British Airways Increased Fuel Surcharges – But Alaska Airlines Isn’t Charging The Higher Amount

This morning I wrote about British Airways’ increase in fuel surcharges, especially for first class awards and a trick that saves hundreds of dollars.

Reader Robert G. points out to me that while British Airways has increased the surcharges on award tickets Alaska Airlines is not (yet?) passing along those higher fees. He shares the total first class taxes and fees for Washington Dulles – Dubai (while noting “Not an award I’d make unless it’s an emergency anyway” because it’s still so much money).

So I had a look at the difference in what’s charged for the exact same British Airways itinerary by American AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. Specifically I looked at Washington Dulles – London Heathrow roundtrip since that’s the example I gave this morning — while noting that as always you save on fuel surcharges by booking two one ways instead of a roundtrip since fuel surcharges are lower departing Europe than departing the U.S.

American Airlines is passing along $1832 in taxes and fees, which is correct based on current fare construction for a paid British Airways ticket.

Alaska Airlines though is passing on $1453.

That’s still an insane amount of money for an award ticket but it seemed worth noting that Alaska Airlines is requiring about $380 less than American for the same British Airways itinerary. That will be useful information for some.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Pingbacks

Comments

  1. Expect even lazy Alaska to fix that glitch pronto! Let’s see if they monitor your blog.

  2. Phew thanks for posting this Gary, as soon as midnight comes I am booking BA return from CAI next year. If BA would spend some of that money on food and better attitudes it wouldn’t be so bad.

    AS response to complaints from FF regarding BA has been we are bringing on new partners problem is Finnair charges almost as much, Iceland close and poor business availability. So at the end of the day if one wants to fly Biz or F your choice is BA high surcharge or EK more points little cash.

  3. Its time to rebel against these kinds of complete scam rip offs Ponzi Schemes
    Where does it stop? I am going to start trying other carriers KLM etc Middle East Carriers and mix of-others
    BA just took back all of their bonus And THEN SOME on the AMEX membership rewards 🙁

  4. BA frequently have $2k or less J fares from Europe to NA. just wait for those. Foolish to use miles on BA.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *