I bought a ticket many months ago from Delta. Round trip from NYC to Gatwick. When I get to the airport will I be hit with a retroactive bill for the recent increase in taxes for flying in/out of London? any info would be greatly appreciated.

1) It is for flying out of the UK

2) depends on the airline - If you haven't heard from Delta, ask them. United is eating the increase for my flights later this month.

I am afraid I am too, out of luck. I bought resv in Sept 06 for May to LGW. I am staying overnight and leave next morning to Ephesus.If anyone flies US Airways back to the states, let us know about any fees. And I hope I will not have to pay extra to fly to Turkey. If so I have insurance, and will think about canceling. It is such an inconvience for those who have paid their way early and I paid business class, ouch..!

I got a notice from American letting me know I will have to pay the extra taxes leaving London in April. These are tickets I bought in October.

Bought tickets on Delta in September from JFK-LGW and haven't heard anything from them. We also have BMI booked from LHR-VCE and haven't heard from them as well.

BMI are collecting the extra - http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/trav...rdutyapd.aspx?

I'm not sure how BMI 'proper' are doing it, but bmibaby are just taking it from the card you used to book - I've had an extra £20 debited from my card for our flights to & from Cardiff next week

BA are absorbing it.

Hey back,

Is the tax so large that you would cancel your visit rather than pay it?

BTW, backpapersusa, "I hope I will not have to pay extra to fly to Turkey. If so I have insurance, and will think about canceling. It is such an inconvience for those who have paid their way early and I paid business class, ouch..!" ??

You paid for a business class flight but would consider cancelling it over an extra £10 ?

Ira, you & I must have been posting at the same time.

The tax has increased from £5 to £10 for shorthaul flights and from £10 to 20 for longhaul, one way. As Janis said, it's only from flights taking off in the UK. I'm not sure if Turkey is classed as shorthaul or longhaul, but it will be a maximum of £10 extra.

Flying domestically next week, of course we get hit twice

P.P.S. But for new bookings, watch out for the airlines whacking up the "taxes, charges etc" under the cover of the tax increase.

More's to the point:

Is the tax so large it's significantly greater than the excess/deductible on the travel insurance?

And do you really think an insurance conmpany is going to shell out because you refuse to honour the terms and conditions of a booking you freely made?

It's inconceivable the booking lacked hte "subject to changes in tax" clause.

It's also not levied on transits of less than 24 hours (assuming both the arriving and departing flight are on one ticket.)

You have to pay this ridiculous tax levied by the UK & pay it on a business class ticket even if you're paying coach fares.

&quot;Following the U.K. Government's decision to <b>double</b> the Air Passenger Duty paid by passengers traveling from the United Kingdom, American Airlines customers who have purchased tickets to travel on or after February 1, 2007, will be required to pay the increased tax before flying.

For long-haul flights to the United States, APD (GB tax) has increased to:



<b>&pound;40.00 for Economy Class travel (previously &pound;20.00)
&pound;80.00 for Business &amp; First Class travel (previously &pound;40.00)</b>
Customers who purchased tickets prior to December 12, 2006, will need to pay the extra tax at the U.K. airport when checking in for their flight. Payment can be made by credit card or cash.

American greatly regrets the inconvenience that this retroactive tax will cause our customers.

American are pulling a fast one then !!

The UK govt tax is

shorthaul - increase from &pound;5 to &pound;10 one way

longhaul - increase from &pound;10 to &pound;20 one way

for flights originating in the UK.

The 20GBP figure is not correct for longhaul. It is indeed 40GBP. Search for any longhaul ticket out of the UK on any airline and you'll see it.

Thank you, Rkkwan.

Well I can only tell you how it's been reported here. And the UK government is certainly not charging higher tax on business class tickets - it's the same for all classes.

OK, sorry, I'm wrong - the newspaper I read evidently didn't report the full details.