FF awards through Heathrow
 

I am reading up on the change for USAir from the *A to One World. I keep hearing about the high surcharges on FF award tickets on flights through Heathrow.

I am unclear why this charge is so high - it is on flights TO Heathrow, THROUGH Heathrow, or both? Is it only on BA flights, or any flights through the airport?

Unfortunately, it is not just on BA flights.

I booked a RT business class ticket that went through LHR. The fee for 2 persons was $942. Given routing, the fees ranged up to $1,000.

Gardyloo is the expert on this. I would suggest reviewing some of his posts regarding this subject.

Combining AA and US route networks will open up several more nonstop destinations to Europe, many more than either one provides on its own. That should reduce the need to connect through LHR to get elsewhere in Europe, which is how we're so often funneled when flying AA.

We will have to see, though, if USAir opens those flights to miles. I read an article where it claimed USAir had openings on only about 6% of their flights. I've never flown overseas on USAir with FF miles (in about 10 years) - it was always LH that had seats available.

I really dont' want to connect in Heathrow, either - that's a shorter flight and going over, I like to try to get *some* sleep.

In looking at tickets to LHR next May, fares were around $200 but taxes and fees were $900+ making each ticket over $1100.

bettyk, that is crazy! I wonder if anyone books stuff like that? In my case, I wouldn't burn 60,000 miles to get a $150 discount on airfare.

Two culprits here.

First, some airlines add a "fuel surcharge" to the list of taxes and fees charged by the various governments on flights between the US and Europe. British Airways is the supreme culprit with this. So when you redeem AA miles but fly on BA planes, you get hit with BA's fuel surcharge.

For example, if you wanted to use AA miles to fly from JFK to London next month (one way), you would need 30,000 AA miles. If you flew on American's planes, you would pay $2.50 in fees and taxes, over and above the 30K miles.

If you flew the same day on a BA plane, the fees and taxes would be $253.20.

Second, coming back, you'd be subject to UK Air Passenger Duty, a departure tax levied on non-transit departures from the UK.

On AA "metal," the cost would be 30,000 miles and $181.40. On BA "metal," it would be $362.10

(If you flew in business class, the APD would be doubled, and BA's fuel surcharge higher too, so you'd need 50,000 miles and $546.)

The street term for these fuel surcharges is "pure profit."

It really highlights that using miles for intercontinental coach trips is pretty lousy value. Riding on BA, a round trip coach ticket that might cost $1200 to buy costs 60,000 miles and over $600 as a "reward" ticket. That makes your miles worth a penny apiece.

Using 100,000 miles and $800 for a business class ticket that would cost $4000 is another matter. There, your miles are worth 3.2c each, good leverage.

Wow. And you're right, what a lousy value.

Right now, I'm saving our miles purely for European travel, b/c I don't want to spend 25,000 miles for a domestic ticket I can most likely purchase for about $400-$500 (unless it's a to a really small airport). I thought we got a pretty good deal this summer on LH: 60,000 miles and $125 total in fees per round trip coach ticket.

We are also lucky we went to London when we did - I think it was about 8 years ago, and I know we didn't pay much more than $100 in fees; it was on USAir. (That was back when you could actually find FF tickets on USAir planes to Europe. Since then, the only USAir FF ticket I have been able to find was a February ticket to Brussels).

Gardyloo - do you think the other airlines are going to start to copy BA's practices?

<i>Gardyloo - do you think the other airlines are going to start to copy BA's practices?</i>

They already do.

<i>I thought we got a pretty good deal this summer on LH: 60,000 miles and $125 total in fees per round trip coach ticket.</i>

Lufthansa is one of the perps with the fuel surcharges. Some frequent flyer plans might not pass through the "fuel fines" to people redeeming miles for LH flights, but LH "Miles and More" members get whacked big time. LH and BA will actually levy fuel surcharges on award tickets where the airlines being used don't charge them; in other words, redeem Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian M&M miles for a United Airlines ticket and you'll pay a fuel surcharge, even though UA doesn't charge YQ (the symbol for the charge, also sometimes YR) to its own members for redemption flights. I suspect your cheap fees for your LH flights were examples of this; US probably didn't pass through the YQ.

Qantas is another; I don't know who else but many of the Euros certainly do.