Posted by PAT on January 20, 2007 at 10:59:16:
In Reply to: aer lingus taxes and fees posted by Jen on January 19, 2007 at 20:23:26:
: Hi Pat,
: I was looking at fares from LA to Shannon on Aer Lingus site and noticed that the taxes and fees had gone up to $183. We had always paid around $85 (just last April). I then checked on the same flight on Travelocity, and the fees were $134. which was still high, but lower than AL's I looked at a flight on Delta, and the fees were only $78. What's going on? I don't understand why AL would charge more tax for the same flight than Trav. It had always been cheaper to book on Aer Lingus site. Just wondered.
: Jeni
Dear Jeni,
I have looked into this myself, and it is confusing. The core of the issue is that last year there was a great surge in fuel prices, after 2006 airfares were set and announced and programmed. So when the fuell costs surged, Aer Lingus added the fuel cost as an extra. That meant for our tours, we had a basic airfare price, plus two add ons of departure taxes and fuel.
This year Aer Lingus started by incorporating the fuel charge into the departure taxes, for one massive extra fee of around $185. There is talk that, for future fares, the fuel cost will be built into the actual airfare (instead of being a separate charge), so there will be just an airfare cost and a departure tax cost (as it used to be). I believe DL has already done this.
With fuel costs going down, it would be nice to think they will lower the fuel surcharge, but I don't think that will ever happen. They will, as I said, just build it back into the basic airfare.
That's it in a nutshell. Keep watching and checking, as it sometimes varies by the day.
PAT