The great airport tax rip-off

Hi,

There are other “funnies” around airport taxes. Late last year I was quoted R4 390 with taxes and levies of R5 150 for a return flight to London ex Durban.

If the flight originated from J’Burg, the taxes and levies are R3 750. This implies a tax and levy component of about R1 400 for the Durban to J’Burg return flight.

A traveller will be taking a normal domestic flight to connect with the international leg, sitting alongside travellers terminating their journey at Johannesburg. The normal tax and levy for a return domestic flight is around R400. At the time I asked why the additional R1000 ? That's the way it is was the answer. Your article now makes it more clear why. Profit taking.

Therefore if travelling internationally, book your international leg ex Johannesburg and book the domestic flights separately. Save around R1000.

Cheers,
Iain Robertson.

Thanks for exposing this. I became aware of this "fuel levy" scam recently while claiming a flight using my Voyager miles. The ticket was cheaper than a normal fare with any airline but definitely not worth the years of loyalty to SAA and the thousands of miles that I had to redeem! In future I'll be basing my flight decisions on service and price and not loyalty.

SAA is appealing for our loyalty to help them get through these tough times, yet they show no loyalty towards us, whom they depend on. Airlines should realise that loyalty is reciprocal and if I don't feel that I'm being treated fairly, my loyalty goes out of the window.

Okay folk, come the Consumer Protection Act, you are all going to have to do some open accounting to your customers. They have the right to know and to a fair deal and you will be obliged to prove it. Maybe not the very end of consumer exploitation, but this is definitely the beginning of the end! Remember the penalties, 1,000,000 Rand or 10% or your annual turnover whichever is the greater!

Read between the lies (lines) and it's all smoke and mirrors. The producer price of coffee drops by 50% and the retail price of Nescafe goes up by 80% - banks make more money from penalty fees on bounced debit orders that they do on the entire book of successful debit charges - it's the same dishonest dog ... and consumers are too apathetic to do anything about it.

What really flaws me is that BA charge the percentage cancellation fee on a totally unused airticket on the base fare as well as the fuel levy. the passenger hasnt travelled so no fuel has been used. so why are they being penalised. they get all the other taxes back. i feel that the airline can charge a fuel levy but include it in the fare - this will prevent them from bragging about low airfares. i am a travel agent and this really gets to me.emirates include their fuel surchage in the fare calculation so why cant the other do that. their fuel surcharges are negligable.

Thank you for your article. In a global marketplace, it is of utmost importance that airlines are able to clearly and effectively communicate to their customers the role that exterior influences (such as fuel prices and taxes) play in determining the total fare.

I would like to clarify for your readers that I believe Mr. Venter was not referring to ATPCO as “antiquated” or “outdated”. ATPCO is the world leader in the collection and distribution of fare and fare-related data and counts among its customers over 97 percent of the world’s commercial air travel providers. An airline-owned company, we work closely with the industry to ensure that our solutions meet all current and future needs. ATPCO’s ‘YQ/YR Fuel and Insurance’ product, in use by over 300 carriers today, is “specifically designed (to allow airlines) the ability to control and collect fuel charges and other fees”. These charges can be modified independent of the base fare (meaning a single change can be easily applied across some or all of an airline’s fares) and all of the global distribution systems are capable of presenting this YQ / YR data as a separate item to customers. This, combined with ATPCO’s frequent data distribution to all distribution points and sales channels (up to 8 times daily), ensures airlines the speed and flexibility required to reflect a rapidly changing world.

You are correct that “Kulula… does not have to do its pricing through ATPCO”. However, it is not due to the fact that they are an internet-based airline. Rather, it is because Kulula chooses to distribute their fares in a limited number of sales channels. Should they eventually wish to appear worldwide in all pricing solutions and sales channels, then I can assure you that they will also find the ATPCO product suite a quality, cost-effective solution for their needs.