US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[sergeyvzn]

It (SYD) exceeds 25M by about 750 miles so I'd forget about it. MEL might work.

Start your journey in PER instead. They might knock you back on the basis of their new 3 IATA zones excuse.

Thanks!
Don't feel like starting it in Perth -

I guess I'll try an European stopover instead or swapping MIA for an East Coast destination

 

[Craigie]

Is it the case that as soon as I touch LHR with BA I'm gonna get hit with the high taxes?

Just want to transit there onto east coast USA.

 

[bcworld]

Is it the case that as soon as I touch LHR with BA I'm gonna get hit with the YQ taxes?

Just want to transit there onto east coast USA.

If you fly on BA you pay YQ. If by referring to LHR you actually mean the UK APD...this is not payable on simple transits.

 

[sergeyvzn]

Is it the case that as soon as I touch LHR with BA I'm gonna get hit with the YQ taxes?

Just want to transit there onto east coast USA.

2 separate things:

1) UK departure tax - applies to any airline, not only BA when leaving LHR but only if it's more than a 24 hrs stop

2) BA's fuel surcharges- only applies to BA/IB flights

If you leave LHR as a stopover on a BA flight you get hit with both

 

[Craigie]

Thanks guys, so I need to try find something LHR - New York with someone other than BA, or pay up.

 

[Craigie]

If you fly on BA you pay YQ. If by referring to LHR you actually mean the UK APD...this is not payable on simple transits.

I was mistakingly rolling them both into 1. Thanks for clearing that up

 

[hossein_au]

Thanks guys, so I need to try find something LHR - New York with someone other than BA, or pay up.

Or LHR-FRA-JFK, or LHR-AMS-JFK, or LHR-CPH-JFK, or ... (you see the pattern? You'll want to avoid BOTH BA as well as departing LHR on a long-haul flight unless it is a transit)

 

[Craigie]

Or LHR-FRA-JFK, or LHR-AMS-JFK, or LHR-CPH-JFK, or ... (you see the pattern? You'll want to avoid BOTH BA as well as departing LHR on a long-haul flight unless it is a transit)

Will they not sting me for backtracking? Coming from MEL on QF9, I didn't think I had many options?

 

[sergeyvzn]

Will they not sting me for backtracking? Coming from MEL on QF9, I didn't think I had many options?

You certainly have options of direct AA and US services out of LHR - no fuel surcharges

And if it's less than 24 hr between your arrival on QF9 and your next departure from LHR there will be no UK APD either

 

[Craigie]

You certainly have options of direct AA and US services out of LHR - no fuel surcharges

And if it's less than 24 hr between your arrival on QF9 and your next departure from LHR there will be no UK APD either

Cool thanks for that. So now it just comes down to premium award space on US and AA which is very limited even at 335 days out.

 

[sergeyvzn]

Cool thanks for that. So now it just comes down to premium award space on US and AA which is very limited even at 335 days out.

AA is very rarely available, especially to JFK, that's true
US Airways is better if you're prepared to fly to Philadelphia or Charlotte and then connect elsewhere on the East Coast

 

[Craigie]

Yea I will try. Am I likely to run into MPM issues if I have to connect on the east coast?

 

[sergeyvzn]

Yea I will try. Am I likely to run into MPM issues if I have to connect on the east coast?

You might...I haven't renewed my expertflyer membership so can't tell you exactly but bcworld would probably help you if asked nicely

 

[anat0l]

Just to be really clear, if you go through LHR - transit or stopover - there are two main, high taxes that can be applicable:

• UK Air Passenger Duty (coded as GB): chargeable depending on distance band, measured between London and the capital city of the final country of the journey, as well as class of service (Economy or higher-than-Economy). Note that as of 1 April 2015, the number of bands will be reduced to two, meaning that the maximum APD that can be levied from thereon will be GBP 138 (notwithstanding any indexation or increases). APD not applicable on international to international transits (less than 24 hours) through a UK airport on a single ticket.
• UK Passenger Service Charge (coded as UB): chargeable on all flights which go through a UK airport - transit or stopover. Not dependent on class of service. A quick ITA search shows the charge is GBP 42.06.

Any sectors where you fly BA (or IB) you will have the fuel surcharges (coded YQ) passed onto you.

As I said in some posts a while back, even if these charges are high, don't get too coy or uptight in trying to avoid them. For example, if you want (or need) to go to London, but decide to land somewhere else in Europe as your stopover in order to avoid the APD and PSC, then consider the cost (and time) of getting from your stopover point to London (and back to resume your itinerary). If the cost of the (re)positioning transport (train or air) is not cheaper than the APD + PSC, then there's really no point avoiding London except if you're doing it on principle.

Again with BA - as I've said before - there's little good in saying "there's no options to go" or "I won't go" simply because your only options are on BA and you have to stump up extra cash.

 

[anat0l]

Yea I will try. Am I likely to run into MPM issues if I have to connect on the east coast?

You might...I haven't renewed my expertflyer membership so can't tell you exactly but bcworld would probably help you if asked nicely

For whatever it is worth, the MPM+25M for SYD-JFK is 14933 miles. That is using the Pacific indicator. Attempting to get EF to calculate the progressive MPM going via Europe gives an error, which leads me to believe it's not necessarily one of those easy to ticket things in the first place.

 

[sergeyvzn]

For whatever it is worth, the MPM+25M for SYD-JFK is 14933 miles. That is using the Pacific indicator. Attempting to get EF to calculate the progressive MPM going via Europe gives an error, which leads me to believe it's not necessarily one of those easy to ticket things in the first place.

That used to a very popular ticket - stopover in Europe on the way to the U.S. east coast but anecdotal evidence from here and Flyertalk has it that US DM are really cracking down on MPM and these itineraries get very hard to get ticketed

 

[hossein_au]

Will they not sting me for backtracking? Coming from MEL on QF9, I didn't think I had many options?

It is not a in-your-face backtracking, and also USDM is not very strict on backtracking.

 

[Craigie]

Just to be really clear, if you go through LHR - transit or stopover - there are two main, high taxes that can be applicable:

• UK Air Passenger Duty (coded as GB): chargeable depending on distance band, measured between London and the capital city of the final country of the journey, as well as class of service (Economy or higher-than-Economy). Note that as of 1 April 2015, the number of bands will be reduced to two, meaning that the maximum APD that can be levied from thereon will be GBP 138 (notwithstanding any indexation or increases). APD not applicable on international to international transits (less than 24 hours) through a UK airport on a single ticket.
• UK Passenger Service Charge (coded as UB): chargeable on all flights which go through a UK airport - transit or stopover. Not dependent on class of service. A quick ITA search shows the charge is GBP 42.06.

Any sectors where you fly BA (or IB) you will have the fuel surcharges (coded YQ) passed onto you.

As I said in some posts a while back, even if these charges are high, don't get too coy or uptight in trying to avoid them. For example, if you want (or need) to go to London, but decide to land somewhere else in Europe as your stopover in order to avoid the APD and PSC, then consider the cost (and time) of getting from your stopover point to London (and back to resume your itinerary). If the cost of the (re)positioning transport (train or air) is not cheaper than the APD + PSC, then there's really no point avoiding London except if you're doing it on principle.

Again with BA - as I've said before - there's little good in saying "there's no options to go" or "I won't go" simply because your only options are on BA and you have to stump up extra cash.

Thanks for the very detailed response, I did search for taxes related posts but was hard on my phone.

I'm not too concerned about stumping the extra and going BA, because it's still incredibly good value.

Just interested in all my options. Thanks again!

 

[Flashback]

Thanks for the very detailed response, I did search for taxes related posts but was hard on my phone.

I'm not too concerned about stumping the extra and going BA, because it's still incredibly good value.

Just interested in all my options. Thanks again!

While that may be the case... It is unfortunately BA that you will be stuck flying on :mrgreen:

 

[bcworld]

That used to a very popular ticket - stopover in Europe on the way to the U.S. east coast but anecdotal evidence from here and Flyertalk has it that US DM are really cracking down on MPM and these itineraries get very hard to get ticketed

What they also seem to be commonly objecting to now is itineraries (in one direction probably) that touch all 3 IATA zones.