What with the Fuel Surcharge?

[BuffaloJoe]

I just priced a PHL-ZRH flight and besides all the BS taxes, there is a $57 Fuel Surcharge Each Way. Whats up with this?

 

[BuffaloJoe]

Airlines in general have done this for YEARS. It's a hidden way to raise fares and still quote low fares to places like Europe. Last Winter the Surcharge to AMS was $65.oo each way IIRC.

You can't single out US on this one. They all do it and then wonder why the industry is so price sensitive.

It just stuck out there. I guess this is new to me as I am travelling to Europe several times this spring-summer. Like BA does with LHR, advertise $199 each way, by the time the totals are in, the ticket is well over $600. Plus the British "Tea Party" Tax, what I call it is also up there.

 

[autofixer]

It is not just airlines. UPS does it. All freight companys do it; trucking, railroads, airlines. You pay for it in ever morsal of food you eat, every auto part you buy or have installed, you just don't see it, it is in the retail price.

 

[BuffaloJoe]

It is not just airlines. UPS does it. All freight companys do it. You pay for it in ever morsal of food you eat, you just don't see it, it is in the retail price.

That is the way I would expect it. The "Price of the Ticket" should include wages, fuel, service factors in it. Only the taxes should be added on. But its a hide and seek way to attract the buyer to purchase it without realizing the added costs. I know that US is just part of many companies that do it, just that it will take a bit longer to actually compare any products.

 

[JS]

I wonder if "no fuel surcharges" would be an effective marketing slogan. Initially leave the fares alone (loss leader) and then raise them to cover the lost revenue.

For example, Southwest doesn't charge a change fee and they make more money than anyone else.

 

[autofixer]

I used to see it "added" to my freight bill-of-lading all of the time, when I ordered parts via a trucking company or UPS. I, of course, passed the cost to the customer. Your airline ticket is your bill-of-lading.

 

[N965VJ]

For those that enjoy paying taxes, you could also start buying offsets:

Link

Can you be traveling green by buying offsets?
By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY
Fri Mar 2, 7:08 AM ET

Buy an airline ticket online, and you're increasingly likely to see this pitch: Add a payment of a few dollars, and finance save-the-Earth activities to offset environmental damage caused by your trip.

Travel companies such as British Airways and travel sites Travelocity and Expedia are giving ticket purchasers the chance to at least assuage guilt, and possibly help the planet, by selling so-called offsets to finance green activism. Cost: About $5 and up.

The travel companies pass along the money to a new breed of enterprises - some for-profit, some not - that invest in wind farms, solar energy, energy-efficiency technology or other green projects. They go by names such as Native Energy, Carbon Fund or TerraPass.

But for all the good feelings that bubble up for travelers who make donations, there's nagging controversy about their effectiveness and the accountability of some of the enterprises taking money.