kybourbon

I'm surprised a TA would give a ticket price without including fees/taxes. Sounds odd. I would think many fees (such as facility charge) are the same (depending on airport/country)no matter the ticket price. The fees are usually broken down into tax, security fee, facility charge, etc. Certain airports have higher fees than others and are different for arrival than departures so it can matter which airport you use. Sometimes you can lower fees by changing your European airports. At this point, if your TA has already booked your tickets, not much you can do without paying change fees which is expensive.

Have you even considered using the group desk of the airline to book your tickets instead of a TA?

Gardyloo

<i>ITA isn't going to be much help as they only show PUBLISHED fares.</i>

The fare basis might be one that's not for general sale (although it likely would be visible on e.g. Expert Flyer) but the fees/taxes should be roughly the same, since those are not part of the fare and are levied irrespectively of the booking code (notwithstanding taxes/fees that vary with class of service.)

teacherCanada

kybourbon - thanks for your input. In our circumstances (with student group travel) the TA quotes a price of x thousand dollars per person to do a 12 day trip to Europe that includes some meals, accommodations, travel etc. We never get to see how much each aspect of the trip costs. Hence my inability to know the value of the air ticket portion ... or how much each accommodation costs. We are already firmly booked and I wouldn't consider making changes at this time (with 48 pax it would likely be impossible anyway). I think we have paid a very fair price for the trip. I was intrigued with the taxes portion and just wondered if there was a simple way to determine them without asking the TA.

In response to your second paragraph, our school board requires us to use a registered travel agency for booking trips like this. It reduces liability from their point of view since the agency is insured (where if I did the booking, I would not be insured).

Garlyloo - thanks, I will try to see if I can get this to work today.

kybourbon

>>>It reduces liability from their point of view since the agency is insured<<<

I don't see how an agency having insurance would benefit you in any way (it benefits them, not you). You need your own travel insurance if there are problems. I would never purchase from the company I was using to book the trip. There have been many go belly-up over the years leaving their travlers stranded. It's better to book travel insurance directly using a site like www.insuremytrip.com to pick the type/company you need.

FWIW - each airline pretty much has their own group desks/planning. I would think their insurance would be the same as a TA as they also book hotels, etc. I would think it would be possible to use the airline you planned to travel on for the air tickets and use a TA (if you must) for the land portion. Many TA's book land only vacations.

http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...ales/index.jsp

I think the taxes vary a bit according to ticket cost, but not the other fees, as they are set. You can determine those differences by checking a few flights at different prices on ITA for your itinerary.

teacherCanada

I have been able to use the airlines booking sites to "pretend book" our flights. All our airlines are Star Alliance (if that makes any difference). When added up, the three legs give a total of departure fees and taxes of $486 per traveller. This reassures me that our cost of $451.35 per traveller is not out of line, but makes me wonder how they determine the cost to pass on to us.

Unless something extraordinary happens, I think I'm going to let this die a natural death.

Thank you everyone for your generous input. I am wiser because of it.

tC

Seamus

hey teach -
As a general (but not 100% of the time) rule, fees are generally a set amount, though the amount for some may differ between classes of service (e.g. less in coach, more in first class.) Taxes are usually calculated as a percentage of the fare paid.

The fees would be about the same, but the taxes on a lower fare would be less. So, if your TA is quoting taxes and fees less than what you see on ITA your TA likely got you a lower fare not available to the general public. That's a good thing.

Your posts repeatedly state that the TA gave you an <i><b>estimate</i></b> of around 400. In my experience of travel planning 450 <u>is</u> around 400, especially these days when fares change almost constantly. The lesson is, as noted by rk, when planning future trips round up the estimate and be happy if the price comes in a bit lower.

teacherCanada

Seamus - thank you. What you mentioned in your first paragraph makes a lot of sense. I believe our TA was able to get a lower fare for us than would be available now.

You give sage advice about estimating high for undetermined expenses. We will work towards that in the future. Thank you again for your time.

tC

colduphere

Teacher - are either of the trans-Atlantic flights on Air Canada? If so I am surprised you aren't paying more. I think they are charging $370 return now as a fuel surcharge.

colduphere

I'm wrong again. I just threw in Toronto-Paris and Athens-Toronto and the fuel surcharge on AC was $270, not $370.

teacherCanada

colduphere - our transatlantic flights are AC. I hope we don't get hit with an unexpected increase. I notice gas prices are going up at the local pumps.

tC

kybourbon

>>>So, if your TA is quoting taxes and fees less than what you see on ITA your TA likely got you a lower fare not available to the general public.<<<

As Seamus pointed out, your TA is likely booking a bulk/group rate that wouldn't show up on an internet search. If you look at the group booking on AC, you will see special pricing listed as a feature. If you were booking your own air for the group, one of the perks is free air. You can get several free tickets usually depending on group size.
http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...ess/index.html