[trebor]

Booked two AAdvantage Frequent Flyer Business Class tickets for 200,000 miles from DFW to London. The seats were not available on the AA non-stop and so was routed to the east coast and then on British Airways to London and same story on the return leg.
The additional fee's were rediculous & I asked for a breakdown since they do not offer one up front.
I found that BA is charging $904 per person for a fuel surcharge. I then find out BA charges $90+ per person per segment if we want to get assigned seats prior to 24 hours before the flight.
To say this is a rip off is truly an understatement. Unfortunately these days, we can do nothing other than complain.
British Airways can rest assured that they will never get my butt on one of their aircraft in the future. I'm sure they could care less but I feel much better now although a bit poorer.

[jimworcs]

Fuel surcharges shoud be illegal. These costs should be incorporated into the cost of the ticket. Fuel is just a normal cost of doing business. Why not printing surcharge, phone bill surcharge, utility bill surcharge. It's just ridiculous.

[AADFW]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Fuel surcharges shoud be illegal. These costs should be incorporated into the cost of the ticket. Fuel is just a normal cost of doing business. Why not printing surcharge, phone bill surcharge, utility bill surcharge. It's just ridiculous.

I couldn't agree more. Time for a class action lawsuit, perhaps?

[AirlineSympathizer]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Fuel surcharges shoud be illegal. These costs should be incorporated into the cost of the ticket. Fuel is just a normal cost of doing business. Why not printing surcharge, phone bill surcharge, utility bill surcharge. It's just ridiculous.

It won't change anything. If such rules were passed, they would have a "redemption fee" or raise the number of points needed. The cost of the item is the cost of the item, no matter how they break it down or name it.

[stonecold_1981]

Originally Posted by AirlineSympathizer

It won't change anything. If such rules were passed, they would have a "redemption fee" or raise the number of points needed. The cost of the item is the cost of the item, no matter how they break it down or name it.

Actually, it DOES change everything! If they raise the number of points needed, they become uncompetitive with other airlines. Hence, they will NOT do this.

Even with the current fuel surcharge, they are already uncompetitive, but at least they can "eye-wash" the customer and lead them into believing they are competitive (with respect to the number of miles/points required).

[AirlineSympathizer]

Originally Posted by stonecold_1981

Actually, it DOES change everything! If they raise the number of points needed, they become uncompetitive with other airlines. Hence, they will NOT do this.

Even with the current fuel surcharge, they are already uncompetitive, but at least they can "eye-wash" the customer and lead them into believing they are competitive (with respect to the number of miles/points required).

I think you're not really understanding. British Airways is doing fantasctic. They have acquired two other major international airlines in the last two years. BA *already* has higher redepmtions than other AAirlines - that's why people keeping repeatedly freaking out on threads like this.

British Airlines is a Premium airline - they are usually more expensive, but they primarily cater to First and Business class passengers. BA planes may have over a hundred "premium" seats whereas other "American" airlines have vastly less. If there is a disruption, they pay for your hotel, transportation, food, drinks, clothes, etc. Yes, they are more expensive - but you get what you pay for.

If you're an economy class passeneger looking for no frills, BA is not for you. If you're a premium passeneger travelling in (and redeeming) premium cabins, BA is excellent - and I speak from experience.

[stonecold_1981]

Actually, I do know how BA is positioned as compared to the other airlines. I agree they consider themselves as a premium airline (and for the most part, deliver service that matches their positioning and pricing. That is not what I'm contesting here.

My point is this:
If a passenger searches for a ticket (through $ not miles/points) to fly from point A to point B, across multiple airlines, the quotes show the final out-of-pocket flight costs. So as a consumer, you can easily compare across airlines and based on your preferences (costs vs. brand/service), you pick the airline that best meets your need.

However, in the case of award redemption, the scenario is a little different.
- BA and other airlines, in their redemption charts would show X miles or Y points required to fly from A to B. They may be footnoting that there are additional fees the passenger needs to pay, on top of the miles, taxes, etc. So, for the novice consumer, he/she would assume that if BA charges 25,000 miles and if another airline charges 20,000 miles (just for illustrative purposes), he may choose to go with BA (given his preference for better brand and service with a marginally higher redemption charge). However, when he goes through checkout, he realizes the cost is now 25,000 miles PLUS $500 (fuel surcharge) PLUS taxes/miscellaneous. If we hold taxes/miscellanoeous amounts reasonably similiar across airlines (this is most often the case), there is still an additional $500 charge.

To an experienced flyer, all of this is intuitive. However, to the novice consumer, this is misleading (not illegal - the airline is perfectly justified in doing this).

It's like you go to a store to buy an item. If most stores sell that item for $10, add taxes ($1, mostly consistent across stores), yet there is one store that has a great brand name/service (say for example, you know it is air conditioned, and so offers a better experience) and sells the same item for $11 Plus taxes ($1) Plus Fuel Surcharge ($4 - to account for the A/C usage). All stores advertise the base cost of the item ($10 at most stores, and $11 at the branded store), it would be misleading to then charge $15 at the branded store.

The other piece that is important is the magnitude of the fuel surcharge. At times, you can buy a ticket on BA for $1200 (no miles) vs. if you redeem you pay X miles/points And $300-400 for fuel surcharge. This is again misleading the consumer