was upping their surcharge on Oct 1.

Oh, I mean, the fuel surcharges posted by foreign airlines can go up and down. But all the extra fees the US airlines have started to collect will be staying for the most part.

Author: mrwunrfl
Date: 10/06/2008, 04:31 am
Nyet.

:))

I read a couple of weeks ago that some Canadian airlines were reducing or eliminating the fuel surcharge. I don't fly them, so I didn't follow up on it, but I think Air Canada was one. I probably read it in the Globe and Mall, if you want to look it up.

WestJet in Canada eliminated their fuel surcharge so hopefully that is a positive sign that some airlines will follow suit. I won't keep my hopes up though.

With oil prices dipping and the demand for flying reducing due to the poor economy, I don't see how the airlines can keep up with the fuel surcharges.

A couple of Asian airlines have already reduced their fuel surcharges. ANA by the way has probably the highest fuel surcharges among all airlines.

I just read that the US airlines have started to reduce surcharges on the Atlantic route. The same report said that Delta has reduced rates on the Pacific route as well. Looks like it's going to come falling down .....

I sure hope so! My husband and I want to go to Japan in the spring, and the high cost of the flights is really cutting into our budget. We're holding off just a little longer in the hopes that the price and/or surcharges will come down a bit.

Don't expect too much of a reduction. Air travel experts are predicting about $50 R/T surcharge reduction for the near future.

All the airlines are reporting big losses for the 3rd Q because of the high oil prices. They want to recoup some of the loses.

And the strange part of the fuel charge reduction is that it only applies to leisure/deeply discounted fares. Business and First class fares are not seeing the same reductions.

$50 each R/T reduction would help! That would pay for one night's hotel and dinner for us. We'll take what we can get.

Personally, I could care less whether they cut the base fare or the fuel surcharge as I only pay attention to the total price.

<i>Business and First class fares are not seeing the same reductions.</i>

But you should check out some of the deals that corporate accounts are getting. I know my company has recently inked new deals for trans-Atlantic Business fares that bring the price down to less than $2000, before any volume discounts. And these deals are with multiple carriers, and at least some of them are available up to the last seat on the plane.

The loads in J are really starting to fall. I'm curious whether we will see a pull-back in capacity across the Atlantic or if we might see prices settle into the $2k range for J. I wouldn't be shocked, because I think more and more businesses are going to be taking a hard look at travel costs and I don't think any rational person can justify $5k+ (and a 500% premium to coach) for a 7 or 8 hour flight.

Most posters here are not corporate travelers, so that's why I mentioned the J fares not seeing the surcharge reduction.

Yes, my company also has a great deal with multiple airlines, but this is more of a leisure market discussion.

<i>Most posters here are not corporate travelers, so that's why I mentioned the J fares not seeing the surcharge reduction.</i>

Yep, I know. Just trying to point out that the average J fares the airlines are seeing are likely dropping, even if it isn't apparent to the typical consumer.

Airlines negotiate fuel contracts months (sometimes years) in advance. The surcharges we're paying today reflect costs factored in during the summer price peak.

I wouldn't expect widespread reductions in 2008.