Refund of Air Passenger Duty 'GB' tax (ages 2-12)

[kevrosmith]

Not sure if this has been reported elsewhere, and while I'm not certain of the detail, it may apply to some of you..

Qantas Fare News

 

[Mattg]

Interesting. Will passengers who booked directly with Qantas and are travelling after 1 May be contacted regarding a refund, or is the onus on the customer here?

 

[Red Roo]

Eligible customers who’ve booked via qantas.com or our Contact Centres will receive email notifications over the coming days. This includes both commercial and redemption bookings.

Please contact our 24/7 Reservations team should you have any queries in the interim: Contact Us | Qantas

 

[kcoulson]

My son is eligible for this refund - but the travel agent we used tried to tell me that since our flight originated from Australia we weren't eligible (this did not seem logical - since 99% of the people on this forum would originate from Australia too). I just spent an hour on the phone to Qantas and Emirates to check. (the lazy incompetent party seems to be the travel agent). I would rather have $140 in my pocket than not though. It will be interesting to see if the travel agent follows through.

 

[Mattg]

My son is eligible for this refund - but the travel agent we used tried to tell me that since our flight originated from Australia we weren't eligible (this did not seem logical - since 99% of the people on this forum would originate from Australia too). I just spent an hour on the phone to Qantas and Emirates to check. (the lazy incompetent party seems to be the travel agent). I would rather have $140 in my pocket than not though. It will be interesting to see if the travel agent follows through.

As long as you meet these criteria, you most definitely are eligible for a refund of £71 (just over $140):
-Your son is aged 11 or under
-You flew after 1 May, 2015
-You "stopped" in the UK for at least 24 hours before returning to Australia, which it sounds like you did. The fact that you began the journey in Australia is irrelevant if you returned from the UK. An exception would be if you returned from a country other than the UK, stopping along the way for under 24 hours. (In that case, you wouldn't have paid it in the first place.)

It sounds to me like your travel agent owes you the money. If they give you any more grief, it might be time to find a new one!

 

[kcoulson]

Yes, we have a terrible travel agent (not going to use again). Yes we meet all those criteria (son is 10, flight in July 2015, will be in London for 4 days before flying out). Will pursue next week - thanks for the further details Mattg.

 

[Colster]

what about premium economy? I have 2 sub 11 y/o pax that I paid in December, traveling in sept.

 

[Mattg]

what about premium economy? I have 2 sub 11 y/o pax that I paid in December, traveling in sept.

Unfortunately premium economy doesn't count. Only the lowest class of service (i.e. economy) is exempt for children.

 

[Mattg]

It seems that children aged 12-15 and flying economy will also be exempt from the UK Air Passenger Duty, effective from 1 March 2016.

It will be interesting to see how airlines implement this change, as there is currently no option to select a passenger in that age bracket when booking online.

 

[kcoulson]

I just received an email from our travel agent to say that Emirates say (I quote) ......“The rule says, exempted for tickets issued on/after 5 Dec 2014.
This ticket was issued 14 Oct 2014.
Hence no refund of the GB.”

I don't really follow why we aren't eligible for the $140 back for our 10 year old son.

 

[Mattg]

I just received an email from our travel agent to say that Emirates say (I quote) ......“The rule says, exempted for tickets issued on/after 5 Dec 2014.
This ticket was issued 14 Oct 2014.
Hence no refund of the GB.”

I don't really follow why we aren't eligible for the $140 back for our 10 year old son.

Can you ask your travel agent what "rule" is being quoted?

This is simply not the case. Emirates would NOT have been charged the APD for your child by the UK government if travel was on or after 1 May 2015. I just checked the actual UK legislation and there is no mention of ticketing dates - only the date of travel.

The date of ticket purchase is irrelevant. So either Emirates is pocketing your $140 here, or the travel agent is.

My theory is that Emirates currently has this money - and is obliged to refund it to you - but the travel agent in question is too lazy and/or incompetent to get it from Emirates.

This is really not good enough. Your travel agent is lucky that I'm not the customer.

 

[kcoulson]

Thanks Mattg. I will pursue further. Your opinion is much appreciated.

 

[Mattg]

Thanks Mattg. I will pursue further. Your opinion is much appreciated.

No problem. I really don't understand why it's this difficult. One source I read even said that Emirates were automatically issuing refunds to affected passengers.

In particular, I would really like to know where they got the "only for tickets issued after 5 Decemeber" thing. Either Emirates made that up, or your travel agent did.

 

[kcoulson]

The travel agent says that she is escalating the matter to her manager. I am emailing Emirates directly too.

 

[Mattg]

The travel agent says that she is escalating the matter to her manager. I am emailing Emirates directly too.

Do let us know of the outcome.

 

[kcoulson]

Emirates emailed me back (surprisingly quickly really) to say that we are entitled to a refund. Very pleased that they put it in writing too! They say that we need to apply via the travel agent though. Have forwarded the email to the travel agent.

 

[Mattg]

Emirates emailed me back (surprisingly quickly really) to say that we are entitled to a refund. Very pleased that they put it in writing too! They say that we need to apply via the travel agent though. Have forwarded the email to the travel agent.

Great.

The only question remaining is... why did the agent say that Emirates wouldn't refund the money because of the booking date then? Did they literally pull that out of thin air?

 

[GladstoneTim]

I just received an email from our travel agent to say that Emirates say (I quote) ......“The rule says, exempted for tickets issued on/after 5 Dec 2014.
This ticket was issued 14 Oct 2014.
Hence no refund of the GB.”

I don't really follow why we aren't eligible for the $140 back for our 10 year old son.

k

Would be interesting to know who the travel agent is.

 

[kcoulson]

My gut feeling is that she was telling the truth - she said that she checked with them twice. I don't think that she would have blatantly lied. For some reason that I can't work out, she really didn't like us (or me) - she was certainly not on our side. I suspect that she is used to dealing with lavender-haired old ladies booking cruises, not people who ask questions. She had the attitude that she was 'doing us a favour'. I would email her itineraries from Skyscanner with suggested flights, and 2 weeks later she hadn't looked at them (and flight prices never change in 2 weeks). After using this forum, I now have the confidence to book without a travel agent!

 

[BD1959]

My gut feeling is that she was telling the truth - she said that she checked with them twice. I don't think that she would have blatantly lied. For some reason that I can't work out, she really didn't like us (or me) - she was certainly not on our side. I suspect that she is used to dealing with lavender-haired old ladies booking cruises, not people who ask questions. She had the attitude that she was 'doing us a favour'.

You're paying her money, in effect you are "hiring her". This is sometimes in the form of a direct fee, sometimes just the commission they get for booking your fare, sometimes both. *BUT* she cannot run the business without customers - and that's you!

I would email her itineraries from Skyscanner with suggested flights, and 2 weeks later she hadn't looked at them (and flight prices never change in 2 weeks).

OK, you might not be #1 priority, but you'd heard nothing back in 2 weeks? If it was me, they'd have 48 hrs and I'd be elsewhere. Forget this emailing itineraries: their job is to source best itinerary based on the requirements and constraints you impose.

After using this forum, I now have the confidence to book without a travel agent!

I wouldn't write-off TAs completely, they still sometimes have their uses: going to be in the middle of the South American jungle with only limited access and may need to change plans suddenly .... very limited time to research and book your flight ... etc etc. The *big* draw-back for me is when the airline insists they will only deal with the TA and you might be in Europe with the Australian TA closed .... had that happen before, too.

Hope you get your refund soon!

Regards,

BD