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Flight tickets - do they include any fuel anymore?


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I just got a quote for a flight to the UK next February.

 

Ticket - 65000 yen

Fuel surcharge - 59000 yen

 

Thats just getting plain ridiculous. Is there any fuel included in the "ticket" charge, or is that just a fuel-less plane?

 

I asked if the surcharge was going to be lowered and she said maybe in the New Year (for the airlines that go where I want).

 

veryangry

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What you have to remember is that plan companies don't buy the fuel on the day, more often than not, they lock themselves into contracts with the suppliers for months, if not years, on end, to fix the fuel prices if they go up, but likewise if they go down, they have to pay.

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Interestingly enough the fuel charges when buying tickets in yen from here seem to be higher than from other countries. Case in point, I had a flight to Oz in mid Sept on Qantas miles and the fuel/taxes to Oz was less than $200 one way. When I arrived back in mid Oct, I got an email from Qantas, or maybe it was Jetstar advertising cheap flights from Japan to Oz, with fuel/taxes of 60,000 yen plus. I'm sure this wasn't due to the lower A$, since I didn't book my return flight to Japan (when I was charged the fuel/taxes) until a few days before I departed, and I got the email ad only a few days after I'd returned.

 

I'm thinking of writing to Qantas to ask them why they're charging higher surcharges to people paying in yen.

 

(on topic - in the ad the ticket price was separate to the charges).

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Originally Posted By: RobBright
What you have to remember is that plan companies don't buy the fuel on the day, more often than not, they lock themselves into contracts with the suppliers for months, if not years, on end, to fix the fuel prices if they go up, but likewise if they go down, they have to pay.


That's true, but I doubt the airlines are playing only one side of the oil market. They'll probably have leveraged bets on the price going in the opposite direction as insurance. Such hedges cost money, but save them from getting seriously burned.

Some of those taxes will be the UK long-haul tax. 40 quid was it?
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Quote:
Some of those taxes will be the UK long-haul tax. 40 quid was it?


No, I was quite specific. The UK tax was extra as well. The fuel tax ALONE was 59000 yen. Asked twice to make sure. The total came to something like 145-150000 yen (can't remember the total).
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Perhaps we'll end up just paying a token something for the beef or chicken, small cans of coke, beer and bottles of wine and paying just for fuel. And you'll need to pay to use the toilets.

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It's a "surcharge", so it's supposed to cover the difference between the current fuel price and the price of fuel when the fare was originally authored. Supposedly many (not all) airlines are lowering or discontinuing the surcharge now that fuel prices have dropped, but travellers probably won't see the benefits until around the xmas/New Year holidays.

 

Even if they drop the fuel surcharge, the airlines that currently nickel-ane-dime you for each bag and whatever crappy food they serve will continue to ream you on those charges!

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Originally Posted By: muikabochi
Any fuel included Mantas? wink


Yes but you have to fill the tank yourself. lol

These budget airlines are still bloody cheap. My mate picked up some tickets for his family. Sydney-Tokyo return for $600 Aus. inc. taxes. That's about $600 cheaper than the next cheapest airline. I think I could pack my own lunch and drinks for $600.
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I'm not interested in the food. I usually hardly touch it anyway, it being goddam awful and all.

 

It will be interesting to see how quick they are to reduce the crazy in the sky fuel surcharges though seeing as though the price has reduced so much in the last 3-4.

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Originally Posted By: pie-eater
Quote:
Some of those taxes will be the UK long-haul tax. 40 quid was it?


No, I was quite specific. The UK tax was extra as well. The fuel tax ALONE was 59000 yen. Asked twice to make sure. The total came to something like 145-150000 yen (can't remember the total).


Whoa! that's really dear then.

I think sunrise is onto something with flights being more expensive if bought in Japan at the moment. Possibly the airlines haven't adjusted their yen prices in keeping with the currency movements yet. For KLM to the UK in October we were ripped for 129,000 yen. Their flights quoted in pounds the other way around are well below 850 pounds. More like 550-600.
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That just sounds wrong! Totally unfair.

 

I had been waiting for us to get the shoulder tap from Qantas for our European flights in December and Janaury - especially hearing everyone here getting added fuel surcharges - but we have had nothing. No extra's added when the oil price was skyrocketing and no discounts when it was dropping. Just a fixed price ticket done and dusted - the way I like it!

 

I thought we might be in for trouble because we are code sharing on about 4 different airlines - but still no problem.

 

When filling my cars tank has gone from in excess of $100 AUD from empty two months ago, to just over $60 AUD at last fill last week (when I was teaching my L-plate son to fuel up - awww) I can not see how you can now be hit with this massive fuel surchage for an airtrip, except for massive mismanagement by an airline fuel buyer!

 

Condolences.

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From KLM's UK and Japanese websites

 

Dec 11 to Dec 17/19 (cheapest dates thereabout chosen)

Tokyo - London - Tokyo Cheapest fare= 134,000 yen

 

Dec 11 to Dec 17/19 (cheapest dates thereabout chosen)

London - Tokyo - London Cheapest fare=536 UKP (=80,000 yen)

 

Its low season both ways, but the Japanese fare is 70% more.

 

When we booked our flight, the pound was about 200, so it wasn't so noticeable.

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I think prices in Japan have not yet been adjusted to the newly strong yen.

 

For example, I wanted to buy some coffee beans at the weekend. I was thinking 'prices must be down a lot now the yen is so strong' but I found prices were exactly the same as 6 months ago! Surely anything imported should now be much cheaper to buy? Same goes for the airline tickets. I need to buy some tix for march but I think I will hang on until Jan to buy because I think the new fuel charge and strong yen needs to be factored into prices.

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