So I'm booking a trip from JFK to LHR for early February (the week before President's Week) which is usually a slow period for trans Atlantic flights. Bingo call up the display and it says round trip fare $150...and then in fine print with fees and taxes $775 or thereabouts. Now I know the UK governments has imposed very very heavy fees for landings in London and the US government taxes have been going up but this is kind of ridiculous.......

Have a look at the "fees and taxes" - many of them will be airline imposed items and nothing to do with governments

Why the US allows such "bait and switch" is a puzzle as civilised countries require all compulsory items to appear in the headline price

a slow period???? who told you that?

Dukey...although I know these things change generally in the past, most airlines have run sales and in the not so distant past, I have gotten round trips between NYC and London in that period for $300...it picks up or at least it used to for President's week and then goes into a lull again until Spring recess...I'm not sure just how much it has changed. There are those who will tell you $700 round trip NYC-London is relatively cheap.

Exactly why I have stopped using BA . The taxes and fees always exceed the fare and are higher than Virgins.I prefer those 2 airlines as flights from here are deirect and i DON'T HAVE TO GO THRU aTLANTA OR dALLAS.

NO NO NO, Alan, this is a BA issu.

You have GOT to stop searching on BA (I'm guessing this is the airline because only they would claim a $150 fare and then have a $775 ticket). They use the most misleading pricing system of any airline that flies intercontinentally from the US. This is what they do:

(1) set base fare for the seat;
(2) set a charge for the fuel consumption per seat;
(3) add government fees, taxes and landing charges per seat

thus you get $625 in fees on a $150 ticket. BA is the only airline I know about that separates the base fare from the fuel charge. By doing so, frequent flyers have to pay the fuel charge and BA loses only a minimal amount from providing OneWorld alliance members with seats.

Er, that was "issue".

Big Russ...actually it was Delta.

<i>NO NO NO, Alan, this is a BA issu.</i>

OP does not mention BA - and unless things have changed recently in the US you will find that the airline then adds <i>government fees, taxes and landing charges</i>

My understanding is that as of Jan airlines flying from the US will no longer be able to do this. All fares quoted in advertising will be required to include fees and taxes - no more bait and switch. (Of course this won;t help if BA does this on other routes.)

...but it wasn't an ad....I went to the Delta web site to book the flight and it came up with $150 in pretty large bold print and in much finer print total of whatever it was, well over $700. I wonder if these new rules will apply to the web sites?

It is the fuel surcharge. The full price is clearly displayed and known before booking, thus not bait and switch. This is just a novel way of complaining about prices. It has the added benefit of offering an opportunit to pretend you are also being misled.

I would get used to paying these kinds of prices. We will not see $350 flights with any regularity anytime soon. Best to accept it and adjust your savings patterns accordingly.

farecompare.com good tips wait till Tues PM in mid Jan prices almost always drop aa.com has best rates also booked FREE with themin April with their Citi AAdvantage cards(2) for my wife and myself 20000 per leg 80000 total booked then closed the cardssaved a tonne. In the past a 6X victim of the infamous BA.comusurous "fuel surcharge" that no one elde charges,They are my xport of last resort there.
cheapoair.com kayak.com/buzz good screening site too.

Happy Hunting!

Yes and no....I wasn't complaining or meaning to complain...believe me I understand about life today but I still find it ludicrous to the degree it has gone. Just for fun, if you have a chance and/or the time, go to an on line travel agency like Orbitz and call up for a flight display from JFK-LHR leaving 08 February and returning 145 February. Look at the tale of fares. It just seems absurd, reality or not. (is one to suppose that any of the airlines when all is said and done get to pocket $118 for a return trip NYC-London while the rest are govfernment imposed fees and taxes and surcharges and the like?

On cheapoair.com looks like around $300 per leg all in including tax NYC LON currently might monitor that site pretty good rate will drop a bit in Jan probably.

Well if it wasn't an ad, what is your big complaint? It says right below the $150 that the final fare is $700 or so and you certainly can't book it without seeing the total fare. So you aren't even wasting any time (which could happen if you saw an ad and then went to a website to find such a fare).

I think it is new for Delta to do that kind of thing, not sure why they do it since it isn't an ad.

Oh I've had the same experience on the Delta website - yes, aggrevating. The funny thing is I recently booked a FF ticket from Delta which of course is a "free" ticket plus taxes and fees. Well on that ticket the taxes and fees were only $67 so why on the ticket you were considering the taxes and fees are hundreds of dollars, go figure!